Live & Learn

It’s been roughly about a week now since Russia invaded Ukraine. Hundreds have been killed. Hundreds of thousands have fled the country. Unsurprisingly, people and governments across the globe have condemned the move by Russian president Vladimir Putin, rightfully so. The United States and other countries have thrown sanctions targeting Russian banks, oil refineries, exports, etc. However, this entire saga so far has caused many to raise their eyebrows, wondering why the same condemnation isn’t extended to the US and the West when they invade other countries. On top of that, many have also questioned Western media’s double standards and blatant racism on display over the past few days. Assal Rad, Senior Research Fellow, National Iranian American Council joins us to discuss.

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Langkah Sheraton came as a shock. Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir lost his majority when a small faction of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, led by Azmin Ali, defected from the party, teamed up with Bersatu (which was also part of the Pakatan Harapan coalition) and formed a new coalition with Barisan Nasional, PAS, GPS, etc to form a new government. Since then, there have been calls for an anti-hopping law – to put it simply, a law that would prevent frogs. Things gained momentum when Pakatan Harapan signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ismail Sabri-led government last September, in which one of the key terms was the tabling of an Anti-Hopping Law. 

But where are we at right now, when it comes to this law?

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Keeping a household running isn’t just about getting the chores done and making sure the needs of everyone in your family is taken care of, like ticking items off a to-do list. There’s much more that goes on behind the scenes, or rather in the heads of parents, especially mothers, who are constantly worried that these things are done. That’s a very simple description of what the mental load is, and we find out more from Leah Ruppanner, Professor in Sociology at the University of Melbourne on how the mental load disproportionately affects mothers, and how it could further widen inequalities that women already face in the workplace.

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What happens when your status changes from “married” to “divorced”? This is what filmmaker Afiq Deen explored in his short documentary, titled Huruf J, which was awarded the Most Outstanding Human Rights Film at the 2011 Freedom Film Festival. Today on our ongoing Stay Home and Watch series, done in collaboration with the Freedom Film Network, we look at at this prevalent, but often hidden issue, surrounding the struggles faced by Muslim women divorcees, or Janda, right here in Malaysia with the film's director, Afiq.

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On this episode of Law & Behold, we tackle two Constitution fundamentals: Constitutional Supremacy, and also Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances. What does it mean that the Constitution stands as the supreme law of the land? How does the Federal Constitution provide for the separation of powers, namely through the three branches of the Executive, the Federal Legislative and the Judiciary? Firdaus Husni (Chief Human Rights Strategist, Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights (MCCHR) and Kee Hui Yee (lawyer, Kanesalingam & Co) join us to answer these questions and more. 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).

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Three Malaysian mothers under the Family Frontiers banner, finally received their children’s citizenship confirmation certificate at the National Registration Department (NRD) headquarters, yesterday. This comes at the heels of a historic KL High Court Ruling last September, that Malaysian mothers have the right to confer citizenship to their children born overseas, similar to overseas-born children of Malaysian fathers. Despite this ruling, many mothers still have to jump through hoops to confer citizenship. We discuss.

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Indonesia’s ambassador to Malaysia, Hermono, recently questioned the higher number of cases of mistreatment and abuse of Indonesian domestic workers in the country compared to some of our neighbouring countries like Singapore. He also added that some of these cases pretty much amount to modern-day slavery. But such cases are not new, in fact, there are news reports of similar cases over the past years. Irene Xavier, Executive Director of Selangor Friends of Women Association joins us to discuss how we can treat domestic workers, and the legal reforms needed to push us in the right direction.

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Stay Home and Watch is our ongoing series, done in collaboration with the folks from the Freedom Film Network, where we revisit past films that tackle various human rights issues in Malaysia. Today, we discuss the film Pilih, which takes on the issue of campus elections and exposes the realities faced by our students. Are our universities empowering future generations to participate in a democratic society, or are they nurturing disempowered and indoctrinated youths? Using a popular talk show format, Pilih provides an insight as to why our youths may be apathetic, and is a micro-look as to how democracy functions in Malaysia. We find out more from the filmmaker herself, Loo Que Lin, who is also a human rights activist.

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Children’s museums are an informal education venue for families, which are child-centred, and which offer developmentally-appropriate exhibits and programs that explore a variety of topics. Exhibits are interactive and hands-on, motivating play-based learning experiences that differ from those at home or at school. Currently there are more than 300 children’s museums worldwide in 22 different countries, and on this episode of Out Of The Box, we speak to Serena Fan, the Founder & Executive Director of Hong Kong Children's Discovery Museum (HKCDM) about the fundamental values embodied by children’s museums. Joining also as co-host is Joanna Menon Lim, the co-founder and partner of Anyaman Preschool, our collaborators for this series.

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Last week, many of us would’ve read the shocking but perhaps not uncommon news of a 15-year-old girl who had given birth and allegedly caused the death of her newborn. As more details emerge about the case, it was reported that the girl has been remanded while a police investigation is carried out, which has been criticised by MPs and child rights’ advocates for not considering the child’s right to protection, despite having possibly committed a serious crime. In a situation like this, how do we balance between addressing the crime while also protecting the child’s rights? Srividhya Ganapthy, co-chairperson of CRIB Foundation weighs in.

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