From Zara Qairina to Harimau Malaya: A gripping 2025 for Malaysia | Asian Insider podcast

Malaysia’s 2025 was marked by a stormy PKR election, school violence, and a scandal rocking its football team.

For our December episode, ST’s Malaysia bureau chief Shannon Teoh and host Zurairi A.R. are joined by Nik Nazmi, a member of Parliament from PKR, and former minister of natural resources and environmental stability.

We look back at the Malaysian stories that shook 2025, from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Cabinet vacancy and the death of Zara Qairina amid rising school violence, to the scandal engulfing Harimau Malaya’s heritage players.

Highlights (click/tap above):
0:00 Intro
6:10 Cabinet vacancy and unity government leadership
12:26 Who leads PKR next? Is it Nurul Izzah's turn?
17:35 Are authorities failing to protect Malaysian children?
22:41 Band-aid solutions to solve school violence
29:05 Criminal case for footballers' citizenship spoofing
31:44 Can Harimau Malaya recover its football credentials?
36:25 Rolling back the time zone to UTC+7 for an extra hour of sunrise

Read more:
The curious case of four missing Cabinet ministers in Malaysia https://str.sg/A9fZ 
Death of student in Sabah raises hurdle for Malaysian PM Anwar as he faces tough state polls soon https://str.sg/hpptQ 
Malaysia fans fear Asian Cup blow as Fifa probe casts doubt on naturalised players https://str.sg/p62X  
Malaysia faces renewed calls to rewind the clock, 40 years after shifting to UTC+8 https://str.sg/qnuM 

Read Zurairi A.R.’s articles: https://str.sg/DCfr 
Read Shannon Teoh's articles: https://str.sg/wzyK 
Sign up for ST’s weekly Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/sfpz 

Host: Zurairi A.R. ([email protected])  
Produced and edited by: Fa’izah Sani
Executive producer: Ernest Luis

Follow Asian Insider Podcast on Fridays here:
Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7 
Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8 
Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX 

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts  
Feedback to: [email protected] 
SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg 

---

Follow more ST podcast channels:
All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7
Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts 

The Usual Place Podcast YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa 
Follow The Straits Times on YouTube: https://str.sg/ytsub
Turn on notifications 🔔 to stay updated.
--------------------
WEBSITE ➤ https://www.straitstimes.com
WHATSAPP ➤ https://str.sg/whatsapp
TIKTOK ➤   / straitstimes  
INSTAGRAM ➤   / straits_times  
FACEBOOK ➤   / thestraitstimes  
TWITTER ➤   / straits_times  
TELEGRAM ➤ https://t.me/TheStraitsTimes
PODCASTS ➤ https://str.sg/stpodcasts

#straitstimes