Top 5 at 5: A New National Children's Policy

Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri recently unveiled a new National Children's Policy that will focus on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of a child's development. We discuss what this will entail with consultant paediatrician Dr Amar-Singh HSS.

· The language we use on signboards: DBKL recently launched a large-scale raid targetting premises with signages that did not prominently display the Malay language. Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing also weighed in, saying that he was concerned that this would hinder Malaysia’s competitiveness in the global market. For this, we hear from Nigel Wong, president of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents. We also hear from Stephanie Pillai, senior professor at the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics of Universiti Malaya, about language representation.

· A drop in Malaysia's English proficiency ranking: According to the 2024 EF English Proficiency Index, Malaysia ranks 26th in the world for having high English proficiency, dropping by one spot from its previous rank. We reached out to Dr Ayeshah Syed, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Languages & Linguistics, Universiti Malaya, to get her thoughts on Malaysia's ranking, and its correlation with our use of English in daily settings.

· Kerfuffle over private funding for government trips: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has come under fire for disclosing an invitation made towards private companies to join in on his overseas trip covering five countries, with these companies covering the airfare and costs of the travel. Anwar has since clarified that it was a cost-sharing strategy, and these companies had only paid for their share of the commercial flights. This does shine the light on transparency when it comes to government and public sector collaboration. Alissa Rode, senior research manager for the Public Finance Unit at IDEAS weighs in.

· Popek Popek Parlimen: In today's session, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek defended abolishing UPSR and PT3 exams to address rising student suicide rates. MPs also debated a two-tiered gated community system for public housing and the surge in electricity disconnections by Tenaga Nasional Berhad due to unpaid bills.

Image Credit: msyaraafiq, Shutterstock