Live & Learn

Azam Baki is a name you’ve probably heard quite a bit about over the past month or so. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner has been embroiled in potential corruption, involving shares that he’s owned / trading account under his name that was apparently used by his brother. Concerning the latter, the Securities Commission recently did an investigation and yesterday claimed that it has not been able to establish that there was a breach of regulation with relation to the trading account. Iskandar Fareez of the think tank, Refsa, joins us to discuss.

Image credit: EPA-EFE

We're continuing our collaboration with the folks from the Freedom Film Network, revisiting past films that were made over the last two decades, which tackled various human rights issues in Malaysia. Today, we'll talk about the 2014 short documentary, Fight Through Cartoon which features the story of local political cartoonist Zulkiflee Sm Anwar Ulhaque, better known as Zunar. The award-winning Zunar is perhaps best known for his witty and provocative cartoons that tackle issues of abuse of power and corruption by local authorities. With the personal slogan “How can I be neutral? Even my pen has a stand.” Zunar has continued to speak truth to power through his artworks, despite being arrested, harassed and targetted. He joins me now to share more about the power of cartoons, and why he keeps doing what he's doing.

Image credit: Freedom Film Network

We're restarting our education-focussed series - Curriculum - where we discuss the A - Z of education, covering challenges facing both local and global education systems, but also exploring solutions and different ways of doing things, when it comes to learning and teaching. In our first episode for the year, we're joined by Cheryl Ann Fernando, a Teach for Malaysia Alumni, who was also part of the National Education Council for Policy Reform in 2018/2019. Now she is on a mission to provide leadership skills to head teachers around the country, through the organisation Pemimpin GSL. Currently, Pemimpin has worked with over 200 schools from all over Malaysia, and Cheryl joins us to discuss the work carried out by the organisation, and why she believes that excellent schools begin with excellent leaders.

Image credit: Generation T

As we’ve talked about last week, recently we’ve been faced with a national crisis: Floods. From the Klang Valley to Pahang, Johor, Kelantan, Melaka and Sabah, many neighbourhoods have been hit badly, houses submerged, more than 70 000 people (and counting) affected. 

Today we’re going to be zooming in on Johor and Parti MUDA’s flood relief effort in the state down south?

Image credit: Flickr

Volunteers have been the backbone of many initiatives throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and more recently, throughout the floods affecting parts of the country. We’ve seen people from all walks of life coming together to volunteer at the COVID-19 assessment centres, vaccination centres, through NGOs, and even recently at flood relief centres and religious institutions such as mosques and gurdwaras, to help others in need. But what should and shouldn’t you do when you commit to volunteering? And when we depend so much on volunteers, what are the gaps it exposes with our social welfare system? Here to share her thoughts on this is Joycelyn Lee, the co-founder of the Pit Stop Community Cafe.

Image credit: The Pit Stop Community Cafe

We're continuing our collaboration with the folks from the Freedom Film Network, revisiting past films that were made over the last two decades, which tackled various human rights issues in Malaysia. On today's episode, we speak to Albert Bansa, whose 2019 film "Pengidup Aku" (translated as "My Life" in Iban) follows the life of Tonny Anak Iman, a construction worker from Dalat in Mukah, Sarawak, who - like many others - was forced to leave his village in search of a better life in the city. But at what cost to him, and his family? Albert joins us to share more both about the film he made, and also his own experiences of growing up in the interiors of Sarawak.

Image credit: Freedom Film Network

With the simple motto to “Recycle, Reduce, Reuse” KakiDIY have been quietly and consistently working towards a collective sustainable future, by practising what they preach. This movement of DIY enthusiasts have greatly reduced waste by reusing broken items around them, either by repairing them or making it into something new. The recent devastating floods that hit Malaysians back in December resulted in the damage and loss of many household electric and electronic items, but volunteers from KakiDIY and KakiRepair have stepped in to help those affected as much as they can, by working to extract, clean, diagnose and repair various household items. We find out more about their efforts from Johnson Lam, the Founder of KakiDIY and KakiRepair. Johnson also shares some practical safety and survival tips, should our homes get flooded.

Image credit: KakiDIY Facebook Page

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been faced with a national crisis: Floods. From the Klang Valley to Pahang, Johor, Kelantan, Melaka and Sabah, many neighbourhoods have been hit badly, houses submerged, approximately 70 000 individuals (and counting) affected. Dr Mathen of Parti MUDA joins us to discuss MUDA’s flood relief efforts, observations from the ground and what the government should do to prevent this from happening again.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Every year, on 4th January, World Braille Day is commemorated on the anniversary of Louis Braille’s birth, the person who invented Braille in 1824 when he was only a teen himself. Almost 200 years later, Braille has become a system of reading and writing that has enabled people with visual impairments to learn to become literate and participate in society. So to commemorate World Braille Day, we speak to Kaveinthran, a digital accessibility advocate to share his own experience with Braille.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Teachers, next to parents, are the reason why we turn out to be productive individuals when we grow up. They have dedicated their lives to teaching tiny tots, teenagers and youths, and make up the backbone of educational institutions. So, why is it that very little attention is paid to their wellbeing and career development? With 400,000 teachers in our education system, have we ensured they are equipped with the competencies, skills and mindset to deliver? We explored this with Samuel Isaiah (Programme Director, PEMIMPIN GSL), Fiqah Roslan (Representative, Tiada.Guru) and Vel Mohan Rangasamy (Deputy Secretary General, NUTP Malaysia).

This is an edited recording of the seventh and final webinar on Malaysia's education challenges, with a focus on Malaysia's Education Blueprint (MEB), and is a collaboration between BFM Media, Edunity Foundation and G25 Malaysia.