Explore every episode of the podcast The Simon Says Podcast

In this episode, we discussed few key questions in our pursuit of rainbow nation:

1. What went wrong with PH?

2. ⁠What is the key message from the voters really?

3. ⁠What does the future hold for a multicultural Malaysia?

In a pretty recent episode 207 of ‘Keluar Sekejap’ podcast, KJ and Shahril invited an amateur law professor in the studies of MA63 to discuss on the highly specialised and contentious topic of MA63. Following that, Senator Robert Lau has rebutted the factual and constitutional errors.

In this episode, we discussed the agenda behind false narrative of MA63 and the connection between GPS and BN.

Trump issued the executive order at the onset of his second term which provided that babies who are born in the United States to parents who are in this country either illegally or temporarily are not automatically entitled to citizenship.

In the SCOTUS decision ruled on 30 June 2026, the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship. Tune in to this episode as we breakdown the SCOTUS decision which many conservatives lamented.

The Supreme Court ruled on 30 June 2026 that states can exclude transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports teams. It was a decision that even many homosexuals celebrated due to the inherent athletic advantage that trans athletes have over girls and women.

During USA semiquincentennial celebration, President Trump delivered one of the most powerful and focused speeches of his two presidencies, evoking "American exceptionalism" and warning against the dark forces that seek to destroy it. In this episode, we discuss the uniqueness of USA government system.

Johor Menteri Besar (MB) Onn Hafiz Ghazi dissolved the state assembly one year ahead of schedule, paving the way for Johor state election that will be held in the next weekend.

With the Barisan Nasional coalition’s flagship party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), having deep roots in Johor, the “arrogance” with the organisational prowess causes PMX to be agitated over the less collaborative approach. How are things looking for the coalition?

With Starmer quitting as Labour leader, thus paving way for contest for new prime minister, would this be a lesson for Malaysians when the voters allow disappointment to turn into disengagement and nation in decline?

With 11 July 2026 set by Election Commission as the polling date for Johor, political pundit Bridget Welsh commented that Johor polls set the tone for competitive election season. With UMNO feeling bullish about defending its state administration, are we seeing a rallying of old powers gearing up for General Election?

While the former Malaysia Economy Minister has pulled a stunt with formation of his new party “Kancil Party” in an attempt to portray an image of weakened Madani government, the uncertainty surrounding petrol subsidy cut has plagued the hearts of many “T20s”. As Malaysia draws nigh to election cycle, we explore stigmas surrounding wealth tax and subsidy in a nation not foreign to affirmative action.

We have heard rumours of new party formation and now our Malaysian eyes have seen it. What will become of Malaysia? Tune in to the discussion and find out if you’re keen on nation watch.

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Even in the midst of withdrawal of accreditation of Iran’s ambassador by foreign ministry of Lebanon with Tehran’s violation of diplomatic norms and established practices, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibraham has shown continual support in the name of Iran’s right to defend its sovereignty, “particularly in the face of continued Israeli strikes in the country and in Lebanon”.

In this episode, we explore Malaysia’s position in this war from the perspective of undealt trauma from anti-colonial and anti-west mindset. Our hope is for Malaysia to navigate unpolitically correct as she sees the rise of pre-1979 Lion and Sun Flag.

Following a ruling by the US Supreme Court on 20th February 2026 that struck down the Trump’s presidential authority on impose duties on virtually every country, Malaysia’s former investment, trade and industry minister, Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, has stated that Malaysia is no longer tied to the 19% US’ reciprocal tariff deal signed last October.

Simultaneously, US President has warned that countries attempting to exploit the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling to escape trade agreements will face steeper tariffs than those originally negotiated with his administration.

What happens next for Malaysia?

Just earlier this February, dumpy woke pop star Billie Eilish was applauded by woke leftists when she went on a tirade during Grammy Awards, claiming “No one is illegal on stolen land.”

In this episode, we discussed the rise of anti-colonialism especially prevalent in the people group who firmly embraces affirmative action, and what sort of Malaysia would we like to have, even as US is facing

Few years ago, former President George W. Bush once claimed, “An isolationist United States is destabilizing around the world.” That statement came from a stance of refusing to denounce the far-left policies of Obama, seemingly attack the Trump’s administration focus on enforcement of immigration law for American’s benefit.

And today, we see many trying to define MAGA doctrine since the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Many supposed conservatives, the likes of Tucker Carlson, are becoming more vocal about defining MAGA as America only. Based on this trend, we review in this podcast episode, what sort of Malaysia do we want to have in our generation?

Joe Rogan, in his podcast, claimed “ICE are villains” after the fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICE agitator Renee Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In this episode, we discussed the topics concerning even gen alpha right now if border control is a good thing for a nation.

Professor Tajuddin Rosdi gave an opinon piece in FMT in Dec 2025 titled "Get ready for an Umno-PAS-GPS-GRS govt" where some people have accussed him of sowing fear so people will continue to support PH. In this episode, we discussed the lack of workable consensus on what is a desirable future as a nation, and confront the reality and perhaps even hope for a better future for Malaysia.

In state election held in Sabah last November 2025, it was evident that voters in Sabah rejected national parties, in a stinging rebuke to decades of neglect by the federal government. We see the rise of Sabah nationalism, but was the core message one that speaks volume to acceptance of corruption so long Sabah first? Find out more in this episode.

In the recent New York mayoral election, we see Mamdani’s message of affordability, one that resonates and represents the rights and dignity of working people, has been branded by the Democrats to be a powerful one. Are we seeing the similar trends of voter’s concern in Sabah election? Will urban blight will bring these people to their senses?

President Trump once responded to commentary from Tucker Carlson by saying, "The one thing Washington cannot forgive is that I put America first — always put America first. I could never help it. I have to do that in order to make America great again. I reject their foolish and disastrous foreign wars, their horrific globalist trade deals, their open border catastrophes, their corruption of our intelligence system, and it’s never been more corrupt. And all of the other betrayals of the American people.”

With the brewing spat within conservation movement in the US, are people having to come to terms with totally no foreign intervention where the slogan is MAGA?

In the recent Trump’s state visit to Malaysia, there were many critics who liked and disliked the posturing that PMX showed. Some fancy Trump, and some just don’t. Nonetheless, the shift in PMX from continual focus on international crises to local matters such as affordability in every day lives of citizens is one to be lauded. Could it be a diplomatic advantage that we reaped from the Trump’s state visit? Find out more in this episode.

With Cambodia-Thailand Peace Pact signed in Malaysia, Trump declares this to be a momentous day for South East Asia. In Trump’s speech - “I would also like to thank Anwar. I called him right at the beginning and said, ‘You have two countries fighting right next to you. We need a third place, a neutral place,' and he was there.” Does this mark the beginning of a golden age for Malaysia - a neutral nation advocating and facilitating peace?

It has been 1 month plus since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, who is well known even among ordinary people in Malaysia. Some people said he was killed because of his Christian faith, but we believe he’s killed for his discussion of ideas.

Domestically, the issues remain the same - religion, racial, DEI (quota), economic sluggishness, competition among the different versions of Malaysia. Aat the end our focus remains - what kind of Malaysia do we want to see?

In a brilliant article by John Carney of Breitbart titled “Putting a Price on Admission to America’s Market”, we discussed in this episode as to how did we, Malaysian government, get from "I am not going to pay a single payment of tariff" to "thank you very much, 19% tariff is an excellent deal.” Tune in to find out more.

Article credit: https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2025/07/29/breitbart-business-digest-putting-a-price-on-admission-to-americas-markets/

As Malaysia struck a deal at the eleventh hour with the Trump administration, we discussed in this episode what might have been the ideal tariff deals for Malaysia, especially when our Prime Minister has been recently labelled as “cukaiman” (aka tax man) with the introduction of sales and service tax even on the imported fruits.

In Zaid Ibrahim’s facebook post, he said, “Guided by its Council of Guardians - religious scholars with deep ideological conviction - Iran not only survived but asserted its independence despite decades of war and crippling sanctions from global superpowers.”

In this episode, we explored Nurul Izzah’s brave opinion where it is said that scholars have no influence in Malaysia; only religious bureaucrats. Will Malaysia be able to navigate through the “moderate” and less religious way of expressing freedom in this season where it is said that Malaysia’s halal certification is even more stringent than that of Saudi Arabia, an emblem of Islamic nation?

Framed as part of the Madani Government’s broader fiscal reform efforts, Malaysians have been thrusted into the supposed reform that are in fact patchwork fix for underlying ever expanding government expenditure. More and more, the Madani tax is looking like Mamdani tax that is aimed to redistribute wealth. Are we looking at waning support for PMX for the lack of fiscal reform? Tune in to find out more on the local news analysis.

Nations Realignment through Trump’s Middle East Visit (Ep.123)

In the recent visit to Middle East, Trump called out “Nation-building Neo-Cons” and liberal “Non-Profit” who had betrayed the ordinary people in the nation; and it was apparent that from the visit, Trump’s main focus remains to be putting America first.

In that visit, it came as a surprise to many when Trump was greeted with warm standing ovation when he told investors in Saudi Arabia that he was lifting sanctions off of Syria and opened the gates to Arab investment in Syria. At such important transition times for many nations, Malaysia included, how would the nations chart their way forward? Would it be like European Nation that is making non-committal negotiations to resolve trade deficits with the US or would other nations follow the pathway of the United Kingdom to strike the favourable deal for both nations?

Rafizi recently made a statement - "If Nurul Izzah loses, people would say Anwar has been rejected by his own party. So what choice do you have here?" In this episode, we explore the significance of this party election that may impact the general election.

Malaysia’s halal import restrictions and requirements for bumiputera equity in foreign-owned companies have been flagged by the United States as non-tariff barriers, which is viewed as a lack of reciprocity in the bilateral trade relationships between the two nations.

In this episode, we explored various topics, such as “Will the conclave elect a Pope that is different from the late Pope Francis who placed a heavy focus on social justice issues?” and “Will Malaysia, particularly under the leadership of PMX, choose right instead of the continual hold onto decades-old ineffective bumiputera policy?”

A master class in negotiation, Trump recognised a reality and perhaps predicted Beijing's belligerent approach to Trump's call for fairness in trade deals. In this episode, we discussed the recent trip that President Xi has made to Malaysia, and if Malaysia would remain neutral in trade deals with US and China despite the belligerent approach taken by China against the US.

Since the Liberation Day on 2 April, the world has been thrust into introspection of the unfair “free trade policies”, which is seemingly “without economic sense” as American Enterprise Institute bluntly declared.

Ahead of the scheduled visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Malaysia on 15 April, we discussed in this episode if Southeast Asia countries will remain truly neutral in the trade war as it grows in influence as emergent key market for China’s manufacturing powerhouses.

In this episode, we have a guest speaker, Ch’ng Xin Ying, with whom we discussed the nuanced assertions and counter-assertions on group preferences and quotas. Innumerable principles have been used to justify affirmative action programs, but are we able to hope for a better alternative to affirmative action in this rainbow nation of Malaysia?

The recent CEC election results have signaled a generational change with the rise of new crop of party leaders. In this episode, we discussed with our guest speaker, David Tiang, on the directional shift within DAP that would be more palatable to the voters before the next general election.

Ahead of the DAP Central Executive Committee (CEC) Election on 16 March, we have two special guests on this show as we discussed the key question surrounding the election as posed by Professor James Chin.

“Will the Lim family remain a dominant force or will a new leadership emerge?”

Many critics have equated Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship to a disappointing start, with possibility of supposed “neutrality” in ASEAN-US relations risks Trump’s ire as Anwar cosies up to Gulf nations and China.

In this episode, we also discuss Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar’s passive-aggressive stance on class war between the poor vs. the ultra rich” as he continues the position of Robin Hood locally and regionally in ASEAN’s summit.

With the federal protest on 19 February 2025 against Elon Musk’s “takeover” of public service jobs, we explore the dreaded topic by Malaysian politicians of waste and civil service inefficiency. While several political analysts have alluded to the idea of DOGE, will there come a time when implementation of similar “drastic” measures would happen in Malaysia?Credits:Photograph: John Angelillo/UPI/Rex/ShutterstockPhotograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Barely 3 weeks into the new American administration, President Donald J. Trump continues to attract and commands the attention of the world. It is not a hyperbole to suggest that every word, official decree issued by Trump (and of course his administration) commanded the attention of the world. Whether you are an aspiring super power like China or a smaller player like Malaysia, Trump is fundamentally challenging and changing the global system – for the better or the worse.

In his inaugural address, the 47th President of United States of America proclaims ‘The Golden Age of America Begins Right Now’. In line with the historic start to President Donald Trump’s second term, the President signed more executive orders on his first day in office than any president in history.

In this episode, we witnessed the Trump Effect where most importantly, common sense has been restored to the government, with executive order signed in ensuring the elimination of discriminatory DEI practices and ensuring merit-based hiring. With such tremendous effects, we are hopeful that Malaysia would begin to come out of an era of victimhood to becoming a champion of hiring based on competence, ability, and genius.

While 2024 was a year many conservative values were upheld, from Labours voters flock to Farage’s Reform Party over mass migration, to Trump’s impressive political comeback, we see in Malaysia, Christian MP was being persecuted on grounds of national security for a book on her faith journey that was released a decade ago. As we conclude 2024, we look forward to new theme for 2025 in this podcast.

As we come to a close of the chapter for 2024, we look at few significant events that took place, from Zelensky’s benefit from domestic corruption and geopolitical conflict with Russia for close to 3 years now, to UK election. Tune in for more on our continual discussion for self determination, small government and pursuit of happiness.

The return to power of Donald Trump has news executive nervous, particularly with the recent ABC’s settlement of a defamation lawsuit brought by the President-elect over an inaccurate statement made by George Stephanopoulos. At home, in Malaysia, Communication Multimedia Act (CMA) has been amended ever so subtly to subject the definition of “grossly offensive” to the whim of the PMX cabinet, who are seemingly more liberal progressive.

How do we shift from overbearing government control to liberalism with participatory impact? Find out more in this episode.

Trudeau visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida after Trump threatened to slap a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico unless they cooperated in protecting the U.S. border from illegal migration and fentanyl. While back at home in Malaysia, we see a huge contrast on the response from PMX where it is reported that Anwar Ibrahim’s government will not recognize any unilateral sanctions, following the proposal of a U.S. law that would impose sanctions on foreign supporters of Hamas and other militant groups operating in Palestine.

In this episode, we discuss various responses, home and abroad, to Trump’s economy policy centered on tariff.

Since Trump’s landslide victory, we have seen that many of the once respected corporate media being revealed of its true colours, i.e., “having its unearned influence through a phony front of respectability and professionalism” as described by John Nolte. Paul Logan’s troll on BBC by sending a lookalike for an interview which BBC has been chasing months for would be the beginning of a reversal of how the media has been treating its opponents with belligerent contempt. MSNBC is seen as a clown show today. Washington Post is fake news. And the list goes on, which is why today we invited two special guests to give their reaction from Gen Z’s perspective and local entertainment scene’s perspective to the nomination of Tom Homan as the border czar in Trump’s administration and Whoopi Goldberg’s citing of Pew Research where 40% of young Americans get their news from social media influencers. Follow David at @davidtiang for Instagram and @david_tiang for TikTok and Jared at @jaredfsl for Instagram and @jaredofficial___ for TikTok who are our special guests if you like this content. Do leave a comment or email us at simon.says.podcast@protonmail.com

Veteran journalist Bob Woodward said on MSNBC’s “Inside” after Trump’s re-election as the incoming 47th President of United States that Trump was “giving his middle finger to the American people” with his cabinet picks.

In this episode, we discuss the various reactions from world leaders congratulating Trump to NFL players doing the Trump dance.

As both presidential candidate laid out their closing campaign message on Monday, the voters will answer Ben Franklin’s famous demand of the American people: “A republic, if you can keep it.” in the ballot boxes this November 5th.

Nate Silver famously titled his article, “There’s more herding in swing state polls than at a sheep farm in the Scottish Highlands.” While we discussed the polling results before the election, is it really that significant in an obviously close race? We’ll see soon enough on Tuesday if the pollsters could make a comeback after the wrong prediction since 2016 election and Brexit.

In days leading up to U.S. Election 2024, more and more Vice President Kamala Harris has backed out from opportunities to discuss economy policies at length, first with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait and Joe Rogan. Trump on the other hand garnered a staggering 34 million views in two days at the impressive marathon interview at The Joe Rogan Experience.

In this episode, we discussed Trump’s position on tariff and solid plans to bring companies back to U.S. soil for growth given the inflation and interest rates remain top concerns for U.S. voters.

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 in a rally in Coachella, California, to pick a side, particularly when Kamala Harris has not a thing to be done differently even with Biden-Harris administration’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. This time the crucial question remains, is US going to be nation of law and order or wide open borders?

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 more and how US election is really the mother of all elections, affecting even how Malaysia would progress in days ahead.

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 states will likely to impact the election outcome. Even three term London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, couldn’t missed passing a remark in Politico about US Election as he rightly said, “What happens in America is the metronome … that sets the beat of what happens across the globe. It sets the beat for how other politicians behave in an election campaign.”