Iskhandar Razak
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Journalist and ABC 7PM Victoria weekend anchor. World watcher, culture vulture, sports fan and off-key music man. Views my own, not the ABC's.
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Articles by Iskhandar Razak
Program: Clown doctors bring joy to patients
They say laughter is the best medicine, but while easy to prescribe, it can be harder to swallow, if you're not in the mood. At hospitals across the nation, specialised entertainers known as clown doctors, or laughter care specialists, are being deployed in an effort to lift spirits. Their patients aren't just the young but also the young at heart.
Mother-daughter duo to reignite light at Melbourne's dormant Star
Charli-Koko, 12, lives with a rare chromosome deletion disorder, and her mother has terminal cancer. But as they embrace and gaze up at Melbourne's giant but dormant Star, they see a future together. "Over here, look Kokes," Mel Olsen exclaims, pointing up at the 120-metre-tall observation wheel in Docklands. Charli-Koko looks up and points as well. Looking at the wheel is something the two would do often five years ago, when it was operational.
Frankston beer microbiologist's orchid hobby is helping document rare species
It is the middle of winter and Robert Mitchell is snapping photos of flora in Frankston. It is an obsession that started during Melbourne's COVID lockdowns, in the warmer months, when this same reserve was in bloom. "I took up orchid hunting basically," he said. Some of the rare orchid species documented by Robert Mitchell. (Supplied: Robert Mitchell) Australia has about 1,800 native orchid species, and more than 400 are native to Victoria.
Tired of streaming? Film and music enthusiasts turn to physical media
It feels like the 1990s. Warm light, small groups, rows of titles, stacks of discs, a clacking of a case closing, and a giggle from the shopkeeper. "You'll like this. Enjoy," smiles Rex Rekhi, finalising a sale during a Friday lunch time rush at his store in the middle of Melbourne's CBD. His shop is filled with thousands of movies on DVD as well as CDs and vinyl albums nowadays known as physical media.
The Melbourne project turning used tennis balls into shoes
A new recycling initiative in Melbourne is turning used tennis balls into footwear. Australians use about 10 million tennis balls a year, with many ending up in landfill. Sustainability Victoria has awarded a $50,000 grant to Melbourne company Ludis to grow its tennis ball recycling program. Every day in Australia fresh cans pop open, as the nation's long love affair with the game of tennis rolls on.
Cosplay is rising in popularity. What are the rules for dressing up?
Miss Twisted is an elf princess, leading a horde of warriors, pirates, sorceresses and other fantastical beings. This is the epicentre of a cosplay tournament in Melbourne. It's one of dozens nationwide, including the Supernova Comic Con and Gaming convention happening this month on the Gold Coast and in Melbourne. Cosplay enthusiasts say it's about using costume to celebrate the things they love.
Roaring winds, dry country and rugged terrain: Why Victoria is prone to devastating bushfires
Almost every summer, bushfires threaten lives and homes in Victoria. And a unique mix of elements makes the state especially vulnerable. "In terms of the most destructive bushfires, generally, the worst fires have been in Victoria," Professor Trent Penman, a bushfire risk modeller, said. Victoria does not have more fires than other Australian states and territories, but the ones that do ignite are often severe. "The behaviour of those fires is incredibly intense," Professor Penman said.
The trams that made Melbourne: Celebrating 140 years since the city's first cable tram
Hand crafted, magical to those who rode it, and almost forgotten. But without the arrival of the cable tram 140 years ago, Melbourne would probably not be the tram-loving city it is today. "They shaped Melbourne and had a big influence on Melbourne, even today," said Matthew Churchward, the senior curator of engineering and transport at Museums Victoria.
Victoria's ban on the possession of machetes comes into force
A gang of five rushes into a supermarket in broad daylight, yelling, and jumping over the counter, grabbing armfuls of cigarettes and tobacco. Most are dressed all in black. One is in grey, and waves a machete around menacingly. "It was at least a foot long, the blade, and that's very scary," manager Adam Carpenter tells the ABC. Mr Carpenter works at the Alchester IGA, a small store in Boronia in Melbourne's outer-east, close to the Dandenong Ranges.
How your coffee grounds are being recycled with animal poo to help grow gardens across Victoria's zoos
As far as rubbish goes, it smells pretty good. Former barista Ninna Larsen wheels a common rubbish bin forward, opens the lid and dumps a full load of coffee grounds. Next to the pile of dark brown and black grounds is another, bigger mound, consisting of animal faeces, food waste and plant matter. This one smells less appealing. Ms Larsen has another nine bins full of coffee grounds in the back of her van to be unloaded at Melbourne Zoo and sit right next to the zoo's organic waste dump.
Victoria's historic drought to persist despite local showers and New South Wales floods
Victoria is in a historic drought and, despite the cold nights that are ahead, it is set to be a warmer-than-average winter. Little rain is forecast for the state, and the Bureau of Meteorology says flooding in other parts of Australia won't help Victoria's drought-hit regions. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, parts of Victoria are experiencing a dry period not seen in a century. But it's not just Victoria.
Could Pesto the penguin have found love at Melbourne aquarium?
Pesto the penguin glides through the water, circling his new favourite companion — Pudding. "Pudding is Pesto's love interest at the moment," Maddison Tinning, the senior penguin keeper at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium, said. "They are always being caught flirting and canoodling." In 2024 Pesto became internet famous. At 10-months old he tipped the scales at 24.8 kilograms — more than his parents combined — and making him the biggest king penguin chick the aquarium had ever had.
Melbourne’s elephants test for deadly disease before big move to Werribee
A giant grey foot daintily rests on the edge of an enclosure as a zookeeper scrubs round toenails clean. An elephant calf opens its mouth wide on command for an oral inspection, tablet and drink. Another gets a trunk wash. And the herd's matriarch, Mek Kapah, offers up an ear to be swabbed for perhaps the most crucial part of a weekly health ritual at Melbourne Zoo. "They've got lovely blood vessels on the back of their ears.
Beds made using recycled plastic could last generations and be a key strategy in fighting plastic waste
It looks like a heavy, uncomfortable, blue-grey block of hard edges from a dystopian future. But John Stehle lifts his creation high above his head and walks around happily. "It takes about one hour to make a king single. We assemble it a bit like Lego," he said, confidently snapping another piece in place. "My daughter and I have jumped on it." This time, he adds some plastic trimming to soften some edges.
Is it art or is it a crime? These are the rules of street art in Australia's graffiti capital
Drasko Boljevic climbs precariously on a bench and pastes his latest work up on a wall next to a bar. It's broad daylight, and there's a security camera aimed right at him. "How does it look?" he asks, halfway through the hanging process. In many cities, this would be illegal. But he's not worried. "Beautiful," he adds, spraying the edges. The artwork Drasko is putting up in ACDC Lane is a stencil on styrofoam of Nubian dancers, treated to look like an ancient Egyptian relic, in modern Melbourne.
Would you drink from a reusable cup at a festival? This business is trying to make it the norm
Melbourne small business bettercup, which makes reusable cups for events, has been awarded a $447,000 grant to grow its operations across Australia. The cups have been used at Darwin Festival, WOMADelaide, Sydney Opera House and Dark Mofo. bettercup joins a growing number of businesses creating reusable products for festivals and events. Samantha Stone and Christie Kamphuis met on a random European dance floor, crushing a sea of plastic waste underfoot as they went from festival to festival.
Palliative care nurses see us in our final hours - these are the life lessons they've learnt
Anne Myers was once confused and shaken by death. After more than a decade as a nurse, including in hospital ICUs, her mother died. "I'd seen a lot of deaths in my nursing life, but it was the closest human to me that had died," she said. "It kind of sent me down a 'oh my god, I don't know what's happening to me', this grief I'm experiencing." Soon afterwards, she became a palliative care nurse.
Ethically swanogamous: What we can learn about relationships from Melbourne's black swans
Swans are symbols of love, devotion and grace. There are plenty of fairy tales about swans mating for life, and even grieving for years if their beloved partner dies. And it's one myth that has some truth to it. "We have pairs that spend years and years together," said Raoul Mulder from Melbourne University's school of bio-sciences. "We have one pair that has been together for at least the time of the entire study, "So, 18-years.
Research finds shrinkflation affecting several Australian cereals amid cost-of-living crisis
In short: Researchers have found a number of Australian cereals have decreased in size but increased in cost, a trend known as shrinkflation. It comes after a Kellogg's executive urged families struggling with the cost of living to consider cereal for dinner. Food policy experts say many cereals are not highly nutritious and should not be substituted for substantial meals. We've all probably felt it at the shopping aisle – a box, a bottle or a packet looking or feeling smaller.
Here's how researchers say shrinkflation has been hitting Australian cereal ...
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Research finds shrinkflation affecting several Australian cereals amid cost-of-living crisis
We've all probably felt it at the shopping aisle – a box, a bottle or a packet looking or feeling smaller. But shrinkflation – when an item gets smaller while prices stay the same or rise – is hard to prove and easy for companies to deny. "We don't have any firm data on how common it is," said Liam Kennedy from consumer advocacy group Choice. "We've definitely seen an increase [in consumers reporting it] starting two years ago. But it's quite hard to track." Or at least it was.
Would you wash with used hotel soap? A Melbourne recycling program is using discarded bars for good
What looks like a potato peeler whizzes across a tiny cube of soap, removing the outer layer, before it's lobbed into a pile. "We clean them, literally and manually of any hair, any packaging, any foreign body," Mike Matulick, the founder of not-for-profit organisation Soap Aid, says. "There are literally millions of bars of soap going to landfill globally. The problem is high-scale." Mr Matulick has spent 20 years in the hotel supply sector and has seen the waste. "I travel a lot.
Police arrest woman over mushroom lunch deaths
Almost three months since the mushroom-poisoning deaths of three people, Victorian Police have today made an arrest. The woman who prepared the meal consumed by the three people who lost their lives was arrested earlier today and her home searched by police. Erin Patterson has always maintained she did not intentionally poison her lunch-guests, and that she also was made sick by the mushrooms used in the meal.
Fires, floods and storms: It's been a big start to Victorian spring and wildlife injuries are rising
In short: Wildlife injuries in Victoria have increased by more than 50 per cent compared to September last year. Experts are worried summer will be worse, with a current boom in babies being born. What's next? Wildlife experts are calling on the community to bring any injured animal to a vet or contact Wildlife Victoria for assistance. Augustus escapes out of Lisa Palma's hands, scurries over her shoulder, and nestles under her black hoodie, staring out with sparkly eyes and a twitchy pink nose.
Australia's gig workers face long and dangerous shifts. A Melbourne trial is providing a refuge
Nobody struggled with temptation quite like Ulysses. To resist sirens — human-like creatures that serenaded unsuspecting sailors to their death — the ancient mariner had his crew strap him to the mast of his ship and keep him there at knife point. But what's telling about Ulysses' story is that, as Homer tells it, the legendary Greek hero deliberately sailed into their path, toying with his own self-destruction.
Gig workers face long shifts with no shelter or toilet. But here in Melbourne, relief is around the corner
In Short: A refuge for delivery drivers is being trialled in Melbourne's CBD to cater for growing numbers of gig workers. Australia has 250,000 people employed in short-term, phone app-driven work known as the gig economy. The Gig Workers' Hub is open two days a week and offers a clean toilet, free snacks, a space to rest and recharge batteries and phones.
Prices up on essentials
New figures out today show just how sharply the cost of many essential foods has gone up. The research by Deakin University shows some items are 40% more expensive than a year ago.
Dairy, frozen and tinned food costs rise as Coles and Woolworths ready to announce full-year profits
In short: The price of groceries is going up across the board, data from Deakin University shows, including for staples like canned goods and frozen vegetables What's next? Coles and Woolworths will release their full-year profits on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively Sitting on a bench with a shopping trolley in Melbourne's inner-west, Josie Hill shook her head when asked about the cost of food. "Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous," she said.
How much are the items in your grocery basket going up or down?
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Iskhandar Razak - ABC News
Iskhandar Razak is a reporter, presenter and producer in the Melbourne Newsroom. He has covered a range of issues and topics in Victoria, and internationally for television, radio and online. Previously he worked at the ABC's Asia Pacific News Centre, as well as in Darwin, Adelaide, Port Pirie and Port Augusta. Follow Iskhandar on @isk137.
A Melbourne tourist attraction is built on a burial ground. Will a billion-dollar development plan desecrate or honour the dead? Original
Every day thousands of tourists and shoppers park their cars, then tread over the remains of the dead at Melbourne's Queen Victoria Market. "It's a situation that seems wrong," said Charles Sowerwine, the chair of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria.
Melbourne's famous graffitied laneways are going green. Here's how greening permits could transform the city
In short: Melbourne City Council is expanding a program providing "greening permits" across the city's laneways What's next? The program may grow from the four pilot laneways to include hundreds more Birds chirping, an array of ferns, succulents and creepers, intertwined with sticker and graffiti art and the scent of daphne blossoms mixed with coffee: Welcome to Guildford Lane, a vision of what could be in dozens of Melbourne's famous laneways. "It's a breath of fresh air.
Kaylee was 'drowning' at school and hated going, but now she loves it. Welcome ...
An independent Melbourne school is tackling the nationwide problem of "school phobia" by offerings its students free haircuts, lunch and public ...
Kaylee was 'drowning' at school and hated going, but now she loves it. Welcome to the academy designed for the disengaged
Kaylee flashes a giant smile and the peace sign while standing next to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, and it's hard to imagine she suffered crushing school phobia. "No one understood what it was like to be drowning in work like that," she said. "My attendance was pretty bad, in the low 30s [out of 100] … It just kind of left me lonely." But these days, at her new school, the 17-year-old is a dedicated student. "My attendance is in the 80s or 90s," she said.
The boxing club helping sufferers of Parkinson's disease delay its onset with a fighting spirit
Surrounded by speed bags, mirrors and posters of professional athletes in the back of a Melbourne community gym comes the cry: "What do we do?" "Fight Parkinson's!" shouts the crowd three times. Twenty people, many donning shirts emblazoned with names like "Sparkles", "Chris Cross" and "The Giant" have just finished an hour-long session. Daryl "Dazza" Kennedy has been hitting the heavy bag and smiles when asked how it feels when he lands a good hit.
Anzac biscuits have a strict recipe in this CWA kitchen. Here are the bakers' dos and don'ts
Soft, chewy or crunchy? With or without coconut? There are a few ways Anzac biscuits are made and sold — and some definite mistakes. For Country Women's Association (CWA) Victorian president Pam Mawson, one of the biggest affronts is calling them cookies. "Oh! That's a no-no," she says sternly. Anzac biscuits are linked to World War I, although their exact origins are contested. The first recipes are found as far back as the late 1910s.
Luisa used to throw kilos of food scraps into landfill each week. Now she's part of a possible solution
Luisa and Rob barely have enough room in their inner-city Melbourne apartment for their family of four, let alone for the food waste they generate every day.
Would you eat your coffee cup to help reduce plastic waste?
Edible takeaway cups and library-style mug-borrowing schemes are on the menu at a growing number of cafes as possible solutions to Australia's addiction to plastic convenience.
Here's what the data shows us about Melbourne and Ballarat's embrace of the e-scooter
Depending who you ask, the sight of e-scooters zipping up and down the streets of Melbourne's CBD is a cause for celebration or dismay. Loved by some as a fun way to get about a modern, growing city — seen by others as too fast and dangerous. But after an at-times controversial trial, Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp believes they're here to stay. "I absolutely love it," she said.
The cost of Christmas lunch has risen. Here's what's gotten more expensive - and cheaper
The price of making a Christmas pudding or pavlova alongside a home-made roast and bread rolls will cost the average Australian several dollars more per person this year.
'A lot of it is empty promises': The issues that will sway Gen Z voters in Victoria's state election
Winning over voters like Amy Wooller will be critical for parties contesting this weekend's state election. Key points: Gen Z Victorians now make up 10 per cent of the voter base About 65 per cent of those voters live in metropolitan areas Political parties have turned to newer, youth-oriented platforms like TikTok to campaign "I definitely haven't decided who I'm voting for," the 21-year-old said. "There are a few parties I definitely don't align with.
Draught-proofing, double glazing, curtains: Ways to make your home more energy efficient and save money
Emma Lynas felt "lucky" and "excited" when she bought in North Melbourne, but now feels deflated. Key points: Victorian homes built since 1990 rate just 3 out of 10 for sustainability on average Demand for services to make homes more energy efficient has skyrocketed in the past three years The government is investing millions in rebates and programs to showcase energy efficient housing "It's just frustrating," she said. "We scored 1.6 stars out of 10.
Junk food brands targeting teens through viral TikTok 'challenges', researchers say
Like thousands of Australian teenagers, Tom and Ellie Bryant enjoy scrolling through videos on social media platform TikTok.
Deakin University data shows which foods are soaring in price while others hold steady Original
The fact the cost of food in Australia has spiked this year is not news to most people.
Francesco Salvo - ABC News
Francesco is our reporter based in Swan Hill. He has previously worked with ABC News in Melbourne. He grew up at Woorinen in the Swan Hill region.
As an embalmer, Rob has seen his share of tragedy. But COVID is the most 'relentless' time in his career
Rob Ridi took care of the dead after the Port Arthur massacre, but he says the last 18 months in Melbourne have been the most "relentless" of his career. Key points: Workers across the death industry are calling the pandemic the most difficult time in their careers Death care is not considered an essential service by the government A 2021 University of Melbourne report has found the death sector is not properly supported "I was around for HIV, SARS, but nothing on this scale.
Victoria's COVID-19 hotel quarantine program is set to resume. Here's how it will work
International travellers will start flying back into Melbourne from April 8. Close to six weeks ago, Victoria's hotel quarantine program was halted after COVID-19 leaked into the community and the state went into a snap five-day lockdown. But the Victorian government says it has made changes to the program and it'll be safe to resume the scheme. So what's different this time?
Melbourne's restaurants race to get ready as Daniel Andrews moves to end coronavirus shutdown Original
Eateries across Melbourne are scrambling to convert footpaths, decks, rooftops, and car parks into dining venues, and although many doubt they'll make a profit, they're pushing ahead regardless.
Financial literacy workshops for Indigenous people
A financial literacy program has been launched in Katherine to help Indigenous people break out of the poverty cycle. The program, called MoneyMob Talkabout, will travel to 70 remote Northern Territory Indigenous communities, over 15 months. It will spend several days in each community, teaching local children how to play games like snakes and ladders. But the games have been given a financial twist to help teach Indigenous children the value of money.
Coronavirus restrictions robbing some terminal cancer patients of the chance to say goodbye
Kim Bieber broke social and physical distancing rules a few weeks ago and has no regrets. Some might argue she had no choice. "I needed to feel their presence," she says. "My children, my grandchildren. To hold them and tell them I love them." Ms Bieber has terminal cancer and is receiving palliative care. She has been told she has about a week or ten days to live. "It could've been the last time. Every time could be the last time," she says.
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