Inside Story

Recently in Parliament, there's been a fair amount of back and forth about SPM candidates who were absent for the exam, and what the exact numbers are. But beyond all that furore, what does this percentage of absenteeism tell us about the true rate of school dropouts in Malaysia? We explore that with Sharan Raj, before going on to discuss how something like TVET can play a role here, with Raja Riz...

Deputy Minister of Human Resources Mustapha Sakmud told the Dewan Rakyat that older people are returning to the workforce because of financial commitments. So, we unpack the various reasons behind this by speaking to Dr Saidatulakmal Mohd, Associate Professor of Economics at Universiti Sains Malaysia. We also heard from listeners on how they feel about senior citizens returning to the workplace, a...

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has advised university students to use critical thinking in dealing with hate speech. Considering the fact that hate speech is something that evokes so much emotions from people, we're wondering, is rational thinking enough to counter it? So we unpack this with a psychologist. Then, we heard from our listeners on whether they find hate speech triggering, and...

Scholarships are a hot topic right now, and this is because Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that the Public Service Department (JPA) will continue to offer scholarships for students pursuing medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, after initially saying that they would be stopping it. The reason for this, according to Anwar, was that the country still needed experts in these fields. Bu...

The Selangor government is planning to ban the sale of cats and dogs in pet stores, to encourage people to adopt instead. We speak to Edward Lim, who is the Shelter Manager of PAWS Animal Welfare Society, to get his perspective on this. Then, we open up the floor to our listeners to share their experiences when it comes to adopting animals, and where they stand on this suggestion by the Selangor g...

Malaysia’s Ambassador to the United States Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz has suggested that the Federal Constitution be amended to ensure a period of five years between general elections and create a fixed term for parliament. So first, we discussed the pros and cons of this proposal and whether it would solve the problem of political instability with political scientist, Dr Wong Chin Huat. Then lat...

Kedah’s Menteri Besar Dato Seri Muhammad Sanusi Nor recently made headlines over a claim that Penang belongs to Kedah. His comments have spurred both criticisms and support, most notably from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim calling the remarks "irresponsible". So first, we unpacked the truth behind these claims from a historical perspective. And then later, we talked about the use of histo...

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo is currently on a two-day work visit to Malaysia, and in a joint press conference with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, pledged their commitment to further strengthen bilateral ties between both countries. So, we spoke to Dr Azmi Hassan, Senior Fellow at the Nusantara Academy of Strategic Research about what agreements emerged from the visit, and what it t...

A commotion broke out in parliament yesterday, after Parliament Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul exercised his authority to allow a debate of the Auditor-General Report 2021. This was met by objection from the Opposition bloc, who argued that this went against parliamentary rules and called for it to be passed without a debate. Government MPs were not happy about this, which led to a shouting match. S...

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has called for children to be taught to wash toilets. He said that this is to ensure comfort and cleanliness are maintained and to foster respect for all people, including those who clean toilets. So first, we speak to a retired principal and discuss whether such an initiative would help promote civic mindedness among students. Then, we hear from our listene...

A national symbol, and an emblem of beauty, elegance and heritage, the kebaya has a special place in Malaysian culture. But it isn't just us - it's also significant and meaningful to Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei and Thailand, which is why all five countries have gone in together on a bid for the kebaya to be recognised as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. We discuss the value of these sha...

The ringgit has been seeing a depreciation against the US dollar, amidst the US Federal Reserve raising its policy interest rate aggressively, and larger uncertainties in the global economy. We discuss how this impacts the average Malaysian, first by hearing from the Morning Run's Wong Shou Ning, and then directly from our listeners. Image Credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...

A survey by the Pew Research Center survey found that 73% of adults in America rate spending time with their families as one of the most important thing to them, with being involved in political or social causes ranking last (21%). We localize the discussion by looking at what Malaysians prioritize most in their lives, and where political involvement ranks for us. Image Credit: Shutterstock See om...

The KL Sentral LRT Station was officially rebranded to "KL Sentral redONE" LRT station, following a the recent partnership between redONE Network, and Prasarana. This is part of a five year station naming rights agreement between them, but it's made us ask: What value is there in a name, when it comes to public spaces? What happens when a place takes on a different name? We unpack these questions...

We pay tribute to actor, filmmaker, musician, and composer Tan Sri P. Ramlee on the 50th anniversary of his death (he passed away on May 29, 1973) - we discuss what made him such a singular Malaysian icon, whether we’re likely to see another star like him, and of course, which of his movies and songs we most love. Image Credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mount Everest casts a long shadow both literally and figuratively, looming large in the public imagination. But Malaysia's recent mission was marked by both triumph (our countrymen making it to the summit) and tragedy (the death of Lieutenant-Colonel Awang Askandar Ampuan Yaacub, and Muhammad Hawari Hashim still missing at the time of our show). We speak to veteran mountaineer T Ravichandran, who...

A couple of recent events have made us ask this exact question. One being the Prime Minister's announcement that people in the T20 income bracket would no longer get electricity subsidies. Alongside that, a debate online about whether targeted subsidies are fair to people who pay higher taxes. So we unpack this, and heard from our listeners about where they stand on this issue. Image Credit: Shutt...

With the Air Itam dam's capacity standing at 41.5% currently, there are broad concerns about Penang's water supply (not a new issue in the state), which has resulted in Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow asking for Penangites to reduce their water consumption by 20% daily. We speak to Professor Dr Chan Ngai Weng to understand the specificities of Penang's water struggles, and get at the efficacy of this...

Good news! The Dewan Rakyat has passed the billl to decriminalise attempted suicide, a historic move for the country. This has been a long time coming for us, so we unpack the journey that's been taken to reach this decision with Dr Kelvin Yii, who's been a strong advocate of this in parliament. Then, we talked about how we, as a community, can build a more supportive system. Image Credit: Shutter...

President of the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF), Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman has said that most fresh graduates have high salary expectations and demands that may be difficult for companies to match. This was quoted in a piece written by The Star, which raised the question of whether graduates are being too demanding, or are our starting wages just too low, especially for urban life? W...

How many times have you gone online and seen videos of what once was a favourite hidden gem spot of yours, gone viral in the blink of an eye? That's what happened to a recently viral food vendor selling nasi lemak, who found herself having to manage a new and growing fanbase. So first, we unpack how SMEs can scale up sustainably. Then, we hear from small F&B business owners about their aspirat...

We're all feeling the heat these days, and it's only expected to get warmer in the next few months. Heatstroke cases have been consistently reported, and outdoor activities in schools have been postponed by the Ministry of Education. So, we first speak to an urban planning expert on how this has affected people living in cities, and what we can do about it. Then, we explore how this heat wave has...

With parliament reconvening on May 22, we speak to Dewan Rakyat Speaker, Dato Johari Abdul, to get his thoughts on parliamentary reform, how he intends to raise the bar in the House, and training future MPs to be better leaders. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A landmark case is making its way through the courts at the moment, with Siti Nafirah Siman, a former student of SMK Taun Gusi in Kota Belud filing a suit against Mohd Jainal Jamran, a teacher, for allegedly skipping class for seven months. This brings up multiple issues, including how to ensure that teachers stay motivated and engaged with the work they do - so we look into that, and also check i...

... and would PAS even want to? DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang recently proposed that the ruling government could cooperate with PAS ahead of the upcoming state elections, which is coming alongside Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim launching a charm offensive in states like Kedah and Kelantan. We discuss this suggestion, and also talk about what happens when the ideological gap may prove too larg...