KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 — When you think about it, who better to school Malaysians on the law than Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said?
The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) has now taken on a new role as “Cikgu Undang-Undang” (or law teacher) for Malaysians in her new podcast series, on top of her existing work of leading the Malaysian government’s legal and institutional reforms. “Welcome to the BHEUU’s programme. This programme is called the ‘Cikgu Undang-Undang’. And this teacher is me,” Azalina said in Malay, gesturing to herself and laughing in her self-introduction video on the podcast’s first episode on October 22.
Former lawyer Azalina was reported saying the “Cikgu Undang-Undang” podcast aims to make discussions about the law popular with the public, and invited listeners to take the opportunity to better understand laws that affect their lives.
“In this podcast, I will become your host, hold discussions with experts who are experienced in legal topics.
“My goal is to popularise legal issues and institutional reforms so that all layers of society are able to understand and be involved in this discussion,” she said on her social media accounts on X and Facebook, when announcing the podcast by the Prime Minister’s Department’s Legal Affairs Division (BHEUU) that comes under her.
Quick look at Cikgu Undang-Undang’s first-ever podcast episode
In the first-ever episode of the podcast, Azalina spoke to Children’s Commissioner at the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) Farah Nini Dusuki, and Yayasan Chow Kit co-founder Datuk Hartini Zainudin on the topics of child protection, and pending amendments to citizenship laws in Malaysia.
During the podcast, Azalina swapped her usual role of the one being interviewed, and became the one asking the questions.
In that podcast, Farah Nini reiterated her September 13 call to the government to form a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings Sdn Bhd (GISBH) case.
Meanwhile, Hartini highlighted the need for safety checks before parents send their children to a day care centre or nursery or religious schools known as tahfiz schools, but also said many low-income parents such as single mothers could not afford such services.
At the time of writing, the “Cikgu Undang-Undang” programme already has two episodes.
The second episode is titled “Malaysia vs The Sulu Fraud” and was aired online on November 11, with the two legal experts being the Malaysian government’s special Sulu secretariat’s war room chief Datuk Almalena Sharmila Johan and deputy chief Danesh Chandran.
In the half-hour show, Azalina and her guests discussed the background that led to the Sulu claim on Sabah against Malaysia, the latest legal developments in the case, and the government’s role in defending Malaysia’s rights internationally.
Fun look at MPs’ workplace in the Dewan Rakyat
In brief light-hearted video clips under the “Cikgu Undang-Undang” programme, Cikgu Undang-Undang Azalina also took Malaysians behind the scenes to show what MPs or elected lawmakers have on their desks in the Dewan Rakyat, including the computer where they have to personally register their attendance in Parliament and that this means the system would know if they “ponteng” (played truant) or skipped sittings.
In another video clip, Azalina said MPs cannot eat within the Dewan Rakyat’s chamber or hall, based on the Dewan Rakyat’s standing orders or rules, but said drinking water is acceptable.
“Can’t be that while someone is giving a speech, there are those who eat Super Ring lah, eat Cheetos, eat Twisties, eat sandwich, or bring durian,” she said when listing down several types of snacks to drive home her point of eating not being allowed there.
The “Cikgu Undang-Undang” podcast series is available in full on its Facebook and YouTube accounts, with brief snippets and highlights also shown on its TikTok account.