Beyond the Ballot Box

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, you’ve probably heard of the word ‘Bitcoin’. If you’ve paid closer attention, you might’ve also heard things like Ethereum, Ripple, Dogecoin, etc. These are all different types of Cryptocurrencies, which apparently can make you turn your RM 10 into RM 1000 over a short period of time. It’s said to be the currency of the future, one tha...

Healthcare is a human right. Yet, healthcare has become increasingly expensive over the past two to three decades. Those who can afford, take on expensive private insurances – not because they want to, but because the only other alternative would be to visit inaccessible, overcrowded, understaffed and poorly maintained public hospitals, which are bleeding specialists to the private sector – while...

Tajuddin Abdul Rahman was sacked as an UMNO supreme council member last week. A few days after that, he held a press conference, in which he spilled the tea on some inner workings of his political party, including his disdain towards his party president, and that a number of Umno MPs had signed statutory declarations (SDs) to support Anwar as prime minister in 2020. On this episode, I speak to Dr...

Karl Marx once wrote, “the ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e. the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force.” We discuss what this critique means, if it still holds true today, as well as how we can restructure our education system to benefit the masses. Image credit: Shutterstock & Wikimedia Commons...

Did you know that urban voters have less power to affect electoral change in this country than rural voters? What does this mean exactly? And how does it impact a nation where there is an increasing number of people moving to urban centres? Image credit: Djohan Shahrin/Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There was a time where working a regular 9-5 job would enable you to buy a house (at the very least a single storey landed property) and raise some kids in it, if you so desire. After all, that’s what Baby Boomers and Gen Xs did. Unfortunately, that is not the case for most millennials today, not unless they’ve inherited some family wealth. You constantly hear about the average Malaysian, even deg...

The unofficial results from PKR’s party elections are in. While there is no change at the highest position of the party, as Anwar Ibrahim ran and retained his President post uncontested, there are big changes in other leadership positions that could impact not just the political dynamics of PKR and Harapan, but also the landscape of Malaysian politics as a whole. I am of course primarily talking a...

Why have our wages stagnated for so long, despite the cost of living being at an all time high? And more importantly, why are organisations such as the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) always against wages – especially the minimum wage – increasing? What exactly is the issue here and how do we solve it? Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week, a political debate took place between former Prime Minister Najib Razak and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. The debate centred around Sapura Energy Bhd, as well as the economic future of this nation. But was the debate useful for the masses? Does it promote healthy democracy or did it do more to legitimize Najib, who’s convicted of corruption. Image credit: EPA-EU See omnystudio.com/li...

We’re all part of a global capitalist economy – A system that promised to benefit the rich and the poor alike. Yet, youth unemployment rate has been on the rise, salaries have stagnated for close to 20 years, despite the massive increase in cost of living. Cost of education is at an all-time high and the average millennial and Gen Z cannot even afford adequate housing on a single paycheck, despite...

Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a Malaysian man with mental disabilities convicted for drug trafficking, was executed by the Singaporean government on 27th April 2022. This happened despite protests and public pressure both online and offline in Malaysia and Singapore and letters from Prime Minister Ismail Sabri and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.  On top of that, Singapore will be executing another Mal...

Last Thursday, UMNO made the decision to announce incumbent Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, as the party’s PM candidate for GE15. This announcement certainly came as a surprise, as many expected Mohamad Hasan (Tok Mat) or perhaps even party president Zahid Hamidi to be named instead. But what does the naming of Ismail Sabri as PM candidate mean for UMNO, and does that tell us anyth...

Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s party elections are just around the corner. The nominations are in, with results set to be announced on June 26. While there will be no changes right at the top – as incumbent President Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim has retained his post uncontested – there’s a lot of excitement at other leadership levels with the likes of Rafizi Ramli announcing his return to frontline politics...

After the string of state elections, all eyes are now on GE-15, which many experts anticipate would most likely be taking place sometime this year. While it’s impossible to give a concrete answer as to who’s going to win GE15, there’s a lot that can be analysed and learned from recent trends as well as simulations. Recently, Dr Bridget Welsh, honorary research associate at the University of Nottin...

Has Pakatan Harapan lost its lustre? The voter turnouts at the recent string of elections have been low. Pakatan Harapan has faced defeat after defeat. Many political analysts have suggested that a big chunk of the voters who aren’t going out to vote are fence-sitters who previously voted for Harapan. On today’s episode we’re going to be discussing Harapan’s failings, as well as some shake ups hap...

Yesterday, Parliament voted down a motion to extend the enforcement period for a provision under the Security Offences (Special Measures) 2012 Act (Sosma). The provision, namely Section 4(5) of SOSMA is an important one, which allows for detention without trial for up to 28 days. This provision must be renewed by parliament every five years to remain valid. However, yesterday in a news that has be...

The UMNO General Assembly took place last week and a whole bunch of stories have come out of it – a threeway battle to be UMNO’s PM candidate, the Najib factor, their waning partnership with PAS, etc. Dr Oh Ei Sun joins us to unpack. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Johor state elections took place last weekend. Barisan Nasional secured 40 out of 56 seats, a 2/3 majority victory, Pakatan Harapan won 12 seats, MUDA 1 and Perikatan Nasional 3. This is the 3rd thumping defeat in a row for Harapan and its allies after Sarawak and Melaka. On today’s episode, we take a closer look at the results and discuss what they could mean for our political landscape movin...

We’re only a few days away from the Johor State elections. Over the past couple of weeks, political parties have been busy campaigning, trying to win the hearts & minds of Johoreans. Experts have claimed that the upcoming Johor elections is highly important and will shape the outcome of GE15, for various reasons including the fact that this will be the first elections that will see 18-21-year-...

R Arangkannal will be Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s sole candidate at the upcoming Johor state elections. The 46 year old activist and filmmaker will be competing for the Kota Iskandar state seat against four other candidates, namely Dr Dzulkelfy Ahmad of Pakatan Harapan, Johor Umno secretary Pandak Ahmad, Samsudin Ismail from Perikatan Nasional and Dr Zaini Abu Bakar of Parti Pejuang. He joins us to...

Amira Aisya is one of the founding members and secretary general of Parti MUDA. Not only that, other members and supporters of the party regard the 27 year old as the ‘Iron Lady’ of MUDA. Amira will make her debut as a political candidate in the upcoming Johor State elections, competing for the Puteri Wangsa seat. She joins us on the show today to share why she decided to join politics, seat negot...

We’re just three weeks away from the Johor state elections. Many experts have stressed the importance of the upcoming elections, not just to Johoreans, but with regard to our national political landscape too. The 2018 General Elections highlighted the need for a united opposition in the battle against Barisan Nasional. However, it’s becoming painfully clear – if it wasn’t already – that opposition...

Why doesn’t Kuala Lumpur have ADUNs / state legislators, similar to other states? The city does have MPs, after all. Why is there a Federal Territories minister in the cabinet and why is said minister almost always from outside the Federal Territories? Why does any of this matter and what can we do about it? Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Johor State Assembly officially has been dissolved as of Jan 22. While the exact date of the elections is yet to be announced, it must take place within 60 days of the dissolution of the state assembly. But what is the significance of this election? In fact, what’s the importance of state elections in the first place and how is it different from GE? Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.co...

On today’s show, Dr Oh Ei Sun joins us to discuss a few different things concerning our political landscape today, namely what’s been going on in Sarawak since GPS won a huge mandate, the possibility of an upcoming state election in Johor, as well as a little bit on the growing imbalances in constituency sizes. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.