Pressing Matters

May 9th is celebrated as Victory Day in Russia to commemorate the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. It’s being watched closely this year as it takes place amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, with many observers expecting President Vladmir Putin to signal his next strategy in the war. We speak to security expert Alexey Muraviev of Curtin University to better understand the significance...

French President Emmanuel Macron won a second term in office yesterday, defeating right wing rival Marine Le Pen. However, despite securing a seemingly convincing majority of 58% of the vote compared to Le Pen's 42%, the fact that a third of French voters did not turn up at the ballot box indicates lacklustre public support for his policies. How will he tackle the immense challenge of uniting a di...

Tensions are heightened in the city of Jerusalem, with a rare convergence of religious occasions over the weekend leading to confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in recent days. Middle East expert Dr. James Dorsey breaks down the causes and implications of the uptick in violence, and what this could mean for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Image credit: EPA-EFE Se...

As the war in Ukraine rages on, calls are growing louder for Russian perpetrators of war crimes to be held to account by an international tribunal. What is the likelihood of such a trial taking place, in light of geopolitical dynamics? We discuss the complexities of the international criminal justice system with expert Dr. Maria Varaki. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

Revelations over the MySejahtera app controversy have dominated media headlines for the past week. Independent writer and consultant P. Gunasegaram weighs in on the issues at stake, including the data protection protocols in place to safeguard personal data that could be worth an estimated RM3.8 billion. Image Credit: Alen Thien/Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

The war in Ukraine is taking place on multiple battlefronts - on the ground, as well as in the digital world. How is social media shaping the narratives of the war on both sides, and how can media consumers be more discerning in identifying disinformation? We discuss social media trends in the war with Dr. Anatoliy Gruzd of the Ryerson University Social Media Lab. Image credit: EPA-EFE See omnystu...

At the latest UMNO General Assembly, top leaders put forth a united front, with Prime Minister Dato' Sri Ismail Sabri saying that any decision to call for snap general elections will be made in consultation with Umno's senior leadership. But how solid is Umno’s comeback, in light of continuing factionalism within the party? We discuss the dynamics at play with political columnist Mohsin Abdullah....

The Johor state elections were held on Saturday and as predicted by many analysts, the Umno-led Barisan Nasional coalition staged a convincing return. BN won two-thirds majority in the state assembly, amid subdued voter turnout of around 54% of the electorate casting their vote. We speak to BFM’s resident Johorean, Dashran Yohan for some colour on what happened over the weekend and what these elec...

Although women make up roughly half the population, women remain underrepresented both as news subjects and within the media industry. This was one of the motivations that spurred Reta Lee, Editor-in-Chief of Yahoo Life Southeast Asia to pursue a project focusing on the experiences of women journalists in the region. We speak to her about the compilation of essays, "The Stories Women Journalists T...

Human rights organization Pusat KOMAS conducted a social media monitoring project during the Melaka state elections in November 2021, among others collecting data on the incidence of race and religion based political messaging. We discuss the findings of the project with Programme Director Ryan Chua and the importance of viewing social media messaging with a critical eye. Image Credit: Shutterstoc...

Over the past two weeks, the issue of Malaysia’s 5G deployment has been debated extensively in the media, with different stakeholders offering their input on the issue. The flurry of discussion was initially sparked by Member of Parliament for Bangi, YB Ong Kian Ming, who on 7 February penned an open letter to Digital Nasional Berhad, the state-owned special purpose vehicle tasked with implementin...

In the Indian state of Karnataka, protests have been taking place for weeks over a recent policy decision that female Muslim students cannot wear the hijab in colleges. The issue has gained international attention after a video of a Muslim student being heckled by far-right protesters went viral. The case has put a spotlight on religious freedom in India and the worrying rise of sectarian politics...

One year ago this month, Myanmar’s fledgling democracy was struck down by a military coup which unseated the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD). Since then, public protests against the junta have persisted, despite a violent crackdown by the military. Will the political unrest in Myanmar stretch into a civil war? We discuss the state of play with Dr J...

This week, China gears up for two major events in the 2022 calendar: the annual Spring Festival or Lunar New Year and the Beijing Winter Olympics. We speak Beijing-based journalist Karoline Kan on the impact of China's zero Covid policy on festivities as well as the sustainability credentials of the Winter Games. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Saturday, 19th January, youth protesters took to the street to voice their dissatisfaction over the government's handling of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) securities trading scandal. We speak to journalist Radzi Razak on what he observed that day. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The prevalence of hate speech in public discourse, amplified by social media, is a problem multicultural societies the world over are grappling with. Researchers at The Centre have recently launched an initiative called #TrackerBenci to gather data and contribute to further study of hate speech in Malaysia. We discuss the aims of the project and the challenges of monitoring hate speech online. Ima...

The news media industry is undergoing seismic shifts in the wake of digital transformation, and alternative business models are cropping up as journalists try to find their footing in the new landscape. Subscription-based newsletters are one such vehicle gaining traction, with several available for Malaysian newsreaders. We speak to Emmanuel Samarathisa, founder of The Malaysianist on the burgeoni...

Thousands of Malaysian households rely on foreign domestic workers, but they aren’t actually recognized as workers under Malaysian employment laws. A recent Malaysiakini special report looks at the dilemma that domestic workers face when they are forced to flee their workplace for government or NGO-run shelters. To shed some light on the situation, we speak to Alyaa Alhadjri, journalist at Malaysi...

We look back at some of the major news stories of 2021, including the height of the Covid-19 pandemic; the Kuala Langat National Forest Reserve degazettement saga; and the citizenship ruling that finally gave equal rights to women. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We speak to BFM’s Freda Liu that traveled back to Kuching over the weekend to vote, and on what she observed during the polls. Image credit: Hazreen Mohd / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Court of Appeal on Wednesday upheld the conviction of former Prime Minister Dato' Sri Najib Razak on seven charges related to the misappropriation of funds from SRC International. Journalist Hadi Azmi relates the events of the trial and his observations on the day of judgement, as well as other ongoing cases related to 1MDB. Image credit: EPA-EFE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...

The United Nations Climate Change Summit or COP26 was held earlier this month in Glasgow, Scotland. There was a lot of anticipation and hype going into the summit - but was it as impactful as expected? Senior writer with The Edge, Tan Zhai Yun shares her observations from the ground. Image credit: Bruno Mameli / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan caused a stir when he joked about the longevity of his company in contrast with China’s Communist Party. He immediately walked back on these comments, apologizing profusely for any offence caused. In contrast, the Women’s Tennis Association is an outlier over its concerned stance on Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, who has not been seen in p...

The Melaka state elections saw the return of an Umno-led Barisan Nasional to the state government by an overwhelming majority of seats. We get an on-the-ground perspective on the weekend vote with BFM’s Haniff Baharudin, and how Melakans view the pace of development in the state. Image Credit: fahrulazmi / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The case of Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a Malaysian man with intellectual impairments sentenced to death for drug trafficking, has generated debate over the effectiveness of the death penalty in Singapore's war on drugs. Freelance journalist Kirsten Han, long-time advocate for the abolishment of the death penalty joins us on the show to discuss how the case unfolded, what happens next for Nagaenthra...