Good Things

For close to four decades now, Five Arts Centre has been creating, experimenting and educating. Known for their interdisciplinary, and intercultural work, the collective have been bringing social, political, and cultural issues to the stage, through performances, exhibitions, creative seminars, research workshops and arts advocacy. They recently moved to a new space, and as they put it, "have been...

The Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network is a regional network of organisations and individuals committed to working towards abolition of the death penalty in the Asia Pacific. On this episode, we’re joined by Dobby Chew, Executive Coordinator of the Network. Image credit: Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN)/Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Doctors On Ground (DnG) is a medical non-profit organisation championing sustainability in community development and healthcare to marginalised groups in Malaysia. Though only established in 2021, the organisation has already assisted close to 700 families across the country. On this episode, we’re joined by Arissa Jemaima Ikram, founder of DnG. Image credit: Doctors On Ground (DnG)/Notion See omn...

Ahead of Teachers Day, we speak to two exceptional educators, Cheryl Ann Fernando and Samuel Isaiah . Cheryl is a Teach for Malaysia Alumni, who was also part of the National Education Council for Policy Reform in 2018/2019, and Samuel was named as one of the Top 10 finalists of the Global Teacher Prize 2020. Now working together in Pemimpin GSL , Cheryl as CEO and Samuel as Programme Director, th...

Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) are a collective founded on the principles of transformative justice, and committed to seeking the reform of Singapore’s criminal punishment system, starting with the abolition of the death penalty. They’ve been important figures in pushing the Singapore government to grant clemency for Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, who was unfortunately executed yesterday. In t...

Chong Yee Shan is a part of Parti Sosialis Malaysia, as well as Kesatuan Pekerja Swasta Hospital Kerajaan (KPSHK). Recently, she was one of the key figures in the #CleanerJugaFrontliner convoy, and has been actively fighting for the rights of the marginalised across races and genders for more than a decade. She joins us on the show today to share her journey. Image credit: Chong Yee Shan/Facebook...

Cikgu Siti Rahayu Baharin believes that education is a fundamental human right. She’s one of the co-founders of Buku Jalanan Chow Kit. She also has set up a school for undocumented children and teaches classes on the streets of chow kit. She joins us on the show today to share her journey. Image credit: @CikguRahayu/Twitter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The youth-led organisation Borneo Komrad advocates for the human rights of marginalised communities, and believes that education is the way forward for everyone. Citing economics, intellectual advocacy and a sense of community as their three main agendas, the group champion the rights of underserved communities in Sabah mostly, though they are also starting to work in Peninsula Malaysia now. We fi...

Ivy Josiah is a prominent women’s rights activist who is integral in helping establish the Women’s Aid Organisation. She’s been a human rights defender for many decades and has been involved in various protests and demonstrations throughout the years, including the many Bersih rallies. She joins us to share her story. Image credit: Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thinzar Shunlei Yi is a fearless human rights activist based in Yangon, Myanmar. She was the first woman coordinator of the National Youth Congress (NYC) and a two-term president of Yangon Youth Network. She’s also one of the Obama Foundation’s inaugural selected #ObamaLeaders for Asia-Pacific. But once upon a time, her life was much different. Shunlei was born into a Junta family. In fact, her fa...

Back in 1987, Meenakshi Raman was among those detained under Ops Lalang. Spending 47 days in solitary confinement, Meena was never charged with anything, though at the time, this young lawyer had been working on several public interest cases, including the infamous Asia Rare Earth case. The experience of being detained strengthened her convictions, and Meena has continued to work on issues relatin...

Chee Yoke Ling's work is perhaps best described as intersectional. Among many others, she fights to uphold human rights, women's rights, environmental rights, social justice, sustainable development, public health, access to healthcare, and so much more. The Executive Director of the Third World Network (TWN), Yoke Ling is also a trained lawyer in international law, she works closely with TWN’s si...

In the lead up to International Women's Day, we find out more about the Akar Umbi Development Society , an NGO that collaborates with grassroots communities towards ending marginalisation and creating equal opportunities through people-development programmes and initiatives. One such programme is called the Azalea Initiative , which is a leadership programme for refugee women. We find out more fro...

Ian Yee is one of the most prominent investigative journalists in Malaysia today. He’s one of the pioneers of popular impact journalism channel, R.AGE and has recently founded a new investigative journalism platform, The Fourth. Image credit: Ian Yee Twitter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2018, the performing arts community in KL came together to form a new arts coalition called ReformARTsi, aiming to build consensus on specific areas of reform & policy changes in the arts sector in Malaysia. June Tan & Arief Hamizan join us to share what this coalition is all about. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sivarajan Arumugam, Secretary General of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM). He has been fighting for the rights of the marginalised and underprivileged, including plantation and factory workers, orang asli and the likes, for about 30 years. He joins us on the show to share his journey in activism and politics, what radicalised him and growing up in a middle-class Malaysian Indian family. Image credit:...

Rajsurian Pillai is the criminal lawyer who has been part of the legal team helping out some of the recent protests that have been taking place, such as the LAWAN protest, candlelight vigil, etc. He joins us on the show today to discuss his journey thus far and the role of a lawyer during a protest. Image credit: Rajsurian Pillai Facebook Page See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yu Ren Chung is Deputy Executive Director, Women's Aid Organisation (WAO). He has been a women’s rights activist for close to a decade now and has pushed for various bills and laws such as the Sexual Harassment Bill and now the anti-stalking law. He joins us on the show to share his journey. Image credit: Yu Ren Chung Facebook Page See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meera Samanther, a lawyer and veteran women’s rights activist. Meera was the longest-serving president of WAO (11 years) and also served as the president of the Association of Women Lawyers (AWL) for five years.  She joins us on the show to share her journey, struggles and changes she’s seen over the years. Image credit: Kang & Kang Advocates & Solicitors See omnystudio.com/listener f...

Before entering into the realm of frontline politics, YB Maria Chin Abdullah was first a women’s rights and human rights activist. She was also the President of Bersih 2.0, and at one point even spent 11 days in detention without trial. She joins us to share some memories. Image credit: YB Maria Chin Twitter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cynthia is a key advocate for human rights and good governance in Malaysia for decades. She spent most of her life defending human rights and fighting corruption. She was the Executive Director of SUARAM and even worked with United Nation bodies such as OHCHR & UNODC. After the 2018 elections, she was appointed into the 1MDB special committee, reporting directly to then-Prime Minister Tun Dr M...

For the last two weeks of the year, we revisit some of the most inspiring conversations we’ve had on the show throughout the year. On this edition of Best of Good Things 2021, we’ll be focusing on young people building a better Malaysia. Image credit: Amir Abd Hadi, UNDI 18, Closing The Gap, Refuge For Refugees Facebook Page See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen to inspiring anecdotes from the OGs – veteran human rights activists who have been relentless for decades – and relive some of the best moments from the show in 2021. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons, Tatler Asia, SUARAM Facebook Page, learonomics.org, Nalini Elumalai Twitter Page See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Hartini Zainudin is a child’s rights activist. She is the co-founder of Yayasan Chow Kit and also the Vice President of Voice of the Children, an NGO that does advocacy work, law and policy reforms and training on children’s issues. She joins us on the show to share her journey. Image credit: Tatler Asia See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part of her name means peace and bravery, and Mary Shanthi Dairiam has certainly lived up to that, spending the better part of her life tirelessly advocating for women's rights. The founding director of the International Women’s Rights Action Watch? Asia Pacific (IWRAW-Asia Pacific), she has served as an expert assisting key UN agencies, including the United Nations’ Gender Equality Ta...