Shows / Beyond the Ballot Box
Beyond the Ballot Box
As they say, democracy doesn't begin and end at the ballot box.
On Beyond the Ballot Box, we have in-depth conversations about political economy and human rights in Malaysia, Southeast Asia, and around the globe through a class prism.
Episodes
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Oil Shocks to Inflation: How Should Malaysia Respond to the US–Israel–Iran War?
In late February 2026, the United States and Israel carried out coordinated illegal military strikes on Iran, which is a sovereign country. Within the first…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
How Late-Stage Capitalism Produces a World of Permanent Crisis
Today, we’re living through what often feels like a constant stream of disruptions, from wars, economic instability, the climate change, and even loneliness…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Former Prime Minister of Timor-Leste on History, Culture and Development Strategies
Timor-Leste is a relatively young nation with an incredibly rich history and culture that many, even within the region, may not be very familiar with. It is…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Local Councilor Kusaaliny on Transforming Petaling Jaya and Navigating Racial & Religious Tensions
Petaling Jaya was originally developed in the 1950s as one of Malaysia’s first planned suburbs, built to house residents moving out of the crowded city centre…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Anti-Corruption: Is MADANI on the right track?
Malaysia’s fight against corruption remains one of the country’s most persistent political and institutional challenges. While the latest results from the…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
MANDIRI: A House for Activists and Rebels
MANDIRI is a youth-driven civil society organisation founded in 2024 that aims to strengthen democratic participation, social justice, and civic engagement…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Reform or Regression? AG-PP Split, MACC Controversy and MADANI’s Promises
Malaysia today finds itself at an important juncture. For starters, the MADANI government is currently led by a reformist coalition and a Prime Minister who…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Iran, US, Israel: Can Regime Change Be Defended in the Name of Human Rights?
Two days ago, the U.S. and Israel launched massive joint air operations against Iran, saying they were targeting military infrastructure and seeking regime…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
How Transparent and Accountable Are Major Political Parties in Malaysia?
For the longest time, particularly since the late 90s, then-opposition parties from PKR to DAP to PAS campaigned on a platform of anti-corruption and…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Understanding The Politics of Eviction in Malaysia
We often hear about neighbourhoods being evicted, houses being torn down, and communities organising against the state or private developers, demanding fair…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
How Films Can Help Us Make Sense of the World
Take One Action is an initiative based in Scotland that uses film as a tool to help people make sense of the world. The organisation curates documentaries and…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
China Rising Part 2: Taiwan, Xinjiang, Sovereignty and Human Rights
For many of us born in the 90s, we’ve only known one world: A world where the US has been the singular hegemon, leading what we call a unipolar world. This has…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
China Rising Part 1: How the Unipolar World Is Ending
For many of us born in the 90s, we’ve only known one world: A world where the US has been the singular hegemon, leading what we call a unipolar world. This has…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
What Do the Epstein Files Teach Us About Power?
Jeffrey Epstein was a financier and convicted sex offender whose network spanned the worlds of finance, politics, academia, and celebrity. Recently, the U.S…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Do Business Schools Play a Role in Normalising Labour Exploitation?
We often discuss the exploitation of labour, especially at the very bottom of the chain, namely the migrant workers who are frequently trapped in conditions…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
How Cartels Shape the Migrant Labour System in Malaysia
Recently, Bloomberg published an in-depth investigation into the recruitment of Bangladeshi migrant workers into Malaysia, exposing how inflated fees…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
What You Need to Know About a Highly Underappreciated Component of Elections
Most of us know that elections are important. After all, they shape who governs us and how decisions get made. But we rarely stop to think about what actually…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
How to Navigate a Polarised Malaysia
Malaysia is incredibly polarised right now, especially across racial and religious lines. Perhaps that has always been the case to some degree, given the…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
How to Make KL and the Klang Valley More Liveable
Three things we often hear about Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley at large is that it’s incredibly congested, not walkable and that it is becoming…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Vijay Prashad on Venezuela, Iran and American Imperialism
It’s been a turbulent start to 2026. To kick off the year, the United States kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Just days later, some…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Teach For All’s Founder on Closing the Education Inequality Gap
You are probably already familiar with Teach For Malaysia, the education nonprofit that does incredible work by placing committed young leaders in…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
DAP Must Embrace Its Social Democratic Roots
Lim Yi Wei is the ADUN for Kampung Tunku and DAP Wanita national assistant publicity secretary. Yi Wei, whose parents were both teachers in public schools, is…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
How to Build a Better Malaysia For Everyone
We are all part of a system – a global capitalist neoliberal economy – that is geared towards profit maximisation over creating a fair and dignified world for…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
What Does the Future Look Like For Europe?
Where is Europe heading? This is one of the big questions as we shift towards a more fractured and multipolar world order. Europe is in a moment of deep…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Here’s Why Feminism is Relevant Today -- For Men Too!
From memes to heated exchanges in the comment section, feminism is often distorted through the lens of viral and even ragebait content on social media and…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
The Truth About Interethnic Inequality in Malaysia Today
Ethnic affirmative action has shaped Malaysian policymaking and political discourse for more than five decades. The transformational New Economic Policy (NEP)…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
On the Frontline of Domestic Violence Support
9% of Malaysian women who have ever been in a relationship experience domestic violence. 9% may not seem like much, but that essentially amounts to about…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
The Key Factors that Drive Exploitation of Migrant Workers
United Nations experts have warned that there is “widespread and systematic” exploitation and deception affecting Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia. In their…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Attempting to Break the Israeli Blockade
Al Awda is a documentary by Singaporean Jason Soo that follows 22 activists from 15 countries as they sail on the Al Awda Flotilla in an attempt to break the…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Work, Wages and Savings: Unpacking Malaysia’s Economic Reality
Malaysia’s latest labour force figures paint a mixed and intriguing picture of the economy in 2025. Unemployment has fallen to a decade-low of 3%, signalling a…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Key Lessons From Sabah Election History
The 2025 Sabah state election is taking place this weekend on the 29th of November. There are close to 600 candidates representing various parties or running…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Everything You Need to Know About the Kampung Papan Eviction and Demolition
Kampung Jalan Papan in Klang is a decades-old settlement where families have lived since before independence. Over the years, the land was transferred…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
What Would It Take for the Palestine Solidarity Movement to Turn Protest into Material Change?
Markela Panegyres is an Australian performance artist, academic, activist and a member of the Socialist Alliance Australia. Known for her raw, provocative…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
14 Years of Infiltrating Drug Gangs: What Did This Police Officer Learn?
Neil Woods was once a dedicated narcotics officer. In fact, he spent 14 years working undercover, infiltrating drug gangs in Britain’s underworld. But…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
How Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani Took on New York’s Billionaires, and Won
Zohran Mamdani has won the New York City mayoral election, defeating Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa. Not only that, he also received more than 50% of the…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
From Extraction to Emancipation: Fighting for A Fairer World
In the 2024 Oxfam report, it was revealed that the richest 1% in the Global North extracted US$263 billion from the Global South in 2023 — a stark reminder…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
The Cost of Politics in Malaysia
Around the world, money is increasingly a gatekeeper to political power. Malaysia is no different. If someone wants to step into politics from outside the…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
A Student Speaks: How Can We Make Schools Safer
Recently, in Melaka, a group of 17-year-olds was accused of allegedly raping their schoolmate at a secondary school in Alor Gajah. In Kedah, there was a…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
What is Malaysia’s Role in this Changing World?
The world is undergoing profound changes. China has become a global powerhouse. The US, while still the most powerful country in the world, is experiencing a…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Jagat and Beyond: Sun-J Perumal on Malaysian Tamil Identity and Storytelling
Jagat, the highly acclaimed 2015 Malaysian film directed by Sun-J Perumal, is a coming-of-age story that captures the struggles of working-class Malaysian…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Inside ASEAN: Myths, Realities, and the Question of Unity
Southeast Asia is one of the most diverse regions in the world, not just ethnically and culturally but also politically. It’s a region where Hindus, Muslims…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
What's Next for Myanmar's Revolution and Has Malaysia Made a Difference?
Myanmar’s devastating civil war grinds into its fourth year, following the 2021 military coup that ousted the country’s elected government. What followed was a…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Does Budget 2026 Address the Needs of Ordinary Malaysians?
Last Friday, the Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim unveiled the RM 419.2 billion Budget 2026. This is a slightly smaller budget than last year’s. While it isn’t an…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Budi95: Does the MADANI Government’s Fuel Plan Make Economic Sense?
Budi95 is a targeted subsidy scheme by the Malaysian government to give RON95 petrol at a reduced price to eligible Malaysian citizens, while phasing out…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Budget 2026: Achieving Gender Equality
The Gender Budget Group (GBG), a coalition of civil society organisations and academics, has urged the Malaysian government to make bold, transformative…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Organise, Mobilise: How Malaysia Outlawed Domestic Violence
While domestic violence is still very much prevalent in society today, I think we at the very least live in a climate where committing violence against your…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Why Food Is Deeply Political
We’ve seen how many regions around the world still suffer from hunger despite there technically being enough food to feed everyone globally. We also see how…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Why Malaysia Needs the Freedom of Information Act
Earlier this year, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that the government will be tabling the Freedom of Information Act in Parliament by the end…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
BERSIH and Civil Society's Battle for Malaysia’s Future
There was a point where progressive forces in the country could organise and mobilise hundreds of thousands of people on a multicultural platform. We are of…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
What is Nepal’s Gen-Z Uprising All About?
On the 9th of September 2025, tens of thousands of Nepalese people, led by Gen-Z students, took to the streets in anger against the establishment government…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
What Challenges Do Women With Disabilities Face?
A new report by the Datum Initiative and ARROW – Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women examines the systemic barriers faced by women with…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Organise, Mobilise: How Malaysia Abolished the ISA
The ISA, a draconian law that enabled detention without trial, was used in Malaysia for decades, most notoriously during the infamous Ops Lalang in 1987. But…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
A Brief History of Malaya’s Road to Independence
We have often heard about the role the elite mainstream political actors played in Malaysia’s independence struggle. But the reality is much more nuanced. Our…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
How Do Capitalism and Patriarchy Collide in Women’s Lives?
If one wishes to understand how gender, power, and economic development intersect in shaping women’s lives and choices, and how women — particularly women in…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Here Are Key Economic Policies That Anwar Ibrahim Should Prioritise
As we approach the three-year mark since the formation of the MADANI government under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, questions arise about what has…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
From Campus to Streets: Alyaah Hani on Student Movements
If you’ve been to a youth-led progressive protest or rally recently, chances are you may have seen student activist Alyaah Hani on the frontlines. As the…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
How Gendered Disinformation Is a Threat to Women’s Political Participation
Malaysia is one of the few countries in the world that has attained parity across genders at the tertiary education level. In Malaysia, women make up about 52%…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
Rethinking Labour Justice For Migrant Workers
According to estimates, there are around 4-6 million migrant workers in Malaysia, both documented and undocumented combined. There are also approximately 300…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
What Are Key Challenges Faced by Indian Students in Malaysia?
Education of Ethnic Minorities: The Case of Indians in Malaysia by Dr Santhiram Raman examines how the Malaysian education system shapes the experiences and…
- Beyond the Ballot Box
What Skateboarding Says About the Politics of Urban Space
If you’ve walked around your city, chances are you may have seen people skateboarding off the rails outside a shopping mall or doing parkour on a dingy rooftop…