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Top 5 at 5: Aung San Suu Kyi Turns 80 in Junta Jail

Debbie Stothard, Founder , ALTSEAN-Burma

20-Jun-25 17:00

Top 5 at 5: Aung San Suu Kyi Turns 80 in Junta Jail

On her 80th birthday, Myanmar leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi remains imprisoned. Out of sight, but evidently, not out of mind. We speak to Debbie Stothard, Founder OF ALTSEAN-Burma about her legacy, and her continued detention.

Other stories we covered:

• Datuk Seri Najib Razak granted DNAA in SRC International case: This is in relation to a separate set of charges from 2019, that has been in legal limbo ever since. The former prime minister's lawyers had argued that it was unfair to leave the case hanging, leading to the DNAA being granted. We speak to Vivek Sukumaran, co-chairperson of the Bar Council Criminal Law Committee on what this says about our pace of justice.

• MCMC bans whistleblower channel: Telegram channel Edisi Siasat, known for releasing unconfirmed information in relation to alleged misconduct by civil servants and authorities, has been blocked by the Communications Ministry. This has sparked backlash from the public. We speak with Pushpan Murugiah, CEO of the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism about the ban, and its implication on freedom of expression.

• A vaccine for Alzheimer’s?: Researchers at Gyeongsang National University in South Korea have developed a vaccine they believe can delay the progression of or prevent Alzheimer’s disease altogether by 2050. With a projected 800,000 Malaysians living with the disease and the project in its early testing phase, we talk to neurogeneticist Dr Azlina Ahmad Annuar about the validity of the vaccine and what it could mean for the future of Alzheimer’s.

• Making private healthcare more accesible?: The Minister of Health Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad recently suggested a plan to allow citizens to pay a monthly insurance premium using their EPF Account 2, to access private healthcare. We get into it. *In the live broadcast, we misstated this as a proposal for direct payments made to private hospital treatments. We have acknowledged this error.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Produced by: Alia Zefri, Sudais Ferhard, Sneha Harikannan, Tee Shiao Eek

Presented by: Lee Chwi Lynn, Dashran Yohan


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Categories:  economycontroversiesLaw/Activismcorruptionpoliticsgovernmentinternationalmedical advancesmanaging disease

Tags:  edisi siasatmonthly health insurance premiumshealth insurance premiumsepfinsuranceprivate healthcarealzheimer's diseasealzheimer'svaccinesclinical trialsmalaysian communications and multimedia commission (mcmc)mcmcwhistleblowercorruptionnajibdatuk seri najib razaknajib razakSRC International corruption trialsrc internationalsrc international trialaung san suu skyimyanmarinsurance premiums





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