Last week, Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, rejected reports claiming Malaysia ceded over 5000 hectares of land to Indonesia as part of border arrangements. This came after Indonesian media reported that three villages in Indonesia’s Nunukan regency, near the Sabah-Kalimantan border, were designated as Malaysian territory and that Indonesia would receive 5,207 hectares “in compensation”. We dive into the legal realities of border demarcation with Associate Professor Dr Hazmi Rusli. (Starts at 22:02)

• Offensive or unconstitutional?: Last week, the court reinstated the words “offensive” and “annoying” in Section 233, ruling that they do not violate constitutional guarantees of free expression. At the same time, it stressed the need to narrowly interpret the law to prevent unwarranted prosecutions. We speak to Heidy Quah about her legal battle which prompted this, and to constitutional lawyer New Sin Yew on what this judgment means (Starts at 16:08)

• SARA aid 2.0 rolls out: The second Sara disbursement launched yesterday, with an overall allocation of RM 2.2 billion. We discuss what's new about this second rollout. (Starts at 11:43)

• Surprising results in Thai elections: Although the reformist People's Party stood high on opinion polls, the conservative Bhumjaithai party ultimately clinched victory with 194 seats in Thailand's 500-seat parliament. We unpack the results with Dr Termsak Chalermpalanupap, visiting senior fellow at the Thailand Studies Programme of ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. (Starts at 05:16)

• New water fest goes from splash to clash: Malaysians are questioning whether an upcoming water music festival, organised by the Tourism Ministry and inspired by Thailand's Songkran festival, is actually Malaysian. We discuss whether national events have to be rooted in local culture. (Starts at 00:22)

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Produced by: Sudais Ferhard, Dashran Yohan, Alia Zefri, Sneha Harikannan, Susan Tam

Presented by: Sharaad Kuttan, Susan Tam

This and more than 60,000 other podcasts in your hand. Download the all new BFM mobile app.

Categories:  government,  controversies,  international,  culture,  politics,  food,  economy

Tags:  water festival,  malaysia-indonesia border,  thai elections,  SARA aid,  free speech,  border dispute,