On Tuesday, Mayor Datuk Seri Dr. Maimunah Mohd Sharif described the KL Local Plan 2040 (PTKL) as a balancing act—between rapid urban development and the need to preserve cultural heritage. We speak to Dato’ Hamdan Abdul Majeed, Managing Director of Think City, about how PTKL stacks up against other frameworks like Warisan KL, and whether developers and communities are on board.

Other stories we covered:

• 13MP and the billion-dollar budget: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim tabled the five-year plan today in Parliament, with the outline totalling a RM611 billion budget. We cover the different fund allocations and speak to Lee Hwok Aun, Senior Fellow with the Malaysia Studies Programme and Regional Economic Studies Programme at Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore for some thoughts on the plan.

• Bangladesh halts probe into syndicate: A Malaysiakini report reveals a bilateral meeting where Bangladesh agreed to halt its probe into a migrant worker exploitation syndicate linked to Malaysia—despite conflicting statements from Malaysia’s Human Resources Ministry. We spoke to Glorene Das, executive director of Tenaganita about what the probe was set to uncover and what happens now that investigations have potentially stopped.

• Ong Beng Seng set to plead guilty: Singapore’s billionaire tycoon Ong Beng Seng is set to plead guilty to graft charges linked to former transport minister S. Iswaran, in a case involving luxury gifts and obstruction of justice. Aaron Low, former editor of the business desk at The Straits Times weighs in on the charges.

• Spain's parental leave revolution: Spain has extended paid parental leave to 17 weeks for both mothers and fathers, positioning itself alongside Finland as one of Europe’s most equitable on family benefits. The move is hailed as a feminist win—but also a strategic one, aimed at reversing the country’s looming demographic crisis. We get into it.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

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

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:  international,  government,  Family/Parenting,  Law/Activism,  corruption,  controversies,  economy

Tags:  spain,  paternity leave,  maternity leave,  singapore,  ong beng seng corruption scandal,  s iswaran former transport minister singapore,  bangladesh,  syndicate,  13th Malaysia Plan,  budget,  maimunah sharif,  kuala lumpur,  kuala lumpur mayor,