Zan Azlee

Kuala Lumpur

Writer and Contributor at Freelance

Journalist, documentary filmmaker, writer and academician.

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Articles

Can a young girl in Malaysia pursue sports properly?

1 week ago | malaysiakini.com | Zan Azlee

COMMENT | My eldest daughter Athena Azlee is very interested in sports and athletics, and I am very proud. When she was 11 years old, she did a gold medal clean sweep of all the sprint events (100m, 200m, 4x100m, etc) during her school sports day and won the Future Female Athlete of the Year. She also played cricket for the school team and was district runner-up. When she turned 12, she also did a clean sweep of all the sprint events and was awarded the Female Athlete of the Year.
Educate society on media literacy

2 weeks ago | malaysiakini.com | Zan Azlee

COMMENT | Last week, I attended a panel discussion on “Social Media and Politics in Southeast Asia” at Monash University Malaysia, organised by the Southeast Asia Research Centre for Digital Tech and Society. Based on Canadian-based researcher and academic Merlyna Lim’s book of the same title, the panellists were Siti Nurliza from the Sinar Project, Article 19 activist Nalini Elumai, Stefan Bachtold from Monash University, and Gayathry Venkiteswaran from the University of Nottingham Malaysia.
Dealing with US export tariffs

3 weeks ago | malaysiakini.com | Zan Azlee

COMMENT | Chinese President Xi Jinping’s official state visit to Malaysia (as well as Vietnam and Cambodia) attracted a lot of attention, not just in the Southeast Asian region, but also all around the world and specifically, the United States. Due to the timing of the visit, everyone construed it as a reaction to the Donald Trump administration’s tariff announcements. Everyone in the US was commenting about Xi’s visit to Southeast Asia, from the arrogant journalist Bill O’Reilly to Trump himself.
Provide access to social mobility for all

1 month ago | malaysiakini.com | Zan Azlee

COMMENT | Here I am back on Pulau Omadal in Sabah, where more than half the population there consists of the undocumented Bajau Laut community. For a little bit of context, my organisation Fat Bidin is running a project supported by Yayasan Hasanah and the Finance Ministry where we help to teach the local youth storytelling and filmmaking skills which will culminate into a feature documentary.
Limiting a PM's term in power the way to go

1 month ago | malaysiakini.com | Zan Azlee

COMMENT | I believe that it would be a big and bold move for the current government to amend the Constitution and limit the prime minister’s term to 10 years. At the moment, there is no limit, and the longest serving prime minister in Malaysia has been, as most people would know, Dr Mahathir Mohamed, who has served as the nation’s top leader for a staggering cumulative 24 years.
No place for sense of privilege, entitlement in M'sia

1 month ago | malaysiakini.com | Zan Azlee

COMMENT | The older I get, the less angry I feel about different issues. One could say that I’m either becoming jaded or apathetic. Seems like a natural progression for many Malaysians after seeing life for a bit more years than others. But this particular issue, just caused my blood to rise up into my head. That particular issue where the elderly Malay Muslim man slaps the young Chinese boy for eating in public during fasting month is a little too much for me to just keep quiet.
Can we do away with systematic censorship of media?

2 months ago | malaysiakini.com | Zan Azlee

COMMENT | My mother would often say to me, “Zan, I feel like a broken record player!”, about many of the mischievous things that I used to get up to when I was a child. I don’t blame her because I was a very hyperactive child who could not sit still. That is exactly how I feel when I see and read about issues in the media here in Malaysia. Take for example the recent debacle about the... Please join the Malaysiakini WhatsApp Channel to get the latest news and views that matter.
Policy the way to improve things for women

2 months ago | malaysiakini.com | Zan Azlee

COMMENT | I would like to wish Malaysians a happy International Women’s Day. I would like to reflect on my reflections on women based on how I see things as a husband and a father of two girls. When my eldest daughter Athena was in Standard Six several years ago, she was nominated for house captain. She was an athlete and represented the school in cricket, handball and athletics. She even won “Olahragawati Harapan”.
Political will to solve the Bajau Laut predicament

2 months ago | malaysiakini.com | Zan Azlee

COMMENT | Education is so important whether it is formal or informal. I have always believed that because it was also what I was taught as a child by my parents. They sent me to school and tried to give the best time of exposure and experiences outside of school as well. Now as an adult, I don’t think I could have asked for a better educational experience growing up as the one that was provided by my parents.
One itsy bitsy positive step in recognising refugees

2 months ago | malaysiakini.com | Zan Azlee

COMMENT | I have been creating content about the plight of refugees and those displaced by conflict, politics, and other issues for many years. After all that I have seen and heard, I am convinced that nobody anywhere in the world would willingly leave their homes if they didn’t need to. So, I totally don’t agree with people who believe that refugees are in Malaysia to take advantage of our economy and security.