Live & Learn

The nomination process for the Melaka state elections took place this morning. The state elections will see a minimum of three cornered fights in every single constituency as Pakatan Harapan, Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional are set to battle it out for every single seat. Not to mention independent candidates that are set to make certain constituencies a 5 way battlefield. 

The Melaka State Elections is set to take place on the 20th of November. This comes at the heels of 4 members of the PN/BN coalition deciding to pull their support from the Chief Minister of Melaka, Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali of UMNO, causing the government to collapse.

We make sense of the nominations with political analyst, Oh Ei Sun.

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For the last few months, the team behind the FreedomFilmFest have been releasing a specially curated Freedom film playlist every weekend - dubbed ‘Weekend Watch with FreedomFilmFest' - on their YouTube channel. This week, the film set to be re-released is the 2017 documentary film "Saving Malaysia". The film looked at the Pakatan Harapan coalition that emerged prior to GE14 to ‘Save Malaysia’ and which saw old political enemies become allies, with the collective aim of toppling the Barisan National led government of the time. We find out more about what the film explored from its director, Sheridan Mahavera, who is also a former journalist and who currently manages the Freedom Film Network’s programme to reform film censorship.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

The recent Budget 2022 announcement included an allocation for the distribution of free personal hygiene kits every month to about 130,000 teenage girls from B40 families. This is a step towards tackling the serious and heavy issue of period poverty, which, together with menstrual health, have been taboo topics in our society. Why is it important to have open conversations about periods and period poverty, and thus the impact on girls and women from underprivileged communities? We discuss with Asst Prof Dr Fatimah Al-Attas, sociologist from IIUM and Anja Juliah Abu Bakar, founder of Athena Empowers.

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Deepavali is just around the corner (it’s on the 4th of November this year, to be exact). In conjunction with that, there’s going to be a documentary released, called Shiva, Seva & Devotion, centred around a future event one of the temples are planning to do in 2022 called Maha Kumbhabhishekam. The documentary also touches on why temples are important to the Hindu community, beyond just the religious/rituals side of things.

Last Friday at Parliament, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul unveiled Budget 2022. With RM 332.1 billion allocated, it is the highest budget in Malaysian history. But is Budget 2022 inspiring? And does it do enough to address the issues faced by the underprivileged and marginalized, particularly those who are considered B40. Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj of Parti Sosialis Malaysia, joins us to discuss. 

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This weekend, the Freedom Film Festival's Weekend Watch Playlist will feature the documentary-drama titled "Anur Nak Sekolah". This story revolves around the parents of Anur, a child with Cerebral Palsy, and their struggle to lay claim to her right to formal education in Malaysia. We catch up with Ronasina, Anur's father and the film's director, about the cause he struggled for, not just for Anur, but for all special needs children in Malaysia under the campaign of ‘No Child Left Behind”.

Image credit: Freedom Film Network

Wiki Impact is a new online platform dedicated to the impact industry. They share stories and data on issues that matter, highlighting impact-driven organizations and changemakers on the ground. Co-Founder, Deborah Chan, joins us to discuss.

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Covid-19 pandemic isn’t just a health crisis, but indirectly contributes to a whole host of other issues, including the rise of domestic violence and abuse, in which women are exponentially affected. Studies have also found that fewer women than men will regain employment during/after COVID-19 pandemic. We discuss how Budget 2022 should address these issues and more.

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While the past year and a half haven’t been easy for most of us, it’s been particularly challenging for many older adults. They’ve been among the high-risk groups for COVID-19, they’ve struggled to deal with the impact of lockdown restrictions on their physical activities, and many of them have spent long months apart from their families, especially their children and grandchildren. But have we been doing enough to put their well-being first? Ahead of the tabling of Budget 2022, consultant geriatrician Prof Dr Tan Maw Pin from Universiti Malaya Medical Centre joins us to discuss how we can start prioritising the needs of senior citizens and what’s on her wishlist for Budget 2022. 

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Malaysia’s first Women’s Tribunal, is set to take place virtually on the 27th and 28th of November. Organised by the women’s rights coalition Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) and Engender Consultancy, this virtual tribunal will give space to women to provide testimonies regarding the injustices they’ve experienced. Women’s rights activists and some of the brains behind this tribunal, Ivy Josiah & Grazele Jenarun, join us to discuss.

Image credit: Malaysia's Tribunal Malaysia Twitter