07-Aug-24 17:00

Sharmila Sekaran, Chairperson, Voice of the Children

The stories we covered today include:

5. US Democratic nominee Kamala Harris revealed that two-time Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz will be her running mate. We spoke to Derick Becker, an assistant professor with the School of Politics, History and International Relations from the University of Nottingham Malaysia, to understand what Walz will bring to the table.

4. The Progressive Wage Policy might extend from 12 months to 24 months, to enable employers to benefit from high productivity and talent development under the programme. Lee Hwok-Aun, a Senior Fellow of the Malaysian Studies Programme at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute weighs in.

3. A viral photo of Malaysian Olympics Council president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria at the Olympics with his family led netizens to compare him to badminton player Goh Jin Wei, suggesting he got special treatment. Goh had to compete without her coach due to limited accreditation passes. We asked Haresh Deol, co-founder of Twentytwo13, for his opinion on the situation.

2. The Nenggiri by-election sees a showdown between Umno and PAS to get a seat in the PAS-dominated Kelantan state assembly. Here, Pakatan Harapan takes a backseat to let Umno lead the campaign and pundits are saying that this move may just help Umno clinch the seat. Political analyst Dr Oh Ei Sun shares his two cents on the Nenggiri polls.

1. Our top story: A new child development programme was launched by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry as a measure to address the issue of child neglect and abuse. Sharmila Sekaran, Chairperson of the Voice of the Children joins in on the conversation.

Image credit: JuYochi, Shutterstock