12-Sep-24 17:00

James Nayagam, Chairman, Suriana Welfare Society

Police raids have uncovered an extensive network of child abuse linked to Islamic business conglomerate, Global Ikhwan Holdings Sdn Bhd. 402 children have been rescued from welfare homes where they were subject to physical and sexual abuse, with some living in the homes since infancy. We first hear about the links between Global Ikhwan and banned religious cult, Al Arqam from Munira Mustaffa, CEO of the Chasseur Group. Then, we discuss child protection measures needed to address this scandal with James Nayagam, chairman of the Suriana Welfare Society.

Other stories we cover in this episode:

· Civil society groups are urging the Prime Minister to reform the country's timber certification system. Jettie Word, the Executive Director of The Borneo Project explains what they're campaigning for.

· Visitors of Kota Kinabalu's Perdana Park were attacked by otters, leaving one hospitalised and two others injured. Andrew Sebastian, Founding CEO of the Ecotourism and Conservation Society of Malaysia tells us about the growing trend of human-wildlife conflict in the country.

· The National Property Information Centre revealed that Perak has over 4000 unsold properties. We hear from Cha-Ly Koh, CEO of Urbanmetry about the issues that lead to this.

· In 2020, South Korea's youth climate activists sued their government for climate inaction. In 2024, they won, with the constitutional court ruling that the country's climate law violates the rights of future generations. Max Han, co-founder of Youths United for Earth shares his thoughts on the impact of this lawsuit.

Image Credit: Ansh Maurya, Pexels