Live & Learn

The PCORE Women For Change And Empowerment (W4CE) is an initiative to push forward the women’s development agenda in five key areas: Governance and  Integrity, Economic Empowerment, Socio-Cultural Development, Education and Legal Rights. We find out more about this women's empowerment initiative from Datuk Halimah Mohd Said, the President of the Association of Voices of Peace, Conscience and Reason (PCORE).

In 2015, world leaders overwhelmingly backed the elimination of female genital mutilation as one of the targets in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In conjunction with the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM - which was observed on the 6th of February - we are joined by Sivananthi Thanenthiran, the Executive Director of the Asian Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW) and Rozana Isa, the Executive Director of Sisters in Islam (SIS), who joins us to discuss the prevalence of this practice globally, and whether it's happening in Malaysia, and also the urgent action needed to both abolish the practice and address the lack of FGM awareness around the world.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) or Doctors Without Borders is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation, that provides assistance to populations in distress, to victims of natural or man-made disasters and to victims of armed conflict. Observing neutrality and impartiality in the name of universal medical ethics, we find out more about this international organisation from Beatrice Lau, who is the MSF Malaysia's Head of Mission.

In 2015, world leaders agreed to 17 goals for a better world by 2030. Access to clean water and sanitation is the sixth goal on the list due to the impact it can have on access to education, the economy, women and children. On today’s show, we speak to Dr Teh Su Thye, the CEO of the Global Peace Foundation Malaysia to discuss one of their flagship programs, Communities Unite for Purewater, or better known as CUP and their work in providing access to clean water to rural communities.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for TransPacific Partnership (CPTPP) was born from the ashes of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), which fell apart when Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the TPPA on his first day in office. As more developing countries outside the partnership are looking to join the CPTPP, we analyse the current literature and explore how the CPTPP will likely impact women in the partnerships’ developing country members, in terms of the economy, food security, labour, its effect on policy space, the consequences of intellectual property rights, and the environment. Joining us to help us do this is Dhivya Kanagasingam, a researcher from the Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women (ARROW).

In his new book, 'The Ape that Understood the Universe', Dr Steve Stewart-Williams explores why humans are the way we are. An Associate Professor of Psychology, he draws on ideas from two major schools of thought -- evolutionary psychology and cultural evolutionary theory -- to understand how humans evolved from a mere ape into an ape capable of reshaping the planet, travelling to other worlds, and understanding the vast universe of which we’re but a tiny, fleeting fragment. He joins us to share more.

The Asian Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW) and the Danish Family Planning Association (DFPA) jointly launched an innovation programme and fund back in December 2018, in Katowice, Poland, to tackle the catastrophic impact of climate change on women and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights. Called WORTH - the Women and Earth Initiative - we find out more about this programme from Sivananthi Thanenthiran, the Executive Director of the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW).

‘The Forest is our Heartbeat: The Struggle to Save Indigenous Land in Malaysia’ is the latest report into indigenous rights, by Amnesty International. The paper’s researcher, Rachel Chhoa-Howard, together with Dr Colin Nicholas, the coordinator for the Center for Orang Asli Concerns, discuss if the battle to protect indigenous communities and their rights to their land in the ‘New Malaysia’ is any different than before.

We know that violence, neglect and trauma harms a child, but we actually know very little about the lifelong effects of such harm. Professor Michael Dunne, Professor of Social Epidemiology from the Queensland University of Technology in Australia is here to share research that is now showing the long-term impact of childhood adversity on physical health and mental disorders well into adulthood.

With Christmas just around the corner, we discuss how you can start a Kindness Advent Calendar with your family and friends. Joining us to discuss how to get started and to share some handy kindness tips is Racheal Kwacz, a Child and Family Development Specialist and a contributor with Happy Go KL.