Live & Learn

UNDI 18 in collaboration with UNICEF will be hosting the Persidangan Parlimen Digital Dewan Muda Malaysia on the 9th of April 2022. Basically, this will be a virtual MOCK parliamentary sitting in which selected youths from across the country will be taking on the role of an MP in parliament to deliver speeches on and debate important issues in the country.

On today’s episode, we’re joined by a Parlimen Digital participant, Noor Amirah Aisyah or mock MPs, who will be focusing on the issue of sex education at the virtual parliamentary sitting.

Child sexual abuse is never OK, but it can be hard for children to tell adults if they think something isn’t right, and for adults to fully grasp what is happening to their children. In fact, some parents may not know how to talk to their kids about unsafe, inappropriate touch, or simply don’t know where to start. To help tackle what many still deem a taboo issue, Women’s Centre for Change has been publishing several illustrated books - books which are available online and in various languages - to help both children and adults alike to navigate these conversations. Hastiny Subramaniam, Advocacy Officer with Women’s Centre for Change joins us to discuss why parents need to talk to kids about good and bad touch.

Image credit: Women's Centre for Change

Revolution of Our Times is directed by Kiwi Chow. The documentary, which centres around the 2019-2020 Hong Kong protests, made its debut at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and is currently banned in China and Hong Kong. The film is set to premiere in various locations in Malaysia, including PJ Live Arts Theatre. All tickets have been sold out. We’re joined by director Kiwi Chow.

Image credit: IMDb, Wikimedia Commons

Stay Home and Watch is an ongoing series done in collaboration with the Freedom Film Network, where we take a look at locally-made independent films, which tackle various human rights issues in Malaysia. Today we discuss a recently released short film, Saya Juga Anak Malaysia, which is a brief look at one mother’s years-long struggle to pass on her Malaysian citizenship to her daughter. The film explains Malaysia’s gender-discriminatory citizenship laws, where children born abroad to Malaysian mothers are not afforded the same right to confer citizenship on their kids, whereas Malaysian fathers have the legal right to do so. Joining us to discuss the film and the issues surrounding it are Melinda Anne Sharlini (Programme Manager) and Corina Robert Mangharam (Advocacy and Community Engagement Coordinator) from Family Frontiers, who helped produce this film, and have long been championing these issues.

Image credit: FreedomFilmFest

In this episode of Law & Behold, we discuss federalism in Malaysia, while exploring constitutional guarantees with regard to state-federal relations and division of powers in the country. We also ask some tricky questions: has this system of federal governance worked in Malaysia? Does the constitutional design favour the central over the state governments, and if so, are amendments needed towards decentralisation? Helping us to unpack all this and more are Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Hj Shad Saleem Faruqi, Holder of the Tunku Abdul Rahman Chair at the University of Malaya, and Kee Hui Yee, a lawyer with Kanesalingam & Co.

Law & Behold is a monthly series which aims to arm Malaysians with constitutional literacy, and is done in collaboration with The Malaysian Bar, the University of Malaya's Faculty of Law, and the Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights (MCCHR).

Image credit: Suruhanjaya Pelantikan Kehakiman, Kanesalingam & Co

Amnesty International released their annual human rights report yesterday and as expected, things appear to have gone from bad to worse on the global scale, no thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, selfish and racists responses to the pandemic, as well as escalating conflicts, political turmoil and humanitarian crisis, in many parts of the world. When we zoom in on Malaysia, things aren’t looking too great either. Katrina Jorene Maliamauv of Amnesty International Malaysia joins us to discuss. 

Image credit: Shutterstock

On the first of April, Malaysia will begin its “transition into endemicity” as we continue to reopen safely and figure out what it means for us to live with COVID-19. But what do we mean when we say “live with COVID-19”? Is that a phrase that has been overused in the past few months, when the pandemic is not yet over? We speak with Elizabeth Stokoe, a professor of social interaction at Loughborough University to get her thoughts on how the language of “living with COVID” affects our behaviour and whether it matters who says it.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Edwin Nathaniel is a familiar name in our local music scene, having co-founded the renowned Aseana Percussion Unit back in 1989. But back in 2000, Edwin discovered his true calling, when he collaborated with others to design the Rhythmic Interactive Special Enabler (R.I.S.E.) program, a teaching syllabus that utilised a range of percussion instruments and rhythms to engage neurodivergent individuals with different learning challenges. More than 20 years later, Edwin has now poured all his knowledge and experiences from practising the R.I.S.E. program into a book of the same name, hoping to empower others to harness the positive effects of percussion music in promoting the social, emotional, and physical well-being of individuals coping with mental health issues. He joins us to share more. 

*You can get in touch with Edwin by contacting him here or by emailing: [email protected]

Image credit: Facebook

Anji Play is the name given to an educational philosophy and approach to early childhood education that was developed over the last two decades by Cheng Xueqin, in her capacity as superintendent of public early childhood education for Anji County, China. The approach is based on five interconnected principles: love, risk, joy, engagement, and reflection, and took shape as a response to a national policy change formalised by China’s Ministry of Education in 1996. These policies stated that “play should be the primary activity” of all early childhood programs in the country serving children ages 3–6. We discuss how AnjiPlay has evolved as a comprehensive approach to early education with Jesse Coffino, the CEO of Anji Education, Inc. and Chair of True Play Foundation. 

Out Of The Box is an ongoing series where we explore alternative ways to teach and learn, and is done in collaboration with Anyaman Preschool.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

A few weeks ago, Russia invaded Ukraine. But today’s episode is not going to be about that specifically, but rather about China and Southeast Asia. Some political scientists have suggested that China may be observing the events of Russia-Ukraine closely and perhaps even use it as a blueprint to invade and take over Taiwan, which could lead to ripple effects experienced across Asia, including Southeast Asia.

Associate Professor Dr Guido Benny (International Relations) believes that there are important lessons to be drawn for Southeast Asians by observing the Russia-Ukraine crisis. He joins us to discuss.

Image credit: Shutterstock