With the seemingly unending lockdowns, we are seeing an underlying pattern of Group Think that appeals to the natural senses of fear and anxieties but shuts down any voices of dissent in the form of debates, disagreements, and legitimate debates. How do we, as the Rakyat, stir up a voice presenting Minority Report to break free from a dominant control system based on pseudo data? Join us for a hopeful discussion with our host, Simon Yeo, and be prosperous even in the midst of lockdown.

We started Season 2 with the same title, “Lockdown Again?!” with MCO 2.0. And it seems like we are in a time loop with no clear sight of an end as we are in MCO 3.0.

Is there a more feasible and tolerable way for us to deal with the issues, instead of lockdown? It is past time we take an effortful pause from a vantage point, recalibrate our response to the true risk, make rational cost-benefit analyses of the trade-offs, and end the lockdown groupthink. Are we seizing the most of the opportunities to rise above the circumstances, or get caught in the tumultuous current of a pandemic of Covid-19, fear, and lack of courage?

Interestingly, in the last episode when we explored the concept of state vs region, our host, Simon, realised later that he made mistake in the pronunciation of the word “Secession” as “Cessation”. The pronunciation of the word “Secession” is very similar to the word succession – as in take over a position and responsibilities by a successor. Though the word was mispronounced as cessation, interestingly the word cessation does convey a certain level of information and emotion that is related to the secession of state (the latter being the technical word for leaving a union or a federation). Join us this week to find out more on the whole issue of independence and secession.

Join us this week as our host, Simon Yeo, brings us back to a key event that took place in the year 1976, where constitutional amendment made by the Parliament of Malaysia essentially relegated Sabah and Sarawak to the status of mere states. 

Logan travelled back in time to 1973 in the movie “X-Men: Days of Future Past” to change history in preventing an event that results in doom for both humans and mutants. As we draw parallels to visiting the key events in the history of our nation to the concept of redeeming the time, we hope you are encouraged with a hope for a better future, similar to the fuse of hope that Thomas Jefferson had when he declared, “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.”

In last week’s podcast, we drew reference to the famous quote by George Orwell, “All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.” As we continue to uncover more about the tribe values of two groups of people ascribed by David Goodhart, Anywhere and Somewhere, and how they fit into the big picture of big government versus small government, we would understand the critical function of sovereign nations.

Despite the rise of globalism and big government that seeks to exert more control, we must remember there are functions and order in each sovereign nation we live in. Law and regulations, monetary and fiscal stability are the functions provided by the sovereign nations, and not global institutions. As we submit to the function and order belonged to the sovereign nations, may we find the hope to continue to believe in change, and take the necessary steps to initiate changes in ways unique to each and every one of us. Change is very much possible if we all combine our strengths and make it a reality rather than an impossibly utopian ideology.

Our title for this week’s podcast is extracted from none other than an acclaimed dystopian masterpiece novel by George Orwell. Such an apt description that described the hypocrisy of governments that promote absolute equality of their citizens, yet empowering and benefiting a small elite.

Big government is a prelude to a totalitarian system. Is it something that we really want, having had a big government governing Malaysia for decades? Join us this week as our host, Simon, spices up the podcast with some pop quiz to shift our understanding of big government versus small government.

Perhaps one of the most famous quotes about freedom of speech is none other than Hall’s phrase in The Friends of Voltaire, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Here’s a nation with one of the founding pillars being freedom of speech and freedom of expression. In an era where more restrictions have been placed on what we can say, on what we can think, we must understand that freedom of expression and freedom of speech aren’t really important UNLESS they are heard. We hope you are encouraged in this week’s episode and regain your voices and hope once again to fight for the liberty of expression in this land we call home.

Don’t we all love time traveling, whether through the time-traveling machines or the superpower of time traveling to enable us to revisit a past event to rectify it for a better future? As we revisit some of the past watershed moments in the history of our nation, we would like to encourage all the listeners to answer these questions honestly. What is the hope and desire we have for our nation? Do we really hate systemic corruption? Do we really hate the racial and political and religious schemes created to divide us as a nation? When we can honestly answer these questions after a thorough assessment, that will be the Days of Future Past for us Malaysians. We hope you feel encouraged once again to move with joy in the war - the war to fight for a better future for our generation and generations to come.

Amendment - On 9 August 1965 (not 1963), Singapore separated from Malaysia to become an independent and sovereign state.

In recent times, the relationship between United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) has reached its all-time low that a key development was observed in the tussle for leadership in Malaysia’s government. In a February 26 decision, UMNO has announced the severance of ties with Bersatu, the party of the 8th Prime Minister of Malaysia. This breaking news was followed by the statement from UMNO Party deputy president, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hassan (also known as “Tok Mat”), that said, “I don’t understand why people are saying that Umno and Bersatu are now divorced when we never got married in the first place. We were never in a formal coalition like Barisan Nasional.”

Were they just friends with benefits and the political analysts were right in their prediction that the alliance was doomed from the start? UMNO was the party with the largest number of Members of Parliament in the Perikatan Nasional coalition, more than Bersatu. Professor James Chin, director of the Asia Institute at the University of Tasmania, remarked, “In the end, they (UMNO) were outmaneuvered, with many key ministerial positions given to Bersatu MPs. UMNO was found wanting.” 

Join us as our host, Simon Yeo, discusses in this week’s episode, the King’s suggestion to reconvene Parliament and the outlook for the Malaysian political landscape following the split between UMNO and Bersatu in the Prime Minister’s coalition that formed the backdoor government.

Malaysia is no stranger to public health crises. In the A(H1N1) outbreak, there was no health curfew imposed given the preparedness Malaysian Health Ministry in pandemic outbreak response, with health screening and thermal scanners in place at various checkpoints at Kuala Lumpur International Airport following the start of a global alert on the flu.

What makes the COVID-19 pandemic different from previous pandemic outbreaks in Malaysia that the country’s constitutional monarch declared a nationwide state of emergency at Prime Minister Muhyiddin’s request? Is the COVID-19 outbreak response by the Malaysian government encroaching into our liberty that turns us, the law-abiding civilians, into victims? Many stop living. Many stop having to accomplish or even try hard things because there’s this deadly thing out there that might kill them. Is this who we really are? You choose – is it going to be a fight over liberty or do you accept death sentence over our livelihood without putting up a fight?