Malaysia Needs a National Myth, Not More Tolerance | Former UMNO Information Chief, Shahril Hamdan

Malaysia talks endlessly about tolerance, unity, and 'Satu Malaysia'. Yet it remains fractured. Shahril Hamdan's insight after a decade in politics: the problem isn't that Malaysians are intolerant. It's that we have no shared story. America has the American Dream. Singapore has meritocratic excellence. Malaysia has... what? This conversation deconstructs what a national narrative should look like when you can't rely on meritocracy, when ethnicities will always matter, and when resentment runs deep. The TL/DW of the episode: → Why every ethnicity in Malaysia feels like a victim (and why that matters) → The 10-year project to reform UMNO from inside and why it collapsed → What "group advancement" policy should really look like beyond race → The one narrative Malaysia desperately needs but refuses to build Follow Shahril Hamdan here: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shahrilh TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shahrilhamdan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shahrilsufianhamdan LinkedIn: https://my.linkedin.com/in/shahril-hamdan The Keluar Sekejap Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@keluarsekejap ... CHAPTERS 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:52 - Why People Assume I’m Privileged 00:05:04 - How Race Shaped Me as a Kid 00:07:04 - Why I Joined a Malay Nationalist Party 00:09:13 - Merit or Privilege? The Uncomfortable Truth 00:13:10 - You Never Escape Affirmative Action 00:14:09 - Why Malaysia Can’t “Graduate” 00:16:19 - Why Political Reform Always Fails 00:17:53 - The Truth About Malay Resentment 00:21:38 - Trying to Reform UMNO From Inside 00:27:31 - The Moment UMNO Turned Back 00:30:13 - The Siege Mentality in Malay Politics 00:32:00 - Malaysia Has No National Story 00:34:36 - What Should Malaysians Believe In? 00:39:34 - Why I’ll Never Be a Populist 00:44:35 - How Our Podcast Accidentally Took Off 00:48:53 - Getting Malaysians to Hate Less 00:54:36 - Malaysia Is Stronger Than We Think 00:58:31 - If I Had the PM’s Ear 01:03:45 - Why We Don’t Celebrate Entrepreneurs 01:07:17 - When GLCs Must Let Go 01:10:16 - The PM Is Stronger Than You Think 01:17:21 - Three Things I Want for 2026

Vietnam is cheaper. Indonesia has scale. Thailand has labor. So why would a semiconductor, biotech, or aerospace company choose Malaysia in 2026? Because MIDA is explicitly steering capital toward complexity & not assembly lines. MIDA's Masni Muhammad breaks down how the New Investment Incentive Framework rewards R&D spending, high-income job creation, and domestic supply-chain integration in ways that turn Malaysia into a destination for actual innovation, not just manufacturing. The TL/DW of the episode: → Why the government is deliberately pushing away "low-value assembly" and betting on high-complexity sectors → How the six-pillar scorecard (complexity, jobs, integration, inclusivity, clustering, ESG) makes innovation profitable, literally → The "domestic integration" play: how MIDA connects multinational supply chains with Malaysian suppliers to build ecosystem resilience → Less-developed states getting better incentives: how Kelantan's specialty chemicals beat Penang's overcrowded semiconductor corridor Malaysia isn't competing on cost anymore. It's competing on what you can build here that you can't build anywhere else. Follow MIDA here: Official Website: https://www.mida.gov.my/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialMIDA/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialmida/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MIDATVChannel LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/malaysian-investment-development-authority X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/officialMIDA

The formative years are 7 to 11. The irony? That's when fathers are busiest climbing corporate ladders. Jason Leong (Co-Founder of Better Dads Malaysia) has sat with thousands of men; CEOs, paupers, engineers, laborers and discovered something radical. The problem isn't income inequality. It's presence inequality. And it's destroying an entire generation of boys. Between 2019 and now, Malaysia has seen mass stabbing, suicides on university campuses, and a prison population that's 94% male. The through-line? Absent fathers. Not just physically, but emotionally. The TL/DW of the episode: → How prosperity creates weak men (and why hard times create strong ones) → The one job no other man can replace you in → Why your son will remember the bicycle lesson at age 5 for the next 60 years → The exact framework to transform from corporate drone to intentional father The solution exists. It just requires sacrifice. Follow Jason / Better Dads Malaysia here: Official Website: https://www.betterdadsmalaysia.my/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betterdadsmalaysia/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betterdadsmalaysia YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@betterdadsmalaysia4967 Chapters 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:22 - The Shocking Truth About Planned Violence Among Young Men 00:02:21 - The 4 Hidden Factors Destroying Boys Before They Become Men 00:04:18 - Why Fathers Are Failing Their Sons (And Don't Even Know It) 00:07:00 - How the Industrial Revolution Stole Fathers From Their Children 00:09:39 - The Toxic Masculinity Trap That's Radicalizing Your Son 00:13:28 - The One Gift That Prevents Your Child From Becoming Violent 00:16:59 - Why Good Intentions Aren't Enough to Save Your Family 00:19:20 - The Brutal Choice Every Father Must Make 00:22:45 - How to Redefine Success Before It's Too Late 00:26:12 - The Memory Test That Reveals If You're a Good Father 00:30:58 - The Job Only You Can Do (That No One Can Replace) 00:38:24 - The I.C.A.N. Method: How to Become the Father Your Child Needs 00:46:06 - Why Malaysian Fathers Are Finally Waking Up 00:53:17 - The 3.8x Suicide Crisis Among Malaysian Men 00:58:18 - The 3 Words Every Child Must Hear From Their Father

When someone owes you money in Malaysia, most people send a demand letter and pray. Rudi Cheu has spent a decade recovering debts, and he's discovered something uncomfortable: less than 10% of cases are actually solved that way. Most people think debt recovery is about sending letters or going to court. The reality is far more psychological. It's about understanding how debtors prioritize payments, and making sure you're NOT on the bottom of their list. The TL/DW of this episode: → Why being "nice" is the #1 reason creditors never recover their money  → The three-pronged strategy that forces prioritization (without being brutal) → When to sue and when it's actually smarter to take a tax write-off  → How a woman recovered alimony using the most obscure legal tool in Malaysia CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro  02:06 - Is a Letter of Demand Actually Powerful?  04:04 - Malaysia's Criminal Code: Can You Get Jailed For Owing Money 07:03 - Three Tactics To Reduce Bad Debts Dramatically  11:03 - How Small Are Small Debts Worth Pursuing?  15:01 - What Makes Creditors Never Get Paid  16:41 - The True Cost of Going to Court  19:03 - Judgment Summons: Jailing People For Debt (Legally) Follow Rudi here: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rudicheu/ LinkedIn: https://my.linkedin.com/in/rudi-cheu-82548342 Threads: https://www.threads.com/@rudicheu Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rudicheu/

For decades, Malaysia's policymakers have been analyzing inequality with the wrong lens. Dr Lee Hwok-Aun , a political economy researcher at ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute unpacks how lumping rural and urban together, ignoring regional divides, and oversimplifying ethnic categories creates policies that miss the mark (and fuel division instead of solving it). This conversation explores: → Why comparing all Bumiputeras to all Chinese obscures the real gaps (and ignores Indians entirely) → How B40 inequality between ethnic groups is actually narrowing, but nobody's talking about it → What universal basic pensions could mean for Malaysia's elderly crisis ... Follow Dr Lee here: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hwok-aun-lee/ ISEAS: https://www.iseas.edu.sg/about-us/researchers/lee-hwok-aun/ Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=n_UUp7oAAAAJ&hl=en More writing at Fulcrum: https://fulcrum.sg/contributors/lee-hwok-aun/ Articles mentioned in video: NEP: https://www.ehm.my/publications/articles/interethnic-income-inequality-in-malaysia-revisiting-old-records-exploring-new-narratives Happiness: https://fulcrum.sg/all-that-money-cannot-buy-patterns-of-satisfaction-in-malaysias-happiness-index/ Aging: https://fulcrum.sg/malaysia-must-address-ailing-security-of-its-aging-society/ ... CHAPTERS 00:45 - Stepping back from the "for or against" trap 03:27 - Defining group advancement vs. need-based policies 07:31 - The data deception: why national averages lie 15:40 - How to explain inequality to your 17-year-old 21:55 - The real scandal of housing discounts and scholarships 25:47 - A balanced approach: merit + need + identity in universities 35:04 - Malaysia's happiness paradox & why Terengganu beats KL 43:04 - Can Malaysia afford universal pensions? 52:59 - The future of work, AI, and group advancement policy

Malaysia's federal model just entered its most unstable period yet. After Sabah's election shock, political analyst Bridget Welsh reveals why East Malaysia's demand for autonomy is a fundamental restructuring of how power flows in this country. The 40% revenue dispute, the kingmaker role of Borneo, and what happens when neglected regions suddenly have leverage. The TLDW of this episode:  → Why the "Madani moment" is actually a fragmentation moment disguised as stability  → How autonomy becomes independence in slow motion (and why that matters)  → The decentralization decade that West Malaysia didn't see coming The uncomfortable truth: Malaysia's one-party dominance era is dead. What replaces it will determine whether we compete with Vietnam or become a cautionary tale. Chapters 0:16 - Three Things Sabah's Election Revealed About Malaysia 2:44 - The 10-Year Decentralization Nobody Noticed 5:36 - The Catch-22 Anwar Can't Escape 12:28 - Why Position Deals Won't Fix This 14:33 - The 40% Revenue Question That Could Break The Federation 20:14 - East Malaysia vs West Malaysia: The Competitiveness Crisis 24:14 - Energy, Resources & Who Controls Malaysia's Future 26:52 - The Xenophobia Problem Hiding in Migration Policy 31:00 - Geopolitics: Why China Matters More to Sabah Than KL 35:02 - Autonomy Isn't Independence (But It's Getting Close) 38:46 - AI Governance: Southeast Asia's Next Fault Line 43:31 - Does Malaysia Have Leaders for the Next Decade?   FOLLOW BRIDGET HERE:  URL: https://bridgetwelsh.com/bio/ Podcast: www.straighttalkseasia.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bridget-welsh-424691a0/ X: @dririshsea MalaysiaKini articles: https://www.malaysiakini.com/en/author/Bridget%20Welsh

Most Malaysians own fire extinguishers they've never touched, sitting expired in corners while new fire threats such as EV batteries, power banks & lithium devices, multiply in their homes.  Brian Soo reveals why traditional fire safety thinking fails and how the Mont Kiara fire exposed critical gaps in how we protect our property investments from catastrophic loss. The TLDW of this episode, though we recommend you to watch it :)  → Why smoke kills more than flames & where fatalities actually occur in home fires  → The RM50-100 investment that protects your property wealth (and what makes cheap ones dangerous)  → New fire threats from EV cars and lithium batteries that traditional extinguishers cannot fight Follow Brian here LinkedIn: https://my.linkedin.com/in/brian-soo Fire Fighter Industry Sdn Bhd: https://www.firefighter.com.my/

Most Malaysian IPOs fail before they start. Not from bad businesses, but from founders who treat the listing as a finish line instead of a starting gun.  Stephanie Ng has spent years translating complex enterprises into 300-page prospectuses that unlock billions in capital. Yet she's discovered most investors never read past the financials, and most companies exhaust themselves reaching debut day, then go silent. This TL/DW: → Why 50% of IPO attempts fail (and it's not the business model)  → The "marriage analogy": why debut day is just the wedding, not the relationship  → What minority shareholders actually need to read in those intimidating documents  → How social media storytelling could save Malaysia's overlooked mid-cap companies CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 01:12 - Why IPO Is Like Marriage: One Shot, Years of Consequences 06:43 - The 1999 Certificate That Can Kill Your Listing & Why Half of Companies Quit Halfway 16:32 - The Fastest IPO Takes a Year... If Nothing Goes Wrong 19:01 - The Risk Factors Chapter: Where Companies Confess Everything 26:00 - The Secret Weapon No One Reads (Independent Market Research) 38:00 - Public Bank's 30-Minute Early Habit That Explains Everything 46:22 - Why Strong Companies Go Silent After Debut Day 50:08 - Your Prospectus Has $500K of Ready-Made Content Just Sitting There 55:01 - Why Young Investors Buy Shitcoins Instead of Your Shares 56:22 - Last 7 Days: TV vs TikTok—Where Capital Markets Are Really Happening 01:02:00 - Core Values on Walls vs Real Culture: What Predicts Who Survives Crashes Follow Stephanie here: SMITH ZANDER: https://www.smith-zander.com/team/ LinkedIn: https://my.linkedin.com/in/ngsteph (Shoutout to @Ruma for the chairs keeping us comfortable through these long conversations. Makes a difference when you're not thinking about your back the whole time. Explore Ruma Home’s collections: https://ruma-home.com/)    

Most professionals treat LinkedIn like an online resume: updated once, then forgotten. Crystal Lim, one of LinkedIn's Top 20 creators, reveals it's actually career insurance. She went from corporate marketer to B2B storyteller through one insight: people don't buy products, they buy the stories behind them. Her "toifie" (toilet selfie) strategy accidentally became her personal brand, proving that authenticity beats perfection. The TL/DW of this episode: → Why your LinkedIn profile matters more than your CV when recruiters decide your salary → How "toilet selfies" taught Crystal that noticing what others notice reveals your hidden strengths  → The corporate storytelling framework that turns employees into company ambassadors without being cringe  → Why starting with zero followers today is actually an advantage in 2025 Follow Crystal here: LinkedIn: https://my.linkedin.com/in/limcrystal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glowlikecrystal/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@glowlikecrystal Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 02:14 - The Accidental Path: From Employee to LinkedIn Creator 07:17 - The “Toifie” Philosophy: When Toilets Reveal Corporate Culture  14:08 - LinkedIn as the New CV: Why Recruiters Check Your Profile First 18:18 - Career Insurance for Regular Employees 23:45 - The Employer's Dilemma: Why Companies Fear Active Employees 29:08 - Starting From Zero in 2025 33:43 - Employee-Generated Content: The UGC Strategy Companies Miss 36:32 - The "I Don't Know What I'm Doing" Connection 39:47 - For the Technical Founders: Bridging Product Excellence with Storytelling 42:19 - Social Capital Over Virality  (Shoutout to @Ruma for the chairs keeping us comfortable through these long conversations. Makes a difference when you're not thinking about your back the whole time. Explore Ruma Home’s collections: https://ruma-home.com/)

Most analysts see chaos in Trump's tariffs and Fed threats. Michael Every sees calculated statecraft, a deliberate strategy to remake both the US economy and the global order.  The question isn't whether Trump has a plan, but whether the world can survive it. Michael reveals how stablecoins, Bitcoin reserves, and supply chain warfare form pieces of a grand strategy that either secures American hegemony for decades, or, forces a confrontation no one wants. This conversation explores:  → Why Trump's "chaos" is actually economic statecraft with a specific endpoint  → How dollar stablecoins and a Bitcoin reserve could reshape global finance entirely  → The coming Fed transformation that will redefine what "independent" central banking means  → Why commodity supply chains in Africa and Latin America may become the next battlefield Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 02:37 - The Method Behind Trump's Apparent Madness  06:09 - From Consumer Nation to Industrial Powerhouse  08:07 - The US Debt Problem Nobody Understands 10:09 - What's Coming Next: The Real Transformation Begins  11:10 - The Federal Reserve's Coming Revolution 14:10 - Asset Prices in the New Paradigm  16:10 - The Fatal Flaw in "Just Buy US Assets" 18:55 - Stablecoins: The Weapon You're Not Watching  22:10 - Bitcoin's Role in the Grand Strategy 24:23 - When Economic Statecraft Becomes Military Statecraft 26:10 - Can the Republican Vision Survive Beyond Trump? 27:13 - The US-China "Peace" That's Actually an Arms Race 28:58 - How to Position Yourself for What's Coming