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Every festive season, Malaysian shopping malls roll out their decorations, but not every celebration gets the same treatment. Content creator Blake Yap has been grading how malls mark Deepavali through his Deco Mall Review series, and his scorecard has put the spotlight on questions of effort and representation. We speak to Blake and kolam artist Rupa Subramaniam about what they have noticed in public spaces, which malls are getting it right, and what they hope to see from malls and brands going forward. So we ask our listeners: Do festive decorations in malls matter to you? Why? Image Credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Khairul Aming’s much hyped restaurant Rembayung in Kampung Baru has been struggling with booking system crashes and scalpers snapping up reservations, so this week it switched to a new reservation system with Grab Dine Out to fix the problem. Meanwhile, fans of Ming Chun’s Gepuklah continue to line up for hours to get a plate of ayam gepuk. It makes you wonder how much pull influencer backed food businesses really have, and how far people are willing to go to try them. So we ask our listeners: When you see long lines and hype, does that interest you or turn you off? What influencer-led businesses have you given a shot? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Tuesday, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said she is open to looking at letting couples share maternity leave, after the idea was raised during the Budget 2027 debate in the Dewan Rakyat. Right now, mothers get 98 days of leave while fathers get just one week, and countries like Sweden and the UK already let parents split their time off in different ways. So we ask our listeners: Should fathers be able to share maternity leave? Or is there a better system for parental leave you’d like to see? Image Credit: Pexels See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A recent article from the BBC noted the streaming of current music was dwarfed by old music that was released at least a year ago. That got us thinking about hits on today’s charts that even date back to the 70s and 80s. We hear what listeners are enjoying these days and ask them: When it comes to music, do you listen to favourites or look for new tracks? Image Credit: Pexels See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that he does not want civil servants to use Waze anymore due to the app's link to Israel and concerns surrounding security. He is urging Malaysians to switch to local app TuJu. Soon after that, many users reported issues with the app, most prominently the fact that the app sometimes just show a straight line navigation (which many joked would only be possible if they were in a flying car). So we ask our listeners: Would you stop using Waze and try out TuJu? What are the features that are must-haves for navigation apps? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lee Zii Jia's recent court dispute with his family over his own company has settled, but the suit raises a question many people quietly wrestle with: if they would go into business with the people they grew up with. From siblings running coffee shops and spouses as co-founders to parents who worked side by side for decades, we ask out listeners: Would you go into business with your family? Image Credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Would you feel safer walking down a street lined with facial-recognition cameras every 50 metres, or would it just feel like being watched? That is the question hosts Lee Chwi Lynn and Susan Tam put to listeners on Talkback, after Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi floated expanding high-definition CCTV with facial recognition in crime hotspots, pointing to China's high-tech policing as inspiration. Callers and texters weigh in from every angle: the comfort of catching burglars and bag-snatchers, scepticism about Malaysia's maintenance culture and procurement history, fears of data leaks and misuse by authorities, and comparisons with China, Singapore, the UK and the US. Lee and Susan trace the tension between safety and trust, asking what accountability, enforcement and liveable cities would need to look like before more cameras actually make people feel secure. Image Credit: Pexels See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the slew of new technology hitting the market, like the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max having launched on September 9th, alongside Android rivals like the Google Pixel 11 and Samsung Galaxy S26 FE, we got to thinking about the reasons why some people upgrade and why some hold on to their old tech. So we ask our listeners: How old is your current phone? Are you someone who likes to upgrade their tech frequently? Image Credit: Pexels See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Budget 2027 is just around the corner, and we thought it would be the perfect time to talk about what the government should prioritise that will actually benefit everyday Malaysians. So we ask our listeners: What do you want out of Budget 2027, what would actually make a difference to you? Image Credit: Pexels See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Following Sepang's grand but one-off return to the Formula 1 calendar this past weekend, conversations have been brewing about the feasibility and possibility of Formula 1 returning to Malaysia for good despite its RM300 million cost. So we ask our listeners: Do you want F1 to return to Malaysia permanently? And, are there other major events you’d like Malaysia to host?Image Credit: EPA Images See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With air quality still unhealthy in parts of the Klang Valley and several events already cancelled over haze concerns. Major events like F1 in Sepang and the KL Marathon still continue, with the former getting a record number of ticket sales. From skipping runs and golf games to altering your daily commute, we ask how much the haze is actually changing your plans.Image Credit: EPA Images See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The debate follows comments from UMNO's Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, who wants films and dramas depicting bullying to stop, arguing they could encourage copycat behaviour. He said this after the death of a Form Two student in Kuala Pilah allegedly assaulted by a senior. We open the lines to ask our listeners: Do artists, filmmakers and writers owe society a good moral message? Do we expect them to set a good example? Image Credit: Pexels See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A US recruiter has gone viral on TikTok after saying job candidates shouldn’t bring iced coffee to an interview because it can make them look too casual. It’s sparked a bigger debate about workplace etiquette, so we want to know: what’s one workplace behaviour you would ban, and one you wish more people would do or bring back?Image Credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dato Seri Najib Razak has been granted a conditional pardon allowing him to serve the remainder of his SRC International sentence under house arrest until August 2028, once he pays a RM50 million fine. UMNO has raised almost RM1 million in their solidarity fund to help Najib out with this. So in this episode, we attempt to get a sense of how popular Najib remains among Malaysians, and get insights on this from Aziff Azuddin, Associate Researcher at IMAN Research. We also ask our listeners: How do you feel about Najib Razak, and his house arrest? Image Credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia has opened a 45-day nationwide public consultation on its proposed gaming sub-code in order to set industry wide standards that developers can use to make their games safer. We speak to Mediha Mahmood and Syamil Abdul Samad from Content Forum Malaysia about why these guidelines are necessary and how they would look practically. We also ask our listeners: Do you or your kids play online games? How can we make online gaming safer? Image Credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.