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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Amid an ongoing state of emergency to contain COVID-19, young people around Thailand have taken to the streets to call for Prime Minister Prayuth's resignation and other systemic changes. Protesters have even hinted at their dissatisfaction at the Thai monarchy, a taboo that can have legal consequences. The latest protest held on 16 August 2020 is now known to be the largest demonstration in Thailand since the military coup in 2014. This week's episode looks at what triggered the protests and the implications of a renewed youth movement.
PJ Thum sits down with Tan Jee Say of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) to talk about Singapore's economy and economic policies, and the SDP's campaign pledges. This was recorded amidst the heat of campaigning on 6 July 2020 and first broadcast on onlinecitizenasia.com.
On this week's episode of Southeast Asia Dispatches, Adam Bemma speaks to Thinzar Shunlei Yi, advocacy coordinator at Action Committee for Democracy Development, and Maung Saungkha, executive director of ATHAN, an organisation that has documented violations of fundamental freedoms in Myanmar over the last four years under the National League for Democracy government, led by Aung San Suu Kyi. They discuss freedom of expression in Myanmar.
Last year, Professor Stefano Harney made headlines in Singapore when he gave all 169 business students in his course the same grade. The university called these grades bogus, but Stefano felt the students deserved it and gave them all an A grade. On this week's Political Agenda, PJ Thum speaks to Professor Stefano Harney about this incident and what it reveals about meritocracy in Singapore.
In July 2019, the Malaysian Parliament passed a Constitutional Amendment to lower the voting age from 21 to 18. This amendment means that an estimated 8 million eligible voters will be added to the electoral roll. While many have celebrated the move to lower the voting age, critics have said that Malaysian youth are not ready for the responsibility of voting. On this week’s episode of Southeast Asia Dispatches, Deborah Augustin speaks to Qyira Yusri from Undi18, and Melinda Anne, a student, about their thoughts on youth political participation in Malaysian politics.
Prof James Warren, author of several groundbreaking subaltern histories of Singapore including "Rickshaw Coolie: A People's History of Singapore 1880-1940", reflects on a long career working on Singapore history in this lecture delivered at the National Library of Singapore in January 2019.
During these uncertain and tumultuous times, activists have gone above and beyond to help the most vulnerable groups in our communities. But what happens when activists start to feel burnt out due to the stress, threats and trauma they face daily? On this week’s episode of Southeast Asia Dispatches, Membership Engagement Manager, Deborah Augustin speaks to Katrina Jorene Maliamauv from Malaysia and Veronica Iswinahyu in Indonesia about their experiences and the prevalence of burnout in activism spaces. They discuss how it affects an activist’s psycho-social well-being and the role of self-care in creating sustainable activism.
On this week's episode, PJ Thum speaks to Dr Paul Tambyah from the Singapore Democratic Party. They discuss his vision for Singapore, healthcare, the role of non-Singaporeans in the country and other pressing issues. This interview was originally recorded live on The Online Citizen Asia's Facebook page.
On this week’s episode of Southeast Asia Dispatches, Adam Bemma speaks to Myanmar’s trailblazing podcaster, Nandar. Last year, Nandar started the G-Taw Zagar Wyne podcast along with members of her Purple Feminists Group in Yangon to amplify women's voices in the country. The name G-Taw Zagar Wyne comes from a nickname Nandar was given growing up in Shan State. It means a woman willing to speak up to share her ideas and begin a dialogue.
Kokila Annamalai, Ngiam Shih Tung, and Gan Theng Wei sit down with PJ Thum to talk about all the issues surrounding Singapore's elections, and in particular the ways in which it is not free and unfair. This podcast was recorded in April 2019.
In Southeast Asia, poverty is often associated with rural communities. As a result, conversations around urban poverty have largely taken a backseat in public discourse. On this week's episode of Southeast Asia Dispatches, Deborah Augustin speaks to Prof. Datuk Dr. Denison Jayasooria, chair of the Asian Solidarity Economy Council and Pete Nicoll from Reach Out Malaysia, an organisation that works with the rural and urban poor. We discuss their experiences in working closely with this community and the misconceptions surrounding this multifaceted subject.
Feroz Khan and Al Lim, authors of "Educating for a Climate-Crisis World", talk about our need to transform the fundamental values we teach ourselves and our children in order to adapt to the ongoing climate crisis.
In the age of COVID-19, family dynamics have understandably shifted. As a result, we’ve seen more parents openly talk on social media about their struggles with balancing work, child care and self-care during this time. But children in particular may respond to this stress differently. On this week’s episode of Southeast Asia Dispatches, our Editor-in-Chief Aisyah Llewellyn spoke with Louis, a science teacher based in Medan, Indonesia about how parents can help children cope with the changes brought by this pandemic.
