The Future is Female

Many couples struggle with infertility in silence, hiding their struggle from friends and family. How do we break this cycle of silence and shame? Melisa Idris speaks to Irene Kwan, CEO of TMC Fertility & Women’s Specialist Centre about the psychological impact of infertility and normalising conversations about fertility treatment and preservation.

Melisa Idris speaks to Mediha Mahmood, Executive Director of the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Content Forum (CMCF) about ensuring ethical and equitable representation and treatment of women, children and PWDs in advertising and online media.

Stepmothers have often been portrayed as ‘evil’ in fairytales and popular culture. Hoping to change this narrative for toddlers, Yuri Schneider wrote a children’s book telling the story of Ian, a boy who splits his time between two homes and calling two women his ‘mom’. Melisa Idris speaks to Yuri Schneider, author of ‘Two Homes, One Family’ about bringing more awareness about blended families.

Melisa Idris speaks to filmmaker and content creator, Nanthini Ganesan, about telling female-centric stories through film and the representation of women both on and off the screens.

To commemorate the International Day of the Girl, Melisa Idris speaks to Jasmin Lim, Child Protection Officer for World Vision Malaysia.

Melisa Idris speaks to Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Siti Zuraina Abdul Majid, Malaysia’s first professionally-trained archaeologist, who, in 1991, discovered the 11,000-year-old Perak Man-the oldest human skeleton discovered in Malaysia. Professor Siti Zuraina was recently accorded the 2022 Merdeka Award for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement. The Merdeka Awards recognises individuals and organisations whose works have not only contributed to the country's growth, but have also inspired greatness among Malaysians.

Melisa Idris speaks to Yap Yann Fang, Founder & CEO of Beauty & Co, a beauty and wellness co-working space. They discuss the evolution of the bursary services industry and how to make it more inclusive and responsible.

Melisa Idris speaks to Mastura M. Rashid, Vice President of Impact Malaysia, about empowering young people to bring meaningful and lasting change in their communities, and to be informed citizens fully engaged in the democratic process.

Many parents find they have few options when it comes to childcare-often limited by cost, proximity, operating hours, etc. In a bid to provide parents with more choices, Kiddocare was founded in 2018 with the aim of connecting parents with trained child-carers. Melisa Idris speaks to Muhaini Mahmud, co-founder of Kiddocare about how the on-demand babysitting platform is creating a win-win situation for women.

Organisations can no longer opt-out from integrating sustainability and ESG principles into their strategies — it has gone from being a functional requirement to a commercial imperative. Melisa Idris speaks to ESG & sustainability advocate, Ahila Ganesan, Founder of Future LinQ. She is also the Special Advisor to the London-based ESG Foundation.They also discuss Ahila’s work in sustainable urbanism as Senior Director of Strategy & Development for Think City, and how to build inclusive, future-proof cities.