The constitutional amendment on Malaysia Agreement MA63 will be tabled in the last Parliamentary sitting of the year 2021. It was initially scheduled to be tabled on October 26 as the first reading and the second reading on October 28. However, on October 25, de-facto law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar told the Parliament that the cabinet has decided to postpone the amendment to a later date to iron out the details with the Attorney General's Chambers. At the same time, Pakatan Harapan's MP from Seremban, Anthony Loke said in a statement on October 25 that the opposition bloc of MPs are in full support of the constitutional amendments and called on the government to table it immediately in this sitting.
This is the second attempt after Pakatan Harapan administration failed in 2019. How different is it this time than in 2019? And will it succeed?
In this episode, we have two long term observers from Borneo: Joe Samad from Sabah and James Chin from Sarawak to share their views in a Clubhouse session held on October 25, 2021.
September 9, 2021 - It was a day of reckoning. A day of joy and celebration for Malaysian mothers who have been trying so hard for years to finally get an affirmation by the Kuala Lumpur High Court that children born overseas to Malaysian mothers and foreign fathers are automatically entitled to Malaysian citizenship. However, the Attorney General's Chambers had filed an appeal against the high court decision on September 14.
In this episode, I speak to Ronan Collins, spouse to Malaysian mother, Choong Wai Li who is one of the six mothers together with Family Frontiers, started the legal proceedings last year seeking a declaration that Malaysian women married to foreign spouses can automatically get citizenship for their children who are born overseas. There were an estimated 40,000 pending applications from Malaysian women seeking citizenship for their children. Public pressures are mounting and growing calls by lawmakers, even members of the cabinet, to rescind the decision by the Attorney-General’s Chambers to appeal against the case.
Question is, will the new Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri uphold his mantra of “Keluarga Malaysia”?
The history repeated itself again when former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced his resignation on 16 August that led to a frenzy of competing for the numbers to appoint a new Prime Minister for Malaysia. Alas, after a long two weeks of political drama, we have come to an end after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Al-Mustafa Billah Shah of Pahang, consented the appointment of Bera MP, Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the ninth Malaysian Prime Minister.
Ismail is also the third PM appointed since the last 14th General Election in 2018. In this episode, I will try to delve deeper into what are among the key things to watch when Ismail Sabri takes his oath of office on 21 August at the Istana Negara. I’m speaking to Raja Iskandar Fareez, communications director of Research For Social Advancement Berhad (REFSA).
The deadline is over. At 4PM sharp on 18th of August, all 220 MPs submitted their statutory decorations to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Who will be the next Prime Minister, the ninth Prime Minister of Malaysia?
After months and weeks of political turmoil in Malaysia, in the face of rising Covid-19 cases in the country, Malaysia finds itself deep in the triple crisis in health, economy and politics. It does seem like there is no end to this, but by this weekend, we may have a new prime minister, until the next general election which may be held sometime next year, or maybe in the next 21 months until the tenure expires in 2023.
With me in this episode, Dr. James Chin, political analyst at the Asia Institute, University of Tasmania in Australia.
In this episode, I speak to Kelvin Tan, CEO and co-founder of Project ID, a school-based education initiative to help students and teachers. In 2020, Project ID conducted the Student Voice Matters survey to understand how students are coping with the sudden switch to online learning. This year in 2021, Project ID recently published the first part of the study to see the changes in the Malaysian students’ online learning experience and how they look to move forward.
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Asia-Pacific launched the report on The Trust in Media study in Malaysia, in collaboration with the Merdeka Centre on 10 May 2021.
The research is a key activity in the foundation phase of strengthening Malaysia’s Media for Change Project. The project was commissioned to Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research to assess current reporting standards and public perceptions of media outlets, media coverage and journalists. The research concluded in January 2021 and this webinar will discuss the key findings and to launch the Trust in Media report.
The webinar featured the following panelists and moderated by Norman Goh, independent journalist and producer of Bicara Minggu Ini:
1. Cynthia Gabriel, Executive Director of Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4)
2. Ibrahim Suffian, Programs Director of Merdeka Center for Opinion Research
3. Charles F. Moiera, Freelance Journalist, Associate Member of National Union of Journalists Malaysia (NUJ)
4. Jahabar Sadiq, Founder of The Malaysian Insight
In this episode, I speak to DAP’s national political education director and former deputy defence minister Senator Liew Chin Tong, discussing the changing political landscape in the country after Umno’s ultimatum to Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional.
We will be diving deeper into the economic issues we face in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and moving forward as we attempt to pull it through these tough times.
What are my top stories of the week? Check out my take of last week's top stories and what you should look out this week as we prepare for Umno's AGM over the weekend.
Malaysia is never shy from one political crisis to another political drama unfolding. It has been a year since the change of administration in 2020 that saw the change of government. Has that event stalled the media reforms in Malaysia?
In this next episode of Sheraton Move, One Year On special series, I speak to Radzi Razak, journalist and spokesperson of Gerakan Media Merdeka (GERAMM), taking a look, a review of one year on of the Perikatan Nasional administration and how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted media landscape in Malaysia. Is the progress stalled and reforms stagnated?
February 23, 2020, the day that altered the direction of Malaysian political landscape from an unseemingly political coup that shattered Pakatan Harapan’s helm at leadership from the historic win in the 2018 General Election. A year after the infamous political coup, some would say a backdoor government by Perikatan Nasional led by Bersatu’s president Muhyiddin Yassin and the faction that broke away from PKR’s leadership led by Azmin Ali. It all happened within a swoop and a year later, where are we today?
In this first episode of the special series, "Sheraton Move, A Year On", I’m speaking to Bridget Welsh, Honorary Research Fellow with the University of Nottingham Malaysia’s Asia Research Institute.
Malaysia’s leading independent news portal Malaysiakini was handed a hefty half a million ringgit fine after they were found to be in contempt of court by the Federal Court on February 19, the penalty was more than double the fine prosecutors had sought. The highest court of the country ruled that Malaysiakini was guilty of contempt over five comments posted by readers on its website last year, saying that it was responsible for the dissemination of remarks deemed to have undermined the “system of justice” in the country. The editor-in-chief and co-founder Steven Gan, was found not guilty of the charges.
This is the landmark decision by the Malaysian courts, if not, the first to be trialled directly in the Federal Court, contrary to the usual legal proceedings. How will this affect the future media landscape in Malaysia and how will newsrooms operate after this? In this episode, I speak to Premesh Chandran, CEO and co-founder of Malaysiakini to tell us more.
It all began with the remarks made by the Senate Speaker who is also the Senate President, Tan Sri Rais Yatim, who said that the decision to lower the voting age to 18-years-old starting this July was one made hastily and teenagers are still not ready to commit to the democratic process.
Just recently, deputy youth and sports minister Wan Ahmad Fayhsal who was once a special officer to the minister Syed Saddiq who said that Malaysians are not ready to vote at 18 years old.
I speak to Tharma Pillai, the co-founder of Undi18, a youth-led movement dedicated to democratic reform whom he co-founded with his lifelong partner, Qyira Yusri. Both of them were pivotal in lobbying the then PH government to lower the age of voting to 18.
Collective agreements (CA) is an important agreement between an employer and a union which includes the terms and conditions for employees.
The National Union of Journalists Malaysia (NUJM) together with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) organised a webinar on Collective Agreements (CA) for Media Workers in Malaysia on January 26, 2021. This event is supported by the European Union and the Embassy of Switzerland in Malaysia.
We are bringing to you experts from the Industrial Relations Department and the Malaysian Trade Union Congress to share their knowledge on CA. Among the topics covered are the Industrial Relations Act pertaining to CA, arbitration, filing of cases, its impact during Covid-19, workers’ rights and other unions CA conditions.
This will be the second part of my conversation and discussion on Children of the Lost Year, as part of my policy analysis and my attempt to understand the current situation of our education policy in the midst of the pandemic.
In this episode, I speak to the Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah to share her views and experiences, particularly in the low-cost housing or flats in her constituency and what we can do to move forward.
We’re back in another lockdown as we usher in a new year in 2021 and despite the good news of the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccine, we will still have to brace ourselves with the new wave of infections in Malaysia that broke the 4,000 mark in daily new cases.
Last year, millions of students had to stay home during the early measures of lockdown in the country. Classes only resumed in June but later the schools were ordered to close again in November 2020. Nevertheless, some students and teachers have gotten used with home-based learning via online platforms, but what about students from low-income families who cannot afford to have any devices or internet services at home? What about the students in the remote areas in Malaysia?
This will be the first part of my conversation and discussion on Children of the Lost Year, as part of my policy analysis and my attempt to understand the current situation of our education policy in the midst of the pandemic. In this episode, I speak to the former Education Minister and Simpang Renggam MP, Dr Maszlee Malik to share his views on this matter.
Hundreds of editors and journalists were laid off and rendered unemployed as a result of the challenges faced by the media industry to stay afloat. The Covid-19 pandemic came as a double whammy, forcing several media companies to shut down and downsized to keep themselves afloat. In this webinar forum, we will be speaking to key experts to understand how existing laws and regulations impact media personnel’s news gathering activities and social media posts during the pandemic.
Panelists gave an overview of the workplace rights and obligations of media workers to strengthen their knowledge of behavioral principles with existing legal frameworks (both employment and national media laws).
This webinar forum was organised by International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Asia Pacific and National Union of Journalists Malaysia (NUJM).
Budget 2021 was finally passed in the Dewan Rakyat, let’s face it. 111 to 108 and one absent. We have 220 MPs, two passed away this year. As we wind down the clock and the curtain falls to close the end of the year, the stage of political dramas draw to a close of the chapter in 2020. It is the year we all want to forget, or rather calling it a disastrous one. This episode, I’m speaking to Baru Bian, former Works Minister during the Pakatan Harapan administration and also the MP for Selangau in Sarawak.
He was the former Sarawak PKR Chairman before the change of government in February 2020 and left the party to join Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB). In this episode, I will be discussing with Baru about the current state of politics at the federal level with much uncertainties and turmoil, seeing both sides of the divide are weak as well as the upcoming Sarawak state election which will be due to be held in 2021.