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For our 12th Middle Malaysia podcast, we speak to Edmund Bon, a prominent human rights lawyer and one of the co-founders of Loyar Burok, a community blog focused on human rights issues.

In our discussion, Bon clarifies and elaborates on his sensational statement in defence of the protestors who did butt exercises in front of Bersih Chairperson S. Ambiga's house.

He also explains why although he does believe that one should disobey bad laws, it was the right decision for Bersih to not want to breach the barricades at Dataran Merdeka.

Bon says that the government's recent attacks against the Bar Council is just an attempt to sidetrack the issue of free and fair elections, and he maintains that the Bar Council is indeed non-partisan.

As for the government's intention to set up an alternative body, he says the Bar Council has fought that in the past and will continue to do so.

Lastly, he talks a little bit about Loyar Burok and shares the secret to his youthful looks (no, he does not have Dr. M's secret serum).

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For our 11th Middle Malaysia podcast, we speak to Nurul Izzah, the MP for Lembah Pantai who is facing a big challenge in the upcoming general election because there has been a significant increase in the number of postal voters in her constituency. She is also likely to be challenged by an UMNO minister with a powerful arsenal of machinery, money and media.

She talks about election fraud and how she believes GE13 will be the dirtiest election ever. This is why Bersih is such an important movement. Although she was present at Bersih, and was actually on the same truck that Hishamuddin Rais and S. Ambiga were on when the Bersih co-chairperson gave her speech, very few people noticed her presence because she kept a very low profile at the event. In our discussion, she explains why.

Nurul Izzah addresses some tough and controversial issues, namely whether it was wrong for the people to storm the barricades as well as whether she believes her father, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, gave orders to breach the barricades.

Like many people, she expects the election to be held in June. While she senses that there's good support on the ground, at the same time she's fully aware that it's hardly a level playing field. Still, she's confident and she explains why that is so, in her first ever podcast.

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For our 10th Middle Malaysia podcast, on press freedom day, we speak to online columnist and video journalist Zan Azlee about his experience covering Bersih 3.0.

Zan says that in all his travels and all the assignments he's been on, he had never felt as intimidated as he was at Bersih 3.0. And this is coming from a guy who has been to Afghanistan, Lebanon and South Thailand to shoot documentaries.

Zan figured something was amiss by early evening when he noticed that many policemen had taken off their name tags. And then he saw gangs of them starting to beat up protestors.

He talks about how journalists got assaulted for shooting pictures and videos of police brutality. He himself was manhandled, hauled in and briefly detained by the police.

After he was released, as he walking towards his car, Zan noticed a number of people lying unconscious on the street as ambulances came and picked them up one by one.

As he reached his car, a bunch of men approached him and asked to be interviewed. They wanted to talk about the brutality they had witnessed. One man told him that the situation was like "kucing cari tikus".

In reflecting upon what he had witnessed and experienced, Zan says he feels a mixture of anger and sadness. Angry because of how journalists were treated and sad at how protestors were viciously beaten by gangs of rogue policemen.

But not one to be cowed, he says he hopes Bersih 4.0 happens sooner rather than later.

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For our ninth Middle Malaysia podcast, we have a special Skype conversation with a trio of Malaysians living in Atlanta, Georgia, who are organizing the Bersih gathering over there.

They are so gung-ho about Bersih 3.0 that they actually came dressed in yellow for the podcast recording!

Gary Tan, Jamie Koh and "Batman" Lim,  who met each other in the US through a summer internship program, had all witnessed Bersih 2.0 from afar, and were both inspired and motivated by what had happened back home. So, when Bersih 3.0 was announced, they decided they had to be a part of it.

It hasn't been easy though. It's the first time they are organizing something like this. But with encouragement and advice from Bersih coordinators in other major US cities, they are putting it together. They are hoping to get around 50 people for the Atlanta gathering.

Gary, Jamie and Batman share with us how they keep in touch with Malaysian news and political developments. Not surprisingly, it's not through the websites of mainstream media. And, they share with us what they individually think will be the outcome of the upcoming general elections. Interestingly, all three give differing views on this.

The Atlanta group is just one of around 70 committees around the world who are organizing Bersih events to be held in their cities on April 28. But, they provide us with a glimpse of what it's like for Malaysians living abroad, who still love their country and who want to do their bit to raise awareness about the need for reforms and change.

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For our eighth Middle Malaysia podcast, we speak to Liew Chin Tong, first term MP for Bukit Bendera, who laments the fact that there is no committee system in Parliament -- unlike in Australia, Britain, New Zealand and even in Indonesia. It is through having committees that parliamentarians develop subject matter expertise, he says.

Liew also talks about the nature of the British parliamentary system, upon which we had based ours, and how it does not allow for much dissent within a party, thus leading to parliament becoming like a rubber stamp as policies are not seriously debated. That would change if a committee system were implemented, he says. However, he adds that that won't come about unless Pakatan Rakyat gets into power.

Liew, who has a clear grasp of electoral statistics, says that between 1991 and 2005, BN had the support of all the communities, including the middle-class Chinese. "BN has lost its Middle Malaysia position," Liew says, adding that the most extreme party today is the one led by the PM, with Utusan and Perkasa cheering him on.

The force that would counter that is the Internet, according to Liew, who highlights the fact that demographically speaking, "we are an extremely young country", with more than 50% being below the age of 25 and 70% below the age of 40. The young ones, who love to use Facebook and going online for information, is what will make a difference, he says.

Looking back at his own political career, Liew says he considers himself lucky to be able to live in an era where change is happening and where he can contribute to that change. He expects the general elections to be held in June and says that for Pakatan to win, it needs to win 1/3 of the so-called "fixed deposit" states of Sabah, Sarawak, Johor and Pahang, which has a total of 95 seats. Of that lot, Pakatan had won only 5 in the last general elections. So, there is a lot of room for growth. To win 1/3, Liew says, is very doable.

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For our seventh Middle Malaysia Podcast, Maria Chin Abdullah, one of the original founders of Bersih (she's involved in 1, 2 & 3); and executive director of Empower, a women's NGO, talks to us about why Bersih 3 is necessary.

According to Maria, none of Bersih 2's demands have been met. Even the inclusion of indelible ink is not satisfactory because of some of the conditions imposed, which she says are unacceptable. She also explains why she thinks this could very well be the dirtiest elections ever.

Maria maintains that getting half a million participants is realistic if you count Bersih events across the country and around the world.

She also talks about Empower, the NGO that she heads, which aims to raise women's representation in Parliament, in State Assemblies and in the public sector. She laments the low female participation rate in this country but notes optimistically, that there is noticeable, growing female interest in politics. She believes there will be more female candidates in the upcoming general election.

Lastly, in her own unique way, Maria addresses the question of whether she, herself, will be throwing her hat into the political ring.

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In our sixth Middle Malaysia podcast, we speak to Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng who recalls how it was like right before the March 8, 2008 general election and even sings a line from theme song at that time (hint: It's by Glenn Frey and it reflects the mood of the moment).

He also recounts how it was like when he first found out that Pakatan Rakyat had won and it had just dawned upon him that he would become the chief minister of Penang. Although he initially did not know what to do, he was certain that he would need to reinvent the chief minister's role.

Lim talks about inheriting a Penang that was nicknamed "Darul Sampah" because it was in such a dirty state and how the PR administration is turning that around. He also talks about reforming the civil service, turning a "bane" into a "boon". He also reflects on some of the mistakes he made as chief minister.

He hits out at mainstream media for fabricating things about him, especially Utusan Malaysia which paints him as anti-Malay and anti-Islam. He recently won a defamation suit against Utusan precisely over this matter.

Lim has some particularly harsh words for Khairy Jamaluddin. Find out why he calls the UMNO Youth chief an "arrogant Oxford boy" who is "not fit to be a father".

Lastly, he talks about the upcoming general elections and explains why PR doesn't even need to win a simple majority to take over Putrajaya. 100 seats is all it takes, he says.

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In our fifth Middle Malaysia podcast, we have a conversation with Wan Saiful Wan Jan, CEO of IDEAS (Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs), a Libretarian think tank which focuses on four key principles: i) rule of law ii) limited government intervention iii) free market economy iv) individual liberty.

Wan Saiful takes a look at Malaysia today from these four perspectives. In terms of rule of law, he agrees that confidence in the authorities and judiciary is at a low and says that for certain institutional changes to happen, it would require a change of government although, as he quickly adds "that is not enough." Listen to the podcast to find out why.

As for limited government, he says this is something that used to be the case during Tunku Abdul Rahman's time but all that changed when Tun Razak took over and the government started getting its hands involved in all sorts of things, including business. He decries the populist policies that both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat tend to favour.

As a proponent of free markets, he is against the idea of Government-Linked Companies. He thinks the government should get out of business and leave that to real entrepreneurs. As for the NEP, he adopts a remarkably brutal stance. He thinks it should be done away with -- because the "unintended consequences" of this four-decade long policy has been too high a price to pay. He regards Prime Minister Najib Razak as a reformist who is fighting a battle within his own party and he believes Perkasa has managed to undermine the PM's economic transformation programmes. As a result, the outlook for Najib personally, is dim even if he leads BN to electoral victory.

Lastly, on individual liberty, he remarks on the irony of those who want little government intervention in their lives but yet espouse socialistic economic ideas. He notes how both BN and PR tend to embrace socialistic policies when it comes to economics and concludes: "We still have a lot of work to do".

Without doubt, Wan Saiful, is a different kind of thinker. In this podcast he shares his insightful and sometimes surprising views about the current political and economic situation in the country.

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Our fourth Middle Malaysia podcast has us talking with MP, State Assemblyperson & Selangor Senior EXCO Teresa Kok. In this wide-ranging discussion, Kok addresses the criticism that she is wearing too many hats. She also answers the question of which role she would prefer to focus on if forced to choose between a state or federal seat. She shares why she believes it's realistic for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to win up to 1/3 of Sabah & Sarawak, and thus gain enough federal seats overall, to take over Putrajaya. She explains why 1Malaysia does not dilute PR's multicultural message and reveals that seat negotiations in Selangor are concluded. She also gives us a sense of what a typical day and week is like for her. Lastly, she talks a bit about her upcoming book, "Partner in Democracy", and the DVD that accompanies it.

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For our third Middle Malaysia podcast, we speak to veteran journalist, playwright and political activist, Kee Thuan Chye, who has just come out with a new book "No More Bullshit Please, We're All Malaysians". He speaks extensively about the state of the media today and blames Dr Mahathir for much of the malaise that has beset the industry. He also explains why despite being a firm believer in multiracialism, he considers 1Malaysia to be a dirty word. When asked about the odds for Pakatan Rakyat winning the general elections, he gives it a mere 25% chance. Find out why he thinks it's almost a certainty that Barisan Nasional will form the next federal government.

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