Podcasts · Government

The Simon Says Podcast

Simon Yeo

158 episodes

“Simon Says” is a deep dive into the topsy-turvy world of Malaysian politics and why it matters. Follow host Simon Yeo as he gives his perspectives and decodes current political and government news for you.

More about the show

If you have ever wondered about some of the following, this show is for you! “Why does boring history matter to politics?” “What’s Malaysia’s future going to be like? Should I even start a family?” “How can I tell if what the media is telling me is true or not?” “How can we, the people, get more involved?”

Episodes page 2 of 4

  1. There is Not a Thing Kamala would Do Differently When Asked in The View (Ep.103)

    · 34 min

    The time to pick a side has never been clearer with just less than 3 weeks to go to Election Day on November 5, 2024. Actor Dennis Quaid who is known for his starring role in Far from Heaven has advocated for the crowd…

  2. Female Voters Dig JD Vance after Debate Performance (Ep.102)

    · 38 min

    CNN poll taken immediately after vice presidential debate shows Vance overtakes Walz with a 12 point shift in Vance’s favour amongst the female voters. How important is vice presidential debate? Tune in to find out…

  3. Election Day in Less than 6 Weeks! (Episode 101)

    · 33 min

    While much of the voters in the U.S. will be tuning in to watch the vice-presidential debate Tuesday night between Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance (R., Ohio), we discussed how several key swing…

  4. Happy Malaysia Day 2024! (Ep.100)

    · 1 h 08 min

    Since the declaration of Malaysia Day as public holiday in 2009 by former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, there has been slow but growing awareness to celebrate Malaysia’s formation and diversity. The likes of…

  5. Malaysia condemns US’ hypocrisy in Human Rights and Democracy on Siding with Israel (Ep.99)

    · 39 min

    On a world stage, Malaysia cosies up to Russia with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s working visit to Russia in early September 2024 to advance Malaysia’s interest by strengthening ties with Russia. While many has lauded…

  6. National Day or Malaysia Day? (Ep.98)

    · 38 min

    What an irony when PMX Anwar Ibrahim kicked off his National Day 2024 themed “Malaysia MADANI: Jiwa Merdeka” address by giving stern warning against any party supposedly sowing disharmony that the government will…

  7. DNC Meltdown When Beyonce was a No-Show (Ep.97)

    · 44 min

    According to Nielsen, the television ratings of the first night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) sunk 22 percent from 2016. The ratings crash came after the media spent countless hours hyping Biden’s D.E.I.…

  8. Trump Card - A Triumphant Return to X with Elon Musk (Ep. 96)

    · 43 min

    We saw the media broke the day after the conversation between billionaire Elon Musk and former President Trump went live in X for two hours. Many headlines from legacy media that followed the conversation were ones…

  9. Meta Interference - Should Social Media Platform Cancel Posts by Head of State? (Ep.95)

    · 33 min

    In a recent news where the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, expressed his dismay over the backlash against the effort to bring in the injured Palestinians for medical treatment, we explored the power of…

  10. Is Assassination of Terrorist Leader a Heinous Murder? (Ep.94)

    · 26 min

    Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, joins in the choruses of those who deemed the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh to mean the more moderate voice within Hamas is off the table. Whilst Anwar…

  11. Is Kamala Harris black or Indian? (Ep.93)

    · 30 min

    In recent week, we saw an uproar in the internet when former President Trump questioned the racial identity of Vice President of United States, Kamala Harris. CNN reported that Donald Trump falsely suggests Kamala…

  12. Misrepresentations by Alleged Media Representation

    · 57 min

    Recently, an AI image of “All Eyes on Rafah” surges on social media after what the cable news coined as “deadly Israeli airstrike killing dozens of civilians” based on reporting by Hamas-controlled local officials.…

  13. Trump’s Battle against Lawfare

    · 45 min

    At the 4th week of hush money trial, Trump decried election interference upon arrival at a Manhattan courthouse. “I should be out campaigning now instead of sitting in a very cold courthouse all day long,” Trump told…

  14. Of Self-Determination, Pursuit of Happiness, and Small Government

    · 46 min

    Of recent years, there is a voice from Sarawak which has pro-independence stirring but the results over the last few election cycles do not seem to support the rise of a strong call for independence. Drawing parallels…

  15. Bitcoin Halving - Could Cryptocurrency be a Way for Financial Security?

    · 45 min

    Some crypto enthusiasts intone the halving like a religious event with near mystical importance which relies on the hard-coded mining mechanics, whereas some detractors argued that it’s merely smoke and mirrors. But…

  16. Trump warns of a bloodbath if loses election - True or false?

    · 38 min

    In the era of misinformation, where we begin to hear terms such as digital leviathan, how do we navigate through the swampy media narrative? In this episode, we break down the process of dismantling the mainstream…

  17. Kelantan State Shariah Laws Declared Unconstitutional

    · 57 min

    Our special guest, David Tiang, made an appearance to discuss with our host, Simon Yeo, the decision delivered by Malaysian Federal Court where 16 provisions of offences in Kelantan Syariah Penal Code (1) Enactment…

  18. Notable Achievement and Significant Controversies of the Late Governor of Sarawak

    · 44 min

    On 21 February 2024, we saw the demise of a notable longest serving head of state in Sarawak, former Governor and Chief Minister of Sarawak, Tun Taib Mahmud. Many obituaries were written; some coined him as the Father…

  19. Supreme Court Rules 5-4 to Allow Biden Administration to Cut Texas Border Wires

    · 39 min

    Texas sued to stop federal agents from cutting the border wire, claiming trespass a tort and a violation of Administrative Procedure Act. In this episode, we talk about Texas, borders security, issues of…

  20. Nikki Haley’s Illusional “Strong Second” in New Hampshire Primary

    · 41 min

    “The race is far from over,” said Nikki Haley after losing New Hampshire primary to Trump. In this episode, we discuss Donald J. Trump’s appeal and what we are not getting at? Trump represents a populist move that…

  21. Trump’s Decisive Win in Iowa, DeSantis Suspends Presidential Campaign

    · 42 min

    Former President Donald J. Trump cruised to victory in the Iowa caucuses, and we see the world is having mixed emotions towards the victory and also the suspension of presidential campaign by Ron DeSantis. With the…

  22. Three Lessons for 2024

    · 37 min

    We learnt the lessons of 2023 and look forward to a brighter 2024 where we see more of these in Malaysia: 1. Self determination 2. Small government 3. Pursuit of happiness and necessity of flourishing Middle class

  23. Matt Gaetz Succeeded in His Effort to Oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy - A Rebellion without a Cause?

    · 35 min

    Despite Speaker McCarthy's shocking victory over the deep state by securing House passage of a 45-day stopgap bill to keep the government open and cut off funding for Ukraine, Rep. Matt Gaetz has filed a motion to…

  24. Sarawak Premier Abang Jo big on Green Economy

    · 41 min

    During his address for the Malaysia Day 2023 celebration here on Saturday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had hailed Sarawak as the nation’s “most advanced state”, underlining the remarkable strides that it…

  25. Do you celebrate Malaysia Day or National Day (aka Independence Day)?

    · 58 min

    In the article titled "What Malaysia Day means to us" published by The Star, one particular comment aptly describes the confusion between Merdeka on 31 August and Malaysia Day on 16 September, where many thought the…

  26. End of Democracy? What you need to know about Zahid Hamidi’s DNAA

    · 44 min

    Over the last week, many Malaysians have joined the bandwagon of those who have expressed great disappointment and even anger at Anwar and his unity government over Zahid’s DNAA. In this episode, we asked few…

  27. Trump-less Republican debate - Who Won the Fight Night?

    · 44 min

    We are seeing some feisty fisticuffs in a Trump-less Republican debate night. There were some interesting school kids moments of show of hands to see who would support former President Trump as the party’s choice if he…

  28. Is Affirmative Action here to stay in Malaysia?

    · 44 min

    Previously, we discussed American Supreme Court case - Harvard / UNC decision at length whereby the Court reversed a 45 year old precedent on affirmative action on the ground that it violates the Constitution and the…

  29. State Elections 2023 (PRN 2023) - Post-Match Analysis

    · 39 min

    In this special episode to analyse the State Elections 2023 results, together with our special guest, David Tiang, we touch on several key issues, such as the legitimacy of Green wave, the Trump-like populist “Sanusi…

  30. Predictions for State Elections on 12 August 2023

    · 49 min

    We are just one day away from the polling day where the registered electors in Selangor, Penang, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu will be determining the fate of their state legislative assembly away…

  31. Why Affirmative Action is Inherently Racist

    · 41 min

    Martin Luther King said many years ago, when he said he had a dream…that someday, his children will be judged, not by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character. However, the victimhood and undealt…

  32. Is MUDA a Viable 3rd Force in Upcoming State Election?

    · 36 min

    In Thailand, we see the victorious emergence of 3rd force led by maverick Move Forward Party. The centre left party is mostly driven by youth movement. In this episode, we explore the viability of Muda contesting alone…

  33. Khairy Jamaluddin Turning the Tides to Rehabilitate Perikatan Nasional’s Reputation

    · 53 min

    Erica Chenoweth, a political scientist at Harvard, observed in The New Yorker that there is a pronounced shift in the global landscape of dissent where people in more countries are using people's power than at any time…

  34. Bak Kut Teh as National Dish - Unpalatable to Both Government, Opposition - reads the headline in Malaysiakini

    · 39 min

    This draws us to reference an incident when George Orwell, the author of Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, was commissioned by British Council to write an article on British cookery in 1946, as part of the…

  35. Friendly Rivalry between Singapore and Malaysia: The Decline of Comedy

    · 29 min

    Driven largely by woke ideology (and in this case, siege mentality), cancel culture is a form of modern banishment whereby the loudest voice tries to signal a public boycott based on certain ideas/perspectives. Comedy,…

  36. Pharmaniaga: A Decade of Concession

    · 34 min

    Despite the PN17 issued by Bursa Malaysia (signifying the financial distress of a listed company), the Health Minister, Dr. Zaliha Mustafa, has nothing but high praises for Pharmaniaga Logistics Sdn Bhd, which was…

  37. “Broke the Twitter system” or “Massive Attention”

    · 34 min

    The Great Never Trump Hope is finally throwing his boxing gloves into 2024 presidential ring, as how Peter Navarro who served in the Trump White House as manufacturing czar and, during the pandemic, as Defense…

  38. Political Appointments - are they politically motivated?

    · 29 min

    Agriculture and food security minister Mohamad Sabu has defended the recent appointments of Pakatan Harapan leaders to statutory bodies under his ministry. The political appointments in federal statutory bodies have…

  39. Trump dominated CNN

    · 26 min

    The radical left, fascists, Marxists, communists, and normal people — have said that the CNN town hall was a total complete victory for Trump. Former CNN employee, Brian Stelter noted that the event garnered 703,000…

  40. Continuation of Federal vs State – Concept of Self-Determination

    · 24 min

    On the day Singapore officially separated from Malaysia on 9 August 1965 SUPP Founder and then Chairman Ong Kee Hui made the following remarks in Sarawak Legislature. “…We have the feeling that Malaysia will only…

  41. Clashes Federal vs State

    · 22 min

    In this episode, as a continuation to our last episode on big vs small government, we deep dive the concept of federal vs state powers as stated in Malaysia Constitution, Schedule 9. Questions that are answered are:…

  42. Tucker Carlson ousted from Fox News

    · 38 min

    Just last Monday, we saw the brazen power play by the Murdoch family with the abrupt departure of Tucker Carlson from the cable TV, Fox News. In this episode, we discuss why is Tucker Carlson important in this tussle…

  43. Big Government vs Small Government

    · 22 min

    In this episode, we explore the concept of big vs small government. One of a tough questions that will be answered in this episode is that “is it fair to call a big government marxist and totalitarian?” Is it true that…

  44. The Scary Truth About Power and Persecution in Common Law

    · 23 min

    On Feb 24, 2023, the Federal Court ruled that the investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) against Court of Appeal judge Mohd Nazlan Ghazali was done without regard for judicial independence and…

  45. 100 Days of Malaysia Madani from the Perspective of UMNO Exiles

    · 22 min · S6 E11

    In this episode, we discussed contents that were discussed in "Keluar Sekejap" podcast hosted by our special virtual guests, former YB Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan. Three key points that were discussed were:…

  46. Is Mao’s Cultural Revolution considered as "Awokening"?

    · 51 min · S6 E10

    In this podcast episode, we discuss the concept of wokeness which leads to affirmative policies.

  47. The Political Compass Quiz (Asian Edition)

    · 46 min · S6 E9

    In this episode of The Simon Says Podcast, we did The Political Compass test. The result will show where we stand in a quadrant of the matrix - Left, Right, Libertarian, and Authoritarian. Here's the link to the test…

  48. Is Budget 2023 an indication of Class War?

    · 20 min · S6 E8

    Many political pundits have considered Budget 2023 as a "state election budget". In this episode, we discuss if this budget is geared towards countering Green wave and if it's effective to address systemic issues, such…

  49. The Long Awaited Budget 2023

    · 24 min · S6 E7

    Our Prime Minister started off his speech with a great diagnosis of the Malaysian economy. However, when we compare it with Tengku Zafrul's budget, it did not seem to differ much. In this episode, we discuss our take…

  50. Decentralisation of Federal Power

    · 27 min · S6 E6

    Malaysian politics have always been dominated by Federal Power. With the change in government in GE15, are we finally seeing a fresh wind of change for decentralisation of federal power? Find full episodes of The…

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