It’s time for another debut on A Bit of Culture, this time featuring playwright, writer and translator, Adriana Nordin Manan. In her first appearance on the show, she will be talking about translations and the nuances that she observed throughout her experiences translating various old documents. But before that, Kam starts the show by pondering about AI and how it has already affected our lives at the moment, despite still being in its infancy. After that, our other guest, Ong Kar Jin, speaks a...
Apr 07, 2023•42 min
What do you get when you put an academic, who’s also a musician, a futurist and a culture vulture together in a show? A Bit of Culture, of course! Our lovely host, Kam Raslan gets the ball rolling with a topic on passions that turned out to be completely secret. What is this passion of his that’s not known to many, until now? Tune in to find out. After that, the academic-cum-musician Azmyl Yunor talks about putting subtitles on music videos, and whether that’s a good thing. Last but not least, f...
Mar 31, 2023•42 min
Are we in the age of Trough TV? What’s a Trough TV, anyway? That’s what A Bit of Culture will be discussing in this episode, alongside the ethics involved in making documentaries, as well as slangs and whether that will hinder our comprehension. Joining Kam Raslan to discuss these three varied topics are Julian Yap and Ahmad Yazid, and together they reflect on whether TV has changed after its so-called golden age, what kind of ethics and considerations that documentary filmmakers take into accou...
Mar 17, 2023•47 min
Another week, another new episode of A Bit of Culture, this time featuring BFM News producer, Dhanya Nair and writer Lim Sheau Yun. They start the show by looking at the demographics of Facebook users and whether that’s actually reflected among the people that they know personally. Afterwards, Dhanya introduces the barefoot movement - where people go shoeless - to the team, and tries to convince them to be a part of it. Later, Sheau Yun talks about architectural styles and how they shouldn’t rea...
Mar 10, 2023•43 min
This episode of A Bit of Culture features two guests that are highly invested in the arts - singer Bihzhu Foo and marketing guru Vernon Adrian Emuang. Together, they start the show by responding to the recent retabling of Budget 2023 and the lack of direct funding for the arts. Why does this keep happening, and will it ever be addressed eventually? From there, the group moves on to Vernon’s admiration of the resilience shown by two Malaysian figures - Tan Sri Datuk Michelle Yeoh and Prime Minist...
Mar 03, 2023•43 min
Na’a Murad and Michael Gong join Kam on the show to talk about all things culture. Michael gets the ball rolling with a thought experiment - how can we write literary classics with a Malaysian flavour? This gets the team on a whimsical and thoughtful tangent. Kam then talks about 15 Minutes Cities and how KL has missed the opportunity to design itself to be this way in the 90s. Later in the second part, Na’a explores the question that is pretty relevant to all of us - why do we like to talk abou...
Feb 24, 2023•48 min
Kam, returning after recovering from his second Covid-19 infection, decides to talk about his experience losing his sense of taste in this episode, and how that experience changes his understanding and appreciation of food. But before that, Ong Kar Jin talks about the novelties of time capsules, after reading an article about a letter that was only delivered 100 years later to its intended address. In the second part of the show, futurist Matt Armitage looks at the rise of the deinfluencer, the ...
Feb 17, 2023•44 min
Azmyl Yunor and Zan Azlee join Kam Raslan in this episode of A Bit of Culture to dissect and analyse recent events. Azmyl starts off by sharing his frustrations of yet another music venue being raided by the authorities and then wonders whether we should be allowed to vote for our own mayor. Kam then shares his experience going through Youtube’s most viewed videos and how he does not recognise most of them. He then asks whether he should still try to be in touch with recent trends, or ignore the...
Feb 03, 2023•38 min
Kam Raslan returns on A Bit of Culture and this time around, he poses the dilemma that he has about digital piracy and the ethical conundrum that comes with it to his two guests, Dhanya Nair and Ahmad Yazid. But before that, Dhanya looks at how the self-help genre has now evolved in the digital age, and tying it all together afterwards, Ahmad Yazid shares his experience going through therapy and how he grapples with the stigma around it that’s still prevalent. See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...
Jan 27, 2023•40 min
It’s an episode of A Bit of Culture that’s also a bit more nostalgic and reflective, as our guests look back and look ahead. But first up, our host Kam Raslan gets the ball rolling by talking about public spaces and our relationship with them. Regular contributor, Na’a Murad then reminisces about his experiences watching concerts in KL during the good old days. Later, debutant Lim Sheau Yun speaks about AI-generated art and how impressive (and scary) they can be. See omnystudio.com/listener for ...
Jan 20, 2023•49 min
The conversation on A Bit of Culture in this episode revolves around martial arts, data privacy and leadership, with BFM producer Michael Gong kicking off the conversation by reflecting on the evolution of martial arts from being a practice that’s violent, to one that’s now perceived as a form of art. Kam then reflects on the attitude people his age have towards data privacy. Are they more particular about it, or less? In the second part of the show, Azmyl Yunor ponders how leadership has change...
Jan 13, 2023•48 min
We kick off our first episode of A Bit of Culture in 2023 with Ong Kar Jin and Julian Yap joining Kam Raslan on the show. Together, they talk about mechanical keyboards (Kar Jin’s current obsession) and the rise of maker culture, things that Kam discovered about our society when he broke his ankle, and the owning of actual, physical things, after HBO recently decided to remove some shows from their streaming platform. It’s a conversation that you don’t want to miss. See omnystudio.com/listener f...
Jan 06, 2023•46 min
It’s an episode of A Bit of Culture where Kam Raslan, Azmyl Yunor and Matt Armittage reveal their obsessions, during the recommendation segment. But before that, Kam wonders whether being obsessive is healthy. Matt then continues the flow of the conversation by talking about AIs that can create content. But do they create good content? In the second part of the show, Azmyl talks about toxic leisure and how it changes the way it meddles with our work and life. See omnystudio.com/listener for priv...
Dec 16, 2022•43 min
A Bit of Culture returns again this week, with Na’a Murad and Dhanya Nair joining Kam Raslan on the show. Dhanya gets the ball rolling with a thematic end of the year topic - weddings! She questions the necessity of wedding receptions, and this gets Kam and Na’a a bit worried on behalf of her parents. Moving on from that, Kam looks at the difference between problem and dilemma and how they’re presented in movies, using Godzilla (the one featuring Matthew Broderick) as an example. Later in the sh...
Dec 09, 2022•50 min
It’s all things advertising in this episode of A Bit of Culture featuring advertising veteran, Vernon Adrian Emuang and comedian-come-creative-director, Kuah Jenhan. Jenhan gets the ball rolling by wondering what’s the difference between creatives and suits in an agency. Vernon then tackles the notorious notion that the world of advertising is highly stressful, highly toxic, but highly paid, which leads to another interesting exchange among them. In the second part of the show, Kam looks at how ...
Dec 02, 2022•46 min
A Bit of Culture returns with a vengeance and the topic that’s occupying Kam’s mind is Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter and how that will change the landscape of that platform. Helping him to understand more about it are Matt Armitage and Bihzhu Foo. But before they discuss that topic, Bihzhu touches on the return of live events after the pandemic and how things are getting more vibrant again. Matt then shares the fond memories that he has of going to the cinema and how he can’t really capture th...
Nov 11, 2022•44 min
Another week, another episode of A Bit of Culture, this time featuring a first timer and a returning guest. Rahmah Pauzi marks her return from a long hiatus with a confessional topic - she’s now addicted to TikTok Shopping! She finds the experience very theatrical and fascinating, bemusing Kam, who himself is still discovering TikTok. Kam then continues the conversation by asking the gang whether comedy is able to cross borders, especially if they’re a bit more localised in nature. In the second...
Oct 28, 2022•48 min
Kam Raslan returns from his injury to bravely helm A Bit of Culture again, with journalist Zan Azlee and BFM’s Dhanya Nair joining him on the show. Zan starts the show by sharing what it’s like to be a parent to young, athletic children and how proud and scared he is at the same time. Kam then laments about how Kuala Lumpur’s design is not really friendly for pedestrians and the differently-abled. After the break, Dhanya poses a question to the group: is nostalgia destroying pop culture? In what...
Oct 21, 2022•40 min
In this episode of A Bit of Culture, Vernon Adrian Emuang and Matt Armitage join Kam Raslan to discuss three exciting topics that will make you ponder along. Matt starts the show by talking about quiet quitting and discussing its merit in this capitalistic world. Kam then questions the usage of the word “we”, especially when we refer to our old ancestors or the successes of others. In the second part of the show, Vernon ruminates whether rituals are still important in this day and age, in light ...
Sep 30, 2022•42 min
Our culture vulture Kam Raslan is accompanied by Julian Yap and Dhanya Nair in this episode of A Bit of Culture that takes a deep dive into what it means to be an obsessive fan. Kam draws from his personal experience of obsessing over The Beatles, while Julian and Dhanya are both into BTS. But prior to that, they speak about true crime podcasts and why they’re so fascinating, as well as ponder whether older audiences like to watch older actors specifically, and vice versa. Tune in to join in on ...
Sep 23, 2022•45 min
Kam Raslan returns, alongside BFM producer Sim Wie Boon and documentary filmmaker Ahmad Yazid on another exciting episode of A Bit of Culture. They start the show by talking about the Malaysia Day narrative and whether it’s an exciting story that can be made into a film, compared to our Merdeka narrative. From that, they then jump to talking about space technology, inspired by Yazid’s recent experience of documenting the launch of a satellite. In the second part of the show, Sim Wie Boon asks th...
Sep 09, 2022•41 min
Another week, another exciting episode of A Bit of Culture, this time with guests, Ong Kar Jin and Bihzhu Foo. Host Kam Raslan starts the show by reflecting on KL as a capital city and whether it has lived up to its name. Kar Jin follows that up by talking about Damnatio Memoriae, Latin for “condemnation of memory”. Bihzhu then ponders about the way we acknowledge Independence Day and Malaysia Day, and how we should be able to differentiate and recognise the nuances of both. See omnystudio.com/l...
Sep 02, 2022•37 min
Futurist Matt Armitage and BFM’s Julian Yap join Kam Raslan on this episode of A Bit of Culture that tries to tackle a little bit of everything under the sun. Julian starts the show by talking about subtitles and closed captions and how they’re pretty popular beyond their intended purposes. True to his nature, Matt then starts talking about coins and cash, and whether they’re still relevant in this day and age where cashless payment methods reign supreme. Kam then ponders about the future of tel...
Aug 26, 2022•43 min
This week’s episode of A Bit of Culture has a bit of everything - conversations about demographics, monsters, fathers and even fantasy graphic novel and TV adaptations. Kam starts the show by talking about Malaysian age demographics and its implications to the country’s future. Actor Na'a Murad then asks the group to imagine what kind of Malaysian monster movies they would like to make, based on the various urban legends that we have here. Last but not least, BFM’s video producer Sabrina Yusof o...
Aug 19, 2022•48 min
A Bit of Culture truly lives up to its name in this episode with three totally different topics. Our first guest, Zan Azlee, talks about how extremism can be countered tactfully in media through films and movies that deal with the issue in a very subtle way. Our second guest, Dhanya Nair shares her experience shaving her head recently for charity and recommends others to do the same. Our host, Kam Raslan then talks about the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and ponders why people love it so much....
Aug 12, 2022•40 min
