Yesterday, around 500 people joined in a peaceful assembly in front of Parliament to support the Plantation Workers Housing Scheme Bill that was drafted by the Plantation Community Support Committee. If passed, the bill will ensure plantation companies are obligated to provide housing for their workers. We speak to Karthiges Rajamanickam, Coordinator of the Plantation Community Support Committee about the march to Parliament, the bill, and how it could impact the lives of plantation workers.

Other stories we covered:

• Rafizi Ramli’s son attacked: Yesterday, Pandan MP Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli’s 12-year-old son was reportedly attacked with a syringe. Following the attack, Rafizi’s wife received messages threatening the family with AIDS. We speak to Dr Anjanna Kukreja, Infectious Diseases Physician from Universiti Malaya Medical Centre about what to do if injected with an unknown syringe, and Anil Netto, Aliran’s president about the culture of political violence in Malaysia.
• UN Plastics Treaty Negotiations: The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) are the UN-led talks that aim to create a legally binding global agreement in an attempt to tackle plastic pollution. Delegates are currently in Geneva for I-N-C-5.2, but the discussion has come to a head with severe disagreements over the Chair’s latest draft text. We reached out to Arpita Bhagat, the Plastic Policy Officer for Asia Pacific from the NGO GAIA, who is present at the talks in Geneva for a better insight into the situation.
• Government mulls Unexplained Wealth Order: The order was first introduced in British courts back in 2018 in an attempt to tackle illicit wealth and corruption among the elites. While observers note its potential as an investigative tool, many agree research needs to be done before implementation. We speak to Former Klang MP Charles Santiago on why this order would be beneficial.
• Cafes are not your personal office!: After the growing cagongjok trend in South Korea where people work or study in cafés, Starbucks Korea has had enough, telling customers to stop bringing their computers, printers, and even partitions. With cafes in the UK also introducing caps on laptop usage and bans on work devices, we discuss this aspect of café culture.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Produced by: Lim Sue Ann, Alia Zefri, Juliet Jacobs, Sneha Harikannan, Sudais Ferhard

Presented by: Lee Chwi Lynn, Sharaad Kuttan, Susan Tam

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Categories:  politics,  controversies,  the workplace,  culture,  Law/Activism,  international,  government,  environment,  corruption

Tags:  south korea,  starbucks,  unexplained wealth,  millionaires,  united nations,  plastic,  rafizi ramli,  attack,  plantation workers,  housing,