Live & Learn

A lot of the conversations around Orang Asli communities tend to gravitate around land rights, whether it’s in the news or social media. But how far do we go on an individual basis to get a better grasp of their culture - and connect with what’s in many ways, something that’s crucial to our national identity? These are the conversations 27-year-old visual artist Syarifah Nadhirah is trying to have through her illustrative book, ‘Recalling Forgotten Tastes’. We speak with Nadhirah to find out her experience about spending time with the Orang Asli and trying to understand a central feature of their living culture: mother nature and the ecosystems we ourselves very much rely on.

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Nearly a year after Langkah Sheraton, former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad remains a relevant part of our country’s political fabric. For Pakatan Harapan, the neverending question of working with the political giant continues to be a main sticking point in a united opposition. We speak with Professor Datuk Dr. Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, Director, Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA) at UKM to find out once and for all whether Pakatan can make up their minds about continuing their political struggle alongside Tun M - and if they need him to win the next general election. 

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25-year old Jocelyn Yow made history when she became the youngest woman of color to become a mayor of a California city. The new Mayor of Eastvale (Riverside County) in California, she is also a new mother and a grad student, who served as a district representative for the California State Senate and as an aide for the United States House of Representatives, where she worked to help seniors, families, small businesses, nonprofit organizations, and children access valuable government services. The daughter of a Vietnamese refugee and Chinese Malaysian, she knows how important it is for immigrant voices to be represented in politics, and hopes her story will help inspire younger generations to lead in their communities too. She joins us to share her story.

Image Source: Mayor Jocelyn Yow Facebook 

This past Monday, award-winning performing arts training centre Enfinity Academy in collaboration with The Artisans Haven AND SCHOLARSHIPS2U, announced the recipients of the academy’s Performing Arts Certificate course scholarship, today, worth 1000 USD. This scholarship comes at a time where many are struggling to fund their education and the performing arts scene has been hit particularly hard, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On this episode, we talk about the scholarship as well as the importance of performing arts, particularly during the pandemic, with Joanna Bessey, Head of Enfiniti Academy and Course Director, Jade Lee, Founder of The Artisans Haven, as well as, Matthew Gan, the CEO of Scholarships2U.

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We’re in the second week of the MCO and as people come across roadblocks then it’s likely that - in addition to the police - they’ve seen the army man them. And unlike the first MCO last year, they’ve now been granted emergency powers to arrest people who violate Covid-19 SOPs - which of course isn’t part of the normal functions of our armed forces. We speak with Datuk Joy Appukuttan, Partner at KH Lim and Co, to understand where the army derives this special power from, from a legal standpoint, as well as its implications on our civil liberties.

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On the 12th of January Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced a state of Emergency. The Prime Minister said this move was meant to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the country. Under the Emergency declaration, Parliament is suspended until the Emergency is scheduled to be lifted in August. 

But the move has been criticized not just by a section of the public and opposition MPs, but also by some MPs from parties currently aligned with the Perikatan Nasional government. The Prime Minister appears to be slowly losing the support of the majority of the Dewan Rakyat. But what does this all mean? How will this state of Emergency reshape our political landscape in the coming months. Mustafa Izzuddin, Political Scientist on Malaysian politics and Visiting Professor of International Relations at the Islamic University of Indonesia, joins us to share his insights.

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Plastic pollution is everywhere, and going nowhere fast - except into our waterways, soil, food, air, and bodies. The Sea Monkey Project aims to create ocean plastic solutions and spread more awareness on the issue. The family of four have been sailing and living aboard a 41ft Morgan Out Island monohull yacht called 'Sea Monkey' since 2014, after leaving their regular life behind in Brisbane. Along the way, they've learnt that we can't recycle our way out of the plastic crisis, so they now advocate for rethinking and redesigning the systems which led us here in the first place. Three of the Sea Monkeys - Carlos Steenland, Sydney Steenland and Indi Steenland - join us to share more about their work and adventures.

In December, The Association of Family Support & Welfare Selangor & KL (Family Frontiers) filed a constitutional challenge with the High Court, seeking a declaration that Malaysian women married to foreign spouses can automatically confer citizenship on their children who are born overseas. As it stands, Malaysia is one of 25 countries that deny women and men equal right to confer nationality on their children. In this episode, Dashran is joined by Chee Yoke Ling & Roshena Rafiq of Family Frontiers, who share their insights and experiences on the matter. Roshena is currently facing an uphill battle to confer citizenship on her children.

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2020 has been extremely tough for schools, as Covid-19 disrupted the academic year and  forced teachers and students to adapt to new norms and practices. Classes went virtual, and then students shifted between remote and in-person learning, while most major exams were postponed. Indeed, many saw 2020 as the lost year in education. To take us through the lessons schools have learned from that lost year and how they’ll navigate 2021, Hezril Asyraaf is joined by Iain Sallis, Campus Principal at Tenby Schools Setia Eco Park.

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For many of us, the first MCO probably seems ages ago. And with the new year, I think it’s fair to say that we want to put 2020 behind us and look forward to a better year, and one without lockdowns. But for Viji Krishnamoorthy and Shireen Zainudin, our experiences during the various MCOs are a valuable part of our history. So much so that they decided to compile some of those experiences into a book titled The Lockdown Chronicles, which they edited.

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