Inside Story BFM Media

The Malaysian Research Institute of Ageing has highlighted the potential of viewing older people as assets, instead of liabilities, in light of research that reveals up to 60% of Malaysian elderly population still actively contribute to society. We dive into this suggestion with Dr Molly Cheah Bee Li, the President of the Gerontological Association of Malaysia to how we can go about appreciating our elders.

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The Labour Day March that happened earlier this week highlighted a number of concerns people have, primarily underemployment, which leads us to the wonder about people who take on more than one job. So we first hear from folks who wear more than one hat, and then later on, we hear from our listeners about their experiences.

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The term 'eldest daughter syndrome' has been going viral on Tiktok for some time now - basically describing the notion that eldest daughters have unique responsibilities and pressures that shape their adulthood. So we get into this, but also widen it to talk about family dynamics, and the way our birth order can end up shaping us. Lots of funny and bittersweet family stories await!

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The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission has reminded parents to make sure their children below the age of 13 do not own any social media. Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil explained that the commission found it was not appropriate for children under this age to have accounts. Now this brings up the question of how parents should actually think about managing their children's exposure to the internet.

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An American professor made headlines recently when he was invited to speak at University Malaya, in his talk titled “Will Malaysia Become an Active Middle Power” but was heavily criticised after he purportedly claimed that Malaysia had pushed for a “second Holocaust against the Jewish people”. This brought to light conversations around academic freedom. So we hear from academics as well as students about this, and then ask our listeners whether they think universities should be a space for difficult conversations.

Voices we heard from:

1. Dr Munirah Alatas, Independent Scholar & Deputy Chair of the Malaysian Academic Movement (GERAK)
2. Dr Zaid Omar, Associate Professor from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Former Director of Students at the Ministry of Higher Education
3. Abqari Annuar, President of Suarasiswa UM
4. Raja Arif Raja Afifuddin, Speaker of Kesatuan Mahasiswa UKM
5. Brendon Gan, Assistant Coordinator of Demokrat UKM

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Tonight, we're talking about the lessons that we gain from reading, especially as children. This is following the statement by Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil, who said children need to be exposed to the culture of reading, especially books showcasing the diversity of races and religions in this country. So we talk about how books build our psyche and empathy, with Jason Pandya-Wood. Then, we hear from our listeners about their experience reading in their early years, and their favourite books.

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