By The Rakyat

In today’s episode, we talk about a group of people who seem to think that the world revolves around them: INFLUENCERS! From the antics of YBB, the Jo-Whoring around of Bryan Wee, to Cathryn Li’s belief that M stands for Obesity, we explore this complicated world filled with weird people, while trying our best to make sense of what essentially could be senseless.

Politics is the favourite pastime for every Malaysian, but we decided to take it one step further and talk about it via Nasi Politikukus, a special spin-off from By The Rakyat!  In our first ever episode, we talk about the fallout from the recent Johor State Elections, including Warisan’s big loss, the Big Drama in DAP, and the rise(?) of newcomer MUDA.

On this episode, we take a look at the notorious Pudu Prison starting from its humble beginnings as a Chinese cemetery to its current position as ‘just another mall in KL’. We look at its construction, the prison break attempt that happened in 1986, some famous names that vacationed in Pudu, a kinda, sorta interesting mural and – most importantly – whether the prison and the mall that now lies on it is haunted.

After a long hiatus, we're back and we're talking about Chinese New Year. Or Lunar New Year, or that time of the year where instead of Trick'r'treat, we say Gong Xi Fa Cai and get cash instead of candy.  From the origins of Yu Sheng to a colour blind scary creature, join us as we break down and have a good laugh about some random CNY facts.

Wanna get scared ah? Guess what, that’s not on the menu. We’re all about jokes here, especially when it comes to the things that scare us. From the Pontianak to the Banana Ghost as well as the significance of Friday the 13th, listen as the boys breakdown what normally gets your hairs up and turn everything into a bad sex joke.  PS: You’ve been warned.

Wake up, September just ended and it’s time to check out the final chapter in the story of SSKM – the notorious secessionist movement that aimed to pull Sabah and Sarawak out of the Federation. In this episode, we look at the mysterious lady behind the movement, the movement itself, how Malaysia responded, and whether Sabah and Sarawak’s pull out game is strong enough to leave the Federation.

For Malaysia Day, we have decided to turn our gaze to East Malaysia and check out the Sabah Sarawak Keluar Malaysia (SSKM) movement, which calls for the East Malaysian regions of Sabah and Sarawak to back out of the nation that they formed in 1963.  In this first episode, we get into the historical context behind the creation of Malaysia, as well as how the autonomy promised to both regions were slowly eroded and taken away, and finally, how a little thing called ‘social media’ helped push the government to keep a promise that was made 58 years ago.

We conclude our foray into 1Malaysia with the many cracks that started appearing not too long after the campaign was formed. Along with the harsh criticisms that the campaign faced for being too ‘confusing’, the gang also look at some of the problems that the 1Malaysia-branded public services went through before a large portion of them were shut down, while finally concluding with the mother of all scandals that led to the ‘historic’ GE14 and fall of 1Malaysia and the nation’s 6th Prime Minister.

We’re still in Merdeka Month and as we march forward to Malaysia’s Independence Day, we’ve decided to do a special TWO episode on 1Malaysia, Najib Razak’s dream of creating a Malaysia that is united in the face of everything!  In this first episode, we look at the formation of 1Malaysia in 2009, the components that made up the campaign, and the many (less than stellar) offerings of 1Malaysia that became a staple for the nation until it’s untimely end in 2018.

We’re in Merdeka Month! That means reflecting on ourselves as Malaysians. Are some of us Malaysians? If it’s a ‘yes’, then why are some people still using the term Pendatang? And is the term really that bad? Or should we just shrug it off as bad politicians doing what they do best: Divide Malaysians? You be the judge.

The boys got vaccinated and they couldn’t wait to tell you about it. In this bonus content, Andrew, Yee Hong and Nat talk about their experiences at the PPV and how excited they were to get their first jabs.

Malaysia is on the road to being a fully vaccinated country, with over 10 million Malaysians being cucuked. But that doesn’t mean that getting there was smooth sailing. Until today, there have been a number of instances and issues that have plagued our vaccination process. From angry aunties to overcrowding, join the BTR crew as we check out and laugh at seven cases at and around vaccination centres that made Malaysians go gaga. Bonus Content: Getting cucuked was fun. Here’s why! The boys got vaccinated and they couldn’t wait to tell you about it. In this bonus content, Andrew, Yee Hong and Nat talk about their experiences at the PPV and how excited they were to get their first jabs.

In our previous episode we spoke about the dangers of cancel culture, especially when used in the wrong way. But due to time constraints, we weren’t able to talk about WHY people get offended so easily, especially in this day and age of the internet and Google. So listen up to this raw discussion between the boys and if you’re still offended, feel free to reach out to us on social media (its @bytherakyat on Facebook and Instagram. We value your opinion, we really do!

Being offended in real life is one thing, but what happens when you get offended online? In recent times, the easiest way to deal with people who offend is by ‘cancelling’ them. Sometimes it works, especially when the cancellation is justified. So in this episode the BTR team explore the consequence of cancel culture and how a celebrity in Malaysia was recently ‘cancelled’ for her actions.  Link to ContraPoints video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjMPJVmXxV8&t=4800s Link to John Oliver video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq7Eh6JTKIg

Social media – expectation: a way to interact with friends and family. Reality: cyberbullying, an epidemic that has made life miserable for a large number of people, especially youths. Last year, Malaysia ranked second in Asia for cyberbullying among youths. In this episode we look at cyberbullying and how it affected a student, an influencer and an adult, with one case leading to an eventual suicide. Listener discretion is advised.

Malaysia is back on Lockdown! And to celebrate the third time that this is happening in space of 15 months, we decided to thank all wonderful Malaysians who made this lockdown possible with an episode dedicated Crowding Culture where in recent months, a large number of people decided that they would stand for hours just to show off and be part of the hype train.  We look at three of the most recent incidents: Uniqlo’s Roadside Store, Taco Bell in Cyberjaya and McDonald’s cash grab of the year, the BTS Meal.  Bring some tissues and a prepare a bedpan because we promise, you will be 100% offended.

Zoo Negara is back in the spotlight, but for all the wrong reasons. In 2020, reports began coming in of the Zoo’s poor financial status thanks to the first MCO. While it survived, the Zoo was then faced with allegations of illegally selling animals (oh deer!), and most recently, social media went abuzz with accusations claiming that the zoo was not only filthy, but its animals were malnourished, and its staff lazy.  The boys did not just talk about the Zoo for this episode, they also visited it. And you’ll never guess what they found out …

This week, we look at Undi18, which allows youths 18 and above to vote during elections. Its recent delay caused uproar, as a number of politicians have hinted at an upcoming General Election, meaning that 18 years old, who are able to own property, start families and even pay taxes, are exempted from voting unless the election happens after the law is implemented in September 2022.

In this episode, the boys look at the age old dilemma of vernacular schools that has been on debate since the issue first started when politicians needed a dead horse to beat on in an effort to trigger Malaysians. They look at the source of vernacular schools, whether vernacular schools are a road block to national unity and what the actual problem might be.

Recently, the Malaysian government launched the National Unity Action Plan (Blueprint) 2030 which aimed to strengthen unity among Malaysians.  However, racism still exists among Malaysians, especially when it comes to house renting. So in this episode Yee Hong, Andrew and Nat attempt to to wade through the murky issue of rental racism.  They look at how Malaysia's supreme law, the Federal Constitution's laws against racial discrimination doesn't apply among citizens, how the government's upcoming Residential Tenancy Act might not help in curbing racism and whether landlords have a right to pick and choose who can live in their homes.

On our first ever episode we look at Sugarbook, the app that has been on the minds of many Malaysians while also discussing the finer points of "sugaring", and whether the sugar-daddy, sugar-baby relationship is as bad as everyone is making it to be.

In this episode, Yee Hong, Andrew and Nathaniel introduce themselves and talk about how By The Rakyat started, what it aims to do, its direction as a new show in a sea of so many other podcasts while also giving a tease for Episode 1.