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Highlights

An illustration showing a crowd of protestors with giant yellow rubber ducks.

Artists Respond: Hindsight Is 2020

Ten artists take us on a journey from virtual meeting rooms in Malaysia and Singapore to the streets of Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. They ponder the intensely personal impact of the pandemic and picture large-scale protests for democracy.
  • Yunroo
  • Sunny Go
  • Afif Slim
  • Julia Hannie
  • Stephani Soejono
  • Richard Mercado
  • Townsunder
  • Ollie
  • Pssyppl
  • Suppachai Vong
comic

Building a Mentally Healthy Community

PJ Thum and Sean Francis Han (Wake Up Singapore) speak to Reetaza "Reetz" Chatterjee, the founder of "Your Head Lah!" about her own experiences with mental illness, her journey in figuring out her role in activism, and about the mental health landscape in Singapore.
  • New Naratif
podcast

“We Have to Hide Our Face”: Cambodia’s Eco-Activists Go Undercover

Environmental advocacy group Mother Nature Cambodia is known for their confrontational videos, with activists exposing crimes against nature. But with three members jailed, and others facing harassment, the group has decided to conceal their identities.
  • Ouch Sony
  • Matt Surrusco
journalism

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Subhas Nair, Renaissance Man

Subhas Nair is a musician, activist, philosopher, athlete, and renaissance man. He discusses his life, his music, his philosophy, and all the positive change he wants to bring to the world with PJ Thum and Sean Francis Han
  • New Naratif
podcast

Singapore's Prime Minister's Office vs. New Naratif

Following his four and a half hour interrogation, the seizure of his mobile phone and laptop, and the invasion of his home by the Singapore police, New Naratif Managing Director PJ Thum explains what exactly New Naratif is being accused of having done, how this is an abuse of the law, and how this is part of a long-standing campaign of harassment and intimidation by the PAP government against New Naratif.
  • New Naratif
podcast

The Plight of Indonesia’s Vulnerable Domestic Workers

Aisyah Llewellyn speaks to Lita Anggraini and Damai Pakpahan about the Protection for Domestic Workers Bill in Indonesia (RUU PRT), a draft law for domestic workers’ protection that has been stuck in parliament for over a decade and discuss the initiatives being taken to help this vulnerable workforce.
  • Aisyah Llewellyn
  • Kelly Anissa
podcast

Flair de Lune

Lune Loh, co-founder of Students for a Safer NUS, member of tFreedom, and Executive Director of TransNUS, speaks to PJ Thum and Sean Francis Han (WakeUpSG) about her activism, her life as a trans woman in Singapore (especially during National Service), and the recent kerfuffle over an educational event on bondage and rope play organised by tFreedom.
  • New Naratif
podcast

什么是MA63？为何对沙巴、砂拉越重要？

在《1963年马来西亚协议》契约下，沙巴与砂拉越是当年马来亚联合邦的平等伙伴，但自那以后，这个地位却逐被削弱。以下是恢复沙砂平等地位所意味着的必要条件，以及它为何如此重要的原因。
  • Vila Somiah
  • Timothy James
  • Hua Chai
comic

Apa itu MA63? Dan Kenapa ia Penting Bagi Sabah dan Sarawak

Di bawah Perjanjian Malaysia 1963, Sabah dan Sarawak adalah rakan sekutu bekas Persekutuan Tanah Melayu, tetapi kedudukan ini telah terhakis. Penerangan berikut akan menjelaskan erti asal usul perjanjian ini dan kenapa ia penting dilaksanakan.
  • Vila Somiah
  • Timothy James
  • Tina Carmillia
comic

Notes From a Changi Jail

Jolovan Wham, the well known Singaporean human rights defender and activist, talks to PJ Thum about his most recent stint in jail for civil disobedience. They discuss Singapore’s arbitrary laws, his experience with jail, issues with the criminal justice system, and why he is advocating for prison reform.
  • Thum Ping Tjin
podcast
Members only

Berpulang Tanpa Perayaan

Pandemi turut menimbulkan riak bagi tatanan sosial budaya masyarakat Batak. Berbagai ritual kematian sakral—yang dapat berlangsung berhari-hari dan dihadiri ratusan orang—kini harus turut disiasati.
  • Tonggo Simangunsong
journalism
Members only

An Absence of Adat

In North Sumatra, Indonesia, Batak culture has strong, distinct rituals around death known as adat. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, these customs have had to be adapted. Is Batak adat in the midst of a cultural sea change?
  • Tonggo Simangunsong
journalism

Will COVID-19 Change the Way We Protest?

On this week's episode of Southeast Asia Dispatches, Deborah Augustin speaks to Danaletchumi Langaswaran, an activist, and Juana Jaafar, a women’s human rights advocate working in the field of communications. They discuss protesting during a pandemic, the obstacles they face and what this means for advocacy and activism moving forward.
  • Deborah Augustin
  • Kelly Anissa
podcast

Political Attitudes in Singapore

In August, Wake Up Singapore conducted a survey of Singaporeans' social and political attitudes, with some surprising and some not-so-surprising results. In Part two of his conversation with PJ Thum, WakeUpSG Editor-in-Chief Sean Francis Han discusses the results which intrigued him the most.
  • Thum Ping Tjin
podcast
Life, Death, and the In Between - New Naratif

活在生死之间

马来西亚的新政府在政权更迭的几月后开始考虑废除死刑。在这具有争议性的讨论中，一名死囚的案件引发了关于错误处决的一些问题。原文发表于2019年7月3日。
  • Emily Ding
  • Charis Loke
  • Ellena Ekarahendy
  • Jessica Xu
journalism
Members only

Myanmar’s Cinema Centenary and Film Censorship

As the nation celebrates its 100th year of filmmaking, documentary filmmakers say their genre is gaining ground while documentarians still face old challenges, from government censorship to limited funding.
  • Adam Bemma
journalism

"Wake Up, Singapore!" Says Sean Francis Han

PJ Thum speaks to Sean Francis Han, the editor-in-chief of Wake Up Singapore. Wake Up Singapore bills itself as a community of young activists looking to bring alternative voices to the major issues in Singapore and around the world, who advocates for reform and social justice. Part one of this interview is about Wake Up Singapore and looks at the sustainability of activism in the country.
  • Thum Ping Tjin
podcast