Beyond the Ballot Box

Iskandar Fareez is from the Democratic Action Party (DAP), currently serving as the National Vice Chief of DAPSY, which is their youth wing. He’s also served as a Special Functions Officer to the Deputy Minister in two ministries, namely the Ministry of Plantation and Commodities and Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. Originally from Shah Alam, Iskandar's political journey began while...

Starting 1st of July, Malaysia’s expanded Sales and Service Tax (SST) framework will kick in. Under this expansion, luxury and discretionary items like watches, yachts, and antique artworks will now be taxed at rates of 5% or 10%, while services such as private wellness treatments, construction, fee-based financial services, private schools, among others, will face a 6–8% service tax. There was al...

Temple Tracks: Labour, Piety and Railway Construction in Asia is a fascinating book by Vineeta Sinha, a professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the National University of Singapore. It explores how Indian migrant workers, brought to colonial Malaya and Singapore to build and maintain the railway system, were not just labourers laying down tracks — they were also community-builders and religion-...

Sevan Doraisamy is a veteran Malaysian human rights defender and activist who’s been fighting the good fight for more than 25 years. He also served as the Executive Director of SUARAM, one of the country’s leading human rights organisations for 10 years, before deciding to step aside this year. Over the years, he’s been at the forefront of numerous human rights campaigns, from pushing to abolish I...

Since the 2018 and 2022 elections, there has been renewed national focus on East Malaysia and the long-standing promises of MA63. But often, much of that focus has been on Sarawak — its political stability, development push, and dominant state government. Meanwhile, Sabah’s story is equally complex, shaped by decades of political shifts, unresolved questions of autonomy, persistent development gap...

Protests have spread all across America in solidarity with migrant workers and against US President Donald Trump’s immigration raids. Last Tuesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made the most arrests in a single day in its history, detaining more than 2,200 people. Even tourists were reportedly questioned and some were temporarily detained. Then on Friday, the federal agency arres...

By November 2025, Kerala is set to become India’s first state to entirely eradicate extreme poverty. One of the key reasons is the highly successful Extreme Poverty Eradication Project that the state government embarked on. But the interesting thing about Kerala is that while this specific project is fairly new, the state has been the benchmark in the country for development and social wellbeing f...

Charles Santiago is a human rights activist, a member of the DAP, former MP for Klang, and a two-time chairman of Malaysia’s National Water Services Commission (SPAN). He first held the SPAN chairmanship from November 2018 until his removal in April 2020 (after Langkah Sheraton), and was reappointed in March 2023, serving until March 2025.  Beyond these roles, Santiago serves as the co-chair...

Sarawak’s Sovereign Wealth Fund was launched in 2022, to “to safeguard and invest the State's funds for the future generations of Sarawak.” But what exactly is a sovereign wealth fund? How does it work?  And if it’s a useful tool or institution, would a state like Selangor—Malaysia’s most populous state with the highest GDP — benefit from one too? We speak to Geoffrey Williams, who’s an econo...

Over the past couple of decades, far-right parties and leaders have moved from the fringes to the forefront of global politics. Figures like Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen, Giorgia Meloni, and Narendra Modi or parties like the AFD, who were once seen as outliers or shrugged off altogether, now command mass followings, win elections or come close to winning, and shape global political discourse in a b...

Over the past couple of decades, far-right parties and leaders have moved from the fringes to the forefront of global politics. Figures like Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen, Giorgia Meloni, and Narendra Modi or parties like the AFD, who were once seen as outliers or shrugged off altogether, now command mass followings, win elections or come close to winning, and shape global political discourse in a b...

If you're ethnic-Indian—or if you have friends who are—chances are you've experienced first hand, or heard about racism in Malaysia’s rental market. Landlords rejecting tenants based solely on race. Ads that say “No Indians” or “Chinese only.” There are also instances where rental fee/pricing is clearly discriminatory.  But what can you do about it? Right now, the truth is—not much. The renta...

Many countries around the world are starting to become aging societies. In other words, there are more old people AND fewer people having babies. This demographic shift has important implications on the economy and politics of a country. The question is, what do we do about it? The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently published a report titled ‘The Rise of the Silver Economy: Global Implicat...

Raymon Ram has been appointed the new president of Transparency International–Malaysia. He will be serving in this capacity from 2025 - 2027. He succeeds Dr Muhammad Mohan, who stepped down after completing the six-year term limit.  In this episode, we chat with Raymon about battling the culture of corruption in Malaysia and what he hopes to achieve as the new President of Transparency Intern...

The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), is urging the government of Malaysia to take a firm and principled stance against the ongoing human and labour rights violations in Myanmar by supporting the invocation of Article 33 of the ILO Constitution.  The organisation, which consists of 12 million workers across 365 trade unions in 111 countries, stresses that Malaysia—as a Deputy Me...

Dr Vilashini Somiah who’s a feminist anthropologist and a senior lecturer at University Malaya has been appointed as the next chair of the Southeast Asia Council (SEAC) of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS).  This is important in and of itself but also specifically because she will be the first Southeast Asian-based scholar to lead the council since 1970 – that means she’s also the first...

Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) has released their 2024 human rights report . It’s a detailed report on the various human rights violations that have occurred throughout the year, some of the progress made and the changes that should happen moving forward.  We speak to Jernell Tan, who’s the Documentation & Monitoring Coordinator at SUARAM. Jernell also penned numerous chapters in the repo...

Labour Day is observed every year on the 1st of May. It’s a holiday in most countries around the world – and perhaps one of the most important ones. But most of us don’t think about its significance and even take it for granted. Behind the holiday lies a legacy of protest, solidarity, and the ongoing fight for workers’ rights. In this episode, we discuss the significance of labour day, especially...

There’s been a lot of talk lately about PTPTN’s ballooning debt and what to do about it. With a total outstanding debt of RM 40 billion, pressure is mounting on the government to act decisively. The instinctual reactions tend to focus on the defaulters, with many calling for harsh penalties like fines or travel bans. I mean, it’s only natural to think “you borrow, you pay back!”  But are we m...

Kanni Wignaraja is the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with over 25 years of experience in Sustainable Development. She has worked across Africa, Asia and is a prominent advocate for inclusive and people-centered development in the Asia-Pacific region. In this episode, we talk to her about...

The Ayer Kuning by-election will be taking place on the 26th of April and it is going to be a three-cornered fight between MADANI/Barisan Nasional’s Mohamad Yusri Bakir, Perikatan Nasional’s Abdul Muhaimin Malek and Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s Bawani Kaniapan (Bawani KS). The election for one out of the 59 state seats in Perak is taking place due to the passing of incumbent Ishsam Shahruddin of Bari...

Basic Income – or Universal Basic Income (UBI) as it’s commonly referred to – is a policy where a government gives all citizens a regular sum of money periodically (i.e. every month), regardless of their employment status or income level.  You might think to yourself that this is idealistic and utopian, wondering if it’s even feasible or necessary.  In this episode, we speak to Guy Stand...

For the past several decades, most of the world has been part of the neoliberal economic model. It burst onto the mainstream with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan in the late 70s and 80s but gained even more prominence after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the emergence of the United States of America as the global hegemon. This era was underpinned by the free flow of capital ac...

Last week, the world watched as U.S. President Donald Trump made headlines once again — this time by declaring “Liberation Day.” But instead of fireworks and parades, he brought out a sweeping new tariff regime. At the heart of it? A universal 10% tariff that spares no one — not even a remote, uninhabited territory like Heard Island and McDonald Islands, best known for its penguins. Beyond the uni...

It is no secret that Malaysia is a highly racialised country. Over the past decade, racial discrimination has not only persisted but evolved in new and complex ways. But are things getting better or worse? More importantly, are we getting better at understanding racism beyond simplistic framings of majority vs. minority? Pusat KOMAS recently released Malaysia Racism Report: A Decade in Review. Bas...