Latest news with #IDEAS
Free Malaysia Today
7 days ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Public roles not ‘political souvenirs', think tank tells PM
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Saturday that political appointments made by a government to qualified individuals do not constitute an abuse of power. PETALING JAYA : A think tank today cautioned that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's justification of political appointments as rewards for party service sends a dangerous message. In a statement, the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) said the prime minister was effectively saying that public roles could be handed out 'like political souvenirs rather than earned through merit and competence'. 'Political appointments are not favours to be exchanged. They are positions of public trust that carry real responsibility. 'Whether or not appointees come from political backgrounds, all such appointments must be based on merit, integrity, and professional experience. 'Only through a transparent and performance-driven process can we ensure that our public institutions are led by individuals who can serve the people effectively,' its CEO Aira Azhari said. Speaking at the PKR national congress on Saturday, Anwar said political appointments made by a government to qualified individuals did not constitute an abuse of power. He said such appointments were a 'reward' that individuals deserved for their service and contributions to the success of the political party that eventually formed the government. Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh praised Anwar for his remarks, saying on Sunday that the government finally 'understood' Barisan Nasional's way of doing things. However, IDEAS said that state-owned enterprises carried significant fiscal risk, and that even a handful of poorly governed institutions could cause serious economic damage. It said appointing capable, ethical, and experienced directors was not just good practice, but an economic necessity. 'While there are political realities the prime minister must deal with, transparency, accountability and good governance are not principles that can be compromised,' Aira said.
Free Malaysia Today
22-04-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Think tank moots use of 4W1H technique in preparing political funding bill
Political funding, or political financing, refers to how political parties and individual politicians raise money for election campaigns, daily operations and other activities. PETALING JAYA : The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) has called for the adoption of the 4W1H technique often used by journalists in drawing up the political financing bill. The technique is based on a series of questions used to compose a news story: 'who', 'what', 'where', 'when', and 'how'. The think tank said the proposed legislation should include answers to these five questions, namely, 'who is the person/entity that is obliged to report'; 'what type and size of donation is to be reported?'; 'when does the report need to be made?'; 'how or in what form is the reporting to be done?'; and 'where or to whom does the report go?'. 'More advanced countries, especially in Europe, make use of the well-known 4W1H guidelines,' IDEAS said in a statement. The proposal follows news reports yesterday quoting law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said as saying that discussions had been initiated by her office with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Election Commission regarding the proposed law. IDEAS also suggested that the proposed law require political parties and election candidates to keep records of all direct and indirect contributions received during and after the electrical campaign. A report on the contributions should be made public, it added. The proposals were part of the think tank's policy paper, titled 'Effective Reporting and Disclosure of Political Finance: Guidelines, Best Practices, Challenges, and Lessons for Malaysia', which advocates a transparent political financing system and outlines ways to achieve it.
CBC
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Need some Stompin' Tom right now to celebrate being Canadian? We thought so.
Stompin' Tom Connors was Canada's very own troubadour — a singer with a voice that sounded like gravel in a bucket. He made us distinctively Canadian — emulating our self-deprecating modesty, our quiet pride, and when necessary our high sticks and elbows. Connors' songs captured experiences that hold us together as a nation: the glory of hockey, Sudbury on a Saturday night, picking tobacco in Tilsonburg, Ont., the life of a potato trucker from PEI. He may have died 12 years ago, but his music lives on and resonates. At a time when Canadians are rallying around the flag, IDEAS thought it's a good time to go into our archives for some Stompin' Tom Connors to keep us going. My Stompin' Grounds is a 2013 documentary, produced by Philip Coulter. Becoming a star Charles Thomas Connors was born and raised in St. John, New Brunswick. At nine years of age, he was adopted by a family in Prince Edward Island where he grew up in Skinner's Pond. By 13, Connors ran away from home. He travelled through Canada, picking up odd jobs and playing guitar. The turning point for Connors came in the '60s when he arrived at the Maple Leaf Hotel in Timmins, Ont. He was short a nickel for a bottle of beer. "The waiter said that if I took out my guitar and sang a few tunes that he'd give me all the beer I could drink. So needless to say that night, after a few songs later, I didn't remember too much about going to bed, but anyway they put me up in The Maple Leaf and gave me a job for $35 a week," Connors said in the documentary. "I was there for 14 months. I wrote songs about my own home of Prince Edward Island, with Bud the Spud, about the potatoes, and when I used to work on the coal boat over in Newfoundland and all through there." Life on the road with Stompin' Tom Connors 54 years ago Duration 9:28 In 1970, the man who wrote Bud the Spud talks about the fateful night in Timmins, Ont. that launched his career. This pivotal moment was the beginning of his career. Connors says he remembers listening to a guy play music at the Maple Leaf Hotel, "singing songs galore about this country... that stuck with me." "It made me know that I was on the right track. The world has to hear about Canada and Canadians have to hear about Canada." Stomp to the beat So how did 'Stompin' become a nickname that would forever be added to Tom? It has everything to do with keeping the beat on stage — stomping. "He was doing this on carpets and people were apparently complaining that he was ruining the carpet," said Coulter in conversation with IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed. Eventually, Stompin' Tom brought a piece of plywood to his shows so he could stomp on that to keep the beat, and keep the venue happy also. "He got the name Stompin' Tom on Canada Day in 1967 when the barman at a club in Peterborough, Ont. introduced him as Stompin' Tom — and the name stuck." Stompin' Tom knew very early in his career that he had to do something different to get people to listen to his music. He figured the board-stomping might get people in the door and as he said, "it sure made people talk." "They said, 'you should come and see this guy ripping boards apart, the sawdust flies everywhere and it's into your drink and on your clothes and it's all over the place," said Connors. "But the second time they came to see me wasn't to see me bang my boot on the board. It was to hear what I was singing." Connors was a natural entertainer but he did more than singing and performing on stage, he connected with his audience. "When I was out there, I know for a fact that the people in every room that I ever played, they became friends instantly," Connors explained in the documentary. "When I seen two tables sitting together, and they weren't talking to one another, I would introduce them right off the stage, one to the other, and say, 'hey, grab that guy by the hand.' Because he's a fisherman from Newfoundland, and you're a lumberjack from Northern Ontario, why don't you get to know each other?" Whether someone was coming to see Stompin' Tom for the first time or they were a fan, everyone left that bar being friends. Tip of the hat Stompin' Tom's funeral in March 2013 was as singular as the man himself. He decreed that it should be held in the Peterborough hockey arena — general admission, first come, first served, and 4,000 people showed up. An honour guard of RCMP officers carried Connors' casket onstage, with his trademark black Stetson hat on top. A Who's Who of Canadian musicians played and sang the night away.
CBC
01-04-2025
- Science
- CBC
IDEAS schedule for April 2025
Tuesday, April 1 CARLO ROVELLI: SEVEN BRIEF LESSONS ON PHYSICS Think of some of the 20th Century science's most momentous developments — Einstein's theory of relativity, quantum physics, finding evidence of black holes. If you trace the chain of discoveries that led to these breakthroughs back far enough, you'll end up with the Italian astronomer, physicist and inventor, Galileo Galilei. Renowned Italian physicist Carlo Rovelli, author of best-selling books like Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, explains how Galileo's discoveries and insights revolutionized science and helped usher in modernity — and how we can still learn a lot from him today. Wednesday, April 2 WALKING AMONG THE ANCIENTS: THE WABANAKI-ACADIAN OLD GROWTH FOREST To walk in an old growth forest is to be stunned by its untouched beauty, its otherworldliness — soaring ancient trees above, rolling thick ground underfoot, and astounding biodiversity all around. (Scientists are even researching its compound-rich air, for a potential role in preventing and treating cancer.) The Wabanaki-Acadian Forest, which stretches from parts of the Maritimes and Southern Quebec down into several New England states, is comprised largely of newer forests, already cut down and logged, over and over. Just one per cent of its old growth is left, and the World Wildlife Fund lists it as endangered. On this episode, accompany IDEAS to a secret old growth forest stand in Nova Scotia, to learn of its many wonders. *This episode originally aired on June 11, 2024. Thursday, April 3 PUTTING PRIDE ABOVE SHAME: LOVING YOUR COUNTRY IN THE 21st CENTURY (STEP THREE) The first step to developing a healthy level of patriotism is to decide which country you in fact belong to. The second step is to understand what duties accompany that choice. Having taken those steps, a person can tackle what may be the toughest one, depending on the nationality in question: feeling proud. An ashamed patriot is theoretically possible, and to feel zero shame may be unhealthy as well as unlikely, but for countries to thrive and strive to be their best selves, their citizens must collectively find a sweet spot where positive feelings outweigh negative ones, just individuals need enough self-respect to overcome their inner demons. IDEAS producer Tom Howell gathers insights from Afghans, Israelis, and Americans in hopes of finding the key to doing patriotism right. Friday, April 4 IDEAS FROM THE TRENCHES: THE CONSPIRACY PRACTICE Growing up, PhD student Sarah believed in the literal interpretation of the Bible. Born into a devout evangelical Christian community, she fully espoused creationism and the historical existence of Noah's ark, and she predicted that non-believers faced a doom in hell upon Judgment Day. She's now estranged from her family, but draws on her evangelical past to understand the visceral belief people acquire in conspiracy theories — from PizzaGate to the 'stolen' 2020 US election. *This episode is part of our ongoing series, IDEAS from the Trenches. It originally aired on Sept. 21, 2022. Monday, April 7 THE RADICAL POSSIBILITIES OF RETURN What kinds of return are possible when you can't return home? Author of A History of Burning, novelist Janika Oza looks at the ways in which the narrative arcs of ordinary lives are shaped by ruptures like colonialism, war, and the Partition of India — and what it means to continually seek to return through stories, memories and objects. The Radical Possibilities of Return — the fourth in a series this season from Crow's Theatre in Toronto. Tuesday, April 8 EXPOSING CRIME AND CORRUPTION IN THE WORLD: ICIJ DIRECTOR GERALD RYLE It's estimated that a significant percentage of the world's wealth is held in secret offshore accounts — between $21 and $32 trillion. How much of the world's wealth is ferreted away is hard to know. However in the past decade billions of these hidden stashes have been uncovered through the thorough work of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The ICIJ retains a network of more than 290 of the top investigative journalists around the work. Some of its major investigations include Offshore Leaks, Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, and Pandora Papers. These revealed the secrets of the rich and powerful and led to multiple arrests and official inquiries in more than 70 countries, and the resignations of the leaders of Pakistan, Iceland, and Malta. For the 2025 Dalton Camp Series, ICIJ Director Gerard Ryle is in conversation with IDEAS Host Nahlah Ayed. Wednesday, April 9 RE-IMAGINING THE BORDER A German, a Canadian, and an American walk onto the stage of the Centre Mont-Royal in Montréal, and try to agree on what's happening to the concept of a national border. They then set their imaginations to the task of picturing what borders should become, before the century is out. These conversants are Peter Altmaier, the German cabinet minister who ran his country's response to the 2015 "refugee crisis;" Julian Castro, U.S. secretary for housing under Barack Obama and current head of the U.S. Latino Community Foundation; and Ayelet Shachar, Canadian professor and author of The Shifting Border and The Birthright Lottery. IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed poses the questions. Thursday, April 10 TBD Friday, April 11 TB Monday, April 14 TIMOTHY SNYDER ON FREEDOM Historian Timothy Snyder (On Tyranny) speaks to Nahlah Ayed about his newest book, On Freedom. In a political era where the word freedom is defined and redefined by whichever faction needs to evoke it, Snyder argues that — more than the freedom from various things — we actually need the freedom to thrive, for the sake of our common future. Recorded in front of an audience at the Toronto Reference Library. Tuesday, April 15 TBD Wednesday, April 16 PROFESSORS' PATRIOTISM QUESTIONNAIRE The intellectual class is reputed to feel squeamish about expressing patriotism. But time are a-changing. IDEAS producer Tom Howell attempts to pin down leading Canadian scholars on the extent to which their hearts swell with national pride, by subjecting each of them to a list of five questions aimed at both complicating and simplifying what they believe such professions of patriotism to mean. Thursday, April 17 TBD Please note: IDEAS will be preempted in some timezones for the 7 p.m. election debate. Friday, April 18 AUTHOR BRETT POPPLEWELL ON SUPERAGING Brett Popplewell chronicled the life of an octogenarian athlete for his 2024 Edna Staebler Award-winning book, Outsider. Dag Abaye rejects mainstream views of the aging body, and chooses to live alone in an old schoolbus in the mountains of B.C., challenging himself to run long distances each day. In this public talk, Brett Popplewell considers what he learned from his subject, and about pushing society's limits around aging. IDEAS FOR A BETTER CANADA We live in an era of eroding democracy where polarization is increasingly fracturing our sense of a shared reality. With another federal election approaching, there's a growing sense that our political system prioritizes short-term gains over the long-term health of our democracy. To address this, IDEAS hosted cross-Canada discussions to focus on local solutions with the potential to inspire national change. The series is part of CBC Collab fund and in partnership with the Samara Centre for Democracy. Monday, April 21 IDEAS FOR A BETTER CANADA — PEI In an ideal democracy, every citizen has a voice. Critics of Canada's first-past-the-post electoral system have long decried what they say is unfair representation in our halls of power. And for that and other reasons, voters are increasingly disengaged. As residents of Confederation's birthplace, Prince Edward Islanders have thought hard about the democratic exercise, engaging its citizens, and what can be done to reinvigorate our democracy. IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed hears from Prince Edward Islanders about how to can get the most out of our electoral system. Tuesday, April 22 IDEAS FOR A BETTER CANADA — BURLINGTON YOUR LIBRARY IS OPEN (AND BELIEVES IN DEMOCRACY) Libraries are a target in the culture wars raging across the continent. Yet they exist to give everyone access to a wide variety of expressive content: even when those books, events, and materials may offend others. As upholders of the sometimes unpopular concept of intellectual freedom, can inclusive yet open library guidelines help remind us what democracy upholds? IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed visits Burlington Public Library in Ontario, to speak with local librarians, author Ira Wells (On Book Banning), and a community audience, about what can be learned from our libraries. Wednesday, April 23 IDEAS FOR A BETTER CANADA — EDMONTON WHY CAN'T WE BE FRIENDS? In a politically polarized world, conversation across divides can go one of three ways: screaming from our silos, retreating into them, or patiently building bridges between them to allow for civil debate. From fostering deep empathy to role-playing games to re-defining community, we explore how to nurture healthier democracies by encouraging conversation. IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed hears from Edmontonians about how they make it work. Thursday, April 24 IDEAS FOR A BETTER CANADA — NANAIMO Housing affordability is reaching a crisis point across Canada. The affordability crisis brings debate to local communities, stokes conflict, between generations, and contributes to a crisis of homelessness. IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed visits Nanaimo, British Columbia to ask: What does it mean for society when owning or renting your own home is out of reach for so many? How do you build a community when it's so hard to find a home near work, schools, and social lives? What obligations does a society have to ensure safe and stable housing is accessible to everyone? Friday, April 25 A HISTORY OF HUMAN SHIELDS The use of human shields is likely as old as war itself. In contemporary times we often see the use of involuntary human shields in war and conflict by both regular armies and militias — a practice forbidden under international humanitarian law. But there is also a long history of people voluntarily putting their lives at risk as a way to protect and show solidarity with a person or ideal or to lay bare a difficult political or social reality. Depending on the circumstances, choosing to use one's own body as a form of protection might be celebrated or reviled. In this episode, we take a look at the history of human shields and how they've been used both as a weapon of war and a weapon of peace. Monday, April 28 Tuesday, April 29 MARTHA BAILLIE ON GRIEF (WRITER'S TRUST) The death of a family member can stir up both fond and bitter memories and a complicated stew of conflicting feelings — grief, loss, resentment, guilt, bewilderment, solace. In her memoir, There Is No Blue, acclaimed Canadian writer Martha Baillie probes the meanings and mysteries of death and family relationships through contemplations of three losses — her 99-year-old mother; her father; and her sister who suffered from schizophrenia and died by suicide shortly after her mother's death. There Is No Blue was the 2024 winner of the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Award for Nonfiction. Wednesday, April 30 SILENCE AND MEMORY: LILIA TOPOUZOVA During the Communist era in Bulgaria there was little room for political dissent. Protesters or anyone who opposed the government could be arrested, sent to the Gulag, and silenced. For 20 years Lilia Topouzova has been collecting the stories of those who survived: some had many stories, some had little to say, some had nothing to say — or just no way of saying it. From these stories she has recreated a Bulgarian room from the Communist era, where her meetings and conversations with survivors can be heard, a space about the absence of memory and what that does to a people, a space to bear witness to those who were sent to the camps, but who were everyone's friends, relatives…neighbours. The installation 'The Neighbours' is the official Bulgarian entry to the 2024 Venice Biennale.
CBC
12-03-2025
- Science
- CBC
Data is 'sticky,' there's way too much, and we don't control it, warns political scientist
You are a data-generating machine just by being connected to the modern world. "Almost all facets of human behaviour have now become pieces of data that have become digitized," Wendy H. Wong told IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed. "Your SIN, your address, your birthday, we kind of think of that as personal and very private data. But that's just a tiny, tiny drop in the bucket of the types of information that are being collected about us." Wong is a professor of political science at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan, and the author of We, the Data: Human Rights in the Digital Age. It won the 2024 winner of the Balsillie Prize for Public Policy. She argues data is a human rights issue because there are no guardrails in place to protect us from how much data big tech companies generate and collect about us. And we have little say in the matter, nor how it's used to define us and shape our behaviour. Wong spoke to Ayed about what it means to be 'datafied,' a term that describes how facets of human behaviour become pieces of data that are digitized, changing how we might live our lives. What's the relationship between us and the data about us? The relationship is that it comes directly from us. So rather than thinking about the data, about all of our mundane activities as data exhaust or as detritus, which are two common ways to think about data — it's not a byproduct. It's actually descriptive of who we are. Its identity and that link has been lost. So in that sense, it flattens out human life. It makes it easier to just say, 'Well,... this is what the data says,' so therefore, you suffer these consequences, whether we think about that in terms of denying people mortgages or, often, it's used in assessing rental candidates for housing. You can think about it in terms of predictions for who might be a good driver who might be a healthy person in terms of the insurance industry. I mean, there's so many different ways to think about how the data that feedback into how we are affected in all our different systems, social systems, economic systems, to be enabled in certain types of experiences. I wonder if it's too simplistic to say that we have become our data. I don't think it's too simplistic. There are a lot of people who actually make that point. It's important not to reduce human life to just data. I think we're both data and we are physical discretionary beings who make choices, who have thoughts that stick and things that happen in our lives that are still — not to date — tracked. But there's a whole lot going on in our lives that is tracked. We're increasingly being defined by data and our life choices, what's available to us, is increasingly being squeezed by this extensive data analytic system we've created. And I think that there's probably a distinction between what we should think of ourselves, whether we are or are not our data, or whether our data is our selves and how the big companies see us. They see us as data now. Yeah, I mean, they see our data and try to make decisions based on what they observe and what they pull from this data. Human beings, we're not discrete in the sense that we interact with the world. So how we think about things can change depending on what interactions we have. I do think part of what makes datafication challenging is that the more tailored or narrow those opportunities for us to interact are, the more it can reinforce filter bubbles. For example, social media, what you see can reinforce ideas in your head and make people more and more extreme and more embedded with it because they think that this is a widespread idea, or this is something that everyone thinks instead of understanding that there's a whole range of ideas and opinions out there. That's one consequence that a lot of people have observed. But in general, the way that we live our lives through data and the data generation that all of us are engaged in with these data collecting companies, I don't think it's been looked at so much as a part of human existence going forward. People sort of forget about that, and it's really easy to forget that 20 years ago, datafication was not so extensive. Right. It's kind of in the water that we swim in. Yes, that's part of the sort of secret sauce, as it were in what I'm trying to expose, which is that, alternatives exist because the data are about human behaviours and affect human beings, that we have a whole bunch of rights that exist. We have entitlements as human beings, and this international framework around human rights that's been around since at least 1948. The companies that are doing the data collection, who are they? What companies and entities are we talking about here? We like talking about Big Tech, the usual suspects. But it goes beyond that. If you think about the importance of data, the economies of data out there in the business world, I would argue that it's really any company that has a digital presence, any company that is engaged online, which is so many, right? You talk about a solution in which you say that we should become treated as stakeholders in the data that we co-create. And also in addition, how it's actually used. Can you talk about in practice what that would mean? What kind of shift would that require? We should think about ourselves as stakeholders. If we understand that we do actually play a really important role in the creation of data, that we are half the equation... it sounds really airy-fairy to say just shift your mindset but I do think that actually really matters because if you think that you have a stake, that you're just as important as the Googles and the Metas of the world in the datafication of our lives, then that gives us agency in democracies to make demands of our leaders and to tell our policymakers that these practices are unacceptable. But are we really half of that equation? Can we equate ourselves with Google and Meta and Twitter? Yes. I mean, by definition, to collect data about an individual person, that person must exist right in the world where the data are about living people or actual people who have existed. Now, you're absolutely right to point out that any one of us is no match for these giant trillion-dollar companies. If it's just me or you having this realization that we're stakeholders, but nobody else thinks that way, well, yes, of course. This is why, as a political scientist, it helps to think about these issues because we think about collective action and what it takes to change a situation. It's not going to happen because one or two people believe in it. It might happen if a collective believes in it. And then what are they rallying around? How are they going to think about themselves as part of the process, as stakeholders? That's where you see all social movements, the demands for change that come from citizens, that come from the grassroots, they all come from people realizing that they are different from what they've been told they are. So we're not data subjects — data subject has so many meanings, none of which are empowering. You're either a subject of the data or you are subject to the data. And both of those are positions of passivity. If you say, you're a data stakeholder, it means that you have a reason to be part of the conversation.
