Malaysia has many laws that curb media freedom. One of them is the Sedition Act, which of late has been used by the government in an apparent attempt to cool tensions in the public sphere. And yet we call ourselves a democracy. Is control over the media undermining our democracy? These questions and more were posed at a forum last night entitled "Handling The Heat: Is Media Freedom A Requirement for Democracy?” The British High Commission Kuala Lumpur and the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus sponsored the debate. We bring you highlights.

This report is by Aziff Azuddin and Alexandra Lok.