SEASSR Vol. 8, No. 1 (Jan-June 2023)

Barlow, Colin, PhD, (Deceased 11 December 2022), was a dedicated academic specialising in the problems of small-scale rubber and oil palm producers in Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Department of Political and Social Change at the Australian National University. He first visited Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) in 1988, where he and other colleagues were taken aback by the poverty-stricken conditions. In 1991, Colin and Shirley Bowman founded the NTA. Colin holds a PhD from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

Debora Kana Hau, MSc, completed her Bachelor’s in 1988 and Master’s Degree in 2004 in Animal Husbandry at the University of Nusa Cendana in Kupang, Indonesia. She is now a Senior Researcher at the Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) since 1st June 2022, while before that, she worked at the Indonesian Agriculture Agency for Research and Development (IAARD) (from 1998-May 2022). Email: debora_nulik@yahoo.com; debo002@brin.go.id.

Hill, Hal, PhD, is the H.W. Arndt Professor Emeritus of Southeast Asian Economies in the Arndt Corden Department of Economics, Crawford School, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific. His main research interest is the economic development of Southeast Asia. He is the author/editor of 18 books and about 160 journal articles and book chapters. Books since 2000 include The Indonesian Economy, The Philippine Economy (co-edited with Arsenio Balisacan), Malaysian Development Challenges (co-edited with Tham Siew Yean and Ragayah Haji Mat Zin), and Regional Dynamics in a Decentralized Indonesia. Email: hal.hill@anu.edu.au.

Husyairi Harunarashid, MClinEpi. is a medical doctor/clinical epidemiologist at the Department of Emergency Medicine, Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz which is the teaching hospital of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (the National University of Malaysia) (UKM), located in the southern end of Kuala Lumpur. He has collaborated with the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS) on various projects on Social Inclusion and policy studies since 2015. Email: husyairi@ppukm.ukm.edu.my

Jomo Kwame Sundaram, PhD, is Senior Adviser at the Khazanah Research Institute. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Science Malaysia and an Emeritus Professor at the University of Malaya (UM). He was a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Action Council, and the Council of Eminent Persons. He was also a Professor at UM (1986-2004), an independent member of the National Economic Consultative Council (1989-1991), President of the Malaysian Social Science Association (PSSM) (1996-2000), Founding Convener of the International Malaysian Studies Conference (MSC), Founder-Chair of International Development Economics Associates (IDEAs), UN Assistant Secretary General for Economic Development (2005-2012), Assistant Director General for Economic and Social Development, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (2012-2015) and Third Tun Hussein Onn Chair in International Studies at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), Malaysia (2016-2017). He received the 2007 Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. Email: jomoks@yahoo.com.

Juliyanis Jamal, LLM, holds a Master of Laws in International Law and International Relations from the University of Bristol, United Kingdom with an area of specialization on international human rights law. Currently, she is pursuing a Ph.D. at the Institute of Malaysian & International Studies (IKMAS), UKM. Her research interests include corporate respect to human rights, compliance and politics of sustainability which specifically focuses on child labour in the palm oil sector. She has collaborated extensively in academia and was granted a research fellowship at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany that involved in methodology training and applied social research on human rights due diligence. Besides, she participated in a few research projects and was engaged in an international conference at the World Trade Institute (WTI), University of Bern, Switzerland exploring various range of interdisciplinary approaches on sustainability standards, forced and labour migration. She has gained socio-economic environment and political culture including real-world exposure and practical experience on research throughout the endeavour. Email: p114228@siswa.ukm.edu.my.

Noor Ashikin Said, MSc, is a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute of Ethnic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). She obtained her Bachelor’s degree (B.Sc) from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and a Master’s degree (M.Sc) from UKM, Bangi. Her research focuses on applied anthropology, technology transfer and sociology of work. She held the position of Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) in the project of “Values Inculcation Program”, a project commissioned by MARA-Aerotech and Aerospace Malaysia Innovation Centre (AMIC). She was also directly involved in the project commissioned by AIRBUS and AMIC entitled “Virtual Reality Immersive System Training for Aerospace Manufacturing (VIRISTAM) as a researcher. Email: missnoorashikin@gmail.com.

Nulik, Jacob, PhD, is a Professor (Research) and a Principal Researcher in the field of Feed and Animal Nutrition at the Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency (BRINS) since August 2022. Before that, between 1984 and June 2022, he worked at the Department of Agriculture at the Indonesian Agriculture Agency for Research and Development. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Animal husbandry at the University of Nusa Cendana, Kupang-Indonesia in 1982. He completed his Master of Rural Science at the University of New England in 1990 and earned his Ph.D., in Agriculture in 1995 from the University of Queensland Australia. Email: jacob_nulik@yahoo.com; jaco001@brin.go.id.

Nur Amalina Shamsul Akmar, BA (Hons.) , is currently pursuing a Master of Human Sciences (Political Science) at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). She obtained her Bachelor of Human Sciences in Political Science from IIUM in 2016. She has been working with NGOs supporting refugees and asylum seekers since 2018. Her research interests revolve around Women and Refugee studies. Email: nuramalinasam@gmail.com.

Olmedo, Eric, PhD, is a sociologist by training. He is currently a Principal Research Fellow at the Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), and the Director of ‘Antropotek’, a social science laboratory. The first part of his career was dedicated to the hospitality industry and education where he occupied various managerial positions in France, Canada, Latin America, Malaysia and Vietnam. Since 2012, he has been appointed as an expert in training and education for hospitality and industry sectors by various agencies in Malaysia. He has also conducted various missions on workforce development and capacity building on behalf of the French Development Agency (AFD) and the World Bank Group in Central and Southeast Asia. Email: ericjose.olmedo@gmail.com

Philip Koh Tong Ngee, LLM, MA, is a senior advocate and solicitor in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After obtaining his Bachelor of Law from University of Malaya in 1978, he went to read law at King’s College University of London, and obtained his Masters of Law (LLM) in 1980. He also obtained a Master of Arts (Theology) from the Australian Catholic University in 2003. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of Malaya and University Monash Malaysia School of Business and Taxation. Email: philip.koh@mkp.com.my

Retnam, Veronica Anne, is currently a Ph.D. candidate in economics and politics impacting early childhood care and education at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS). As an activist, she is a member of the Jaringan Rakan Ibu Tunggal. Her community engagement includes piloting a community learning development programme for children from low-income households in an urban neighbourhood. Her research interests are anchored on poverty impacting particularly women, children and education. She pursued her Bachelors in Resource Economics at Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (as known then) and Masters in Education (Developmental Psychology) at the University of Cardiff, Wales. She has served as a senior lecturer at UiTM in several branch campuses. Email: veretnam16@gmail.com

Ria Gondowarsito, PhD, is a sociologist who specialises in rural community development. Ria is a former development consultant to the World Bank. She has been a member of the Nusa Tenggara Association (NTA) Board since its formation in 2007. Ria holds a Ph.D. from Bielefeld University. Germany. Email: ria081954@gmail.com

Ruhizan Mohammad Yasin, PhD, is a Professor in Technology and Vocational Education at the Centre for STEM Enculturation, Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (National University of Malaysia. She specialised in Curriculum and Evaluation. She is also an expert in STEM Education. She obtained her BSc. in Physics from the University of the Pacific, USA, Masters’ in Teaching Physics (Portland State University and PhD from the University of Minnesota USA. Her research interest is in STEM Education, Work Related Research and Lifelong Learning. She has published more than 100 journal articles and a few books in the area of education. She is now a co-coordinator for the Research Network of Workplace Learning – one of the Research network in ASEM LLL hub.

Sinco, Noel Yee, is a practicing lawyer and, simultaneously, a college instructor at the University of San Agustin, Iloilo City. He was the academic supervisor of the Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (2016 to 2018) and has already taught in academia for ten years. He is currently registered as a Master of Arts in Political Science (MAPS) candidate at the University of San Carlos, Cebu City, and is completing his MAPS thesis entitled “Analyzing the Phenomenon of Regime Militarization: The Case of the Philippines (1987 to 2021).” Email: noelyeesinco@gmail.com.

Syazwan Ahmad Rashidi, MA, is currently a Research Analyst at Aerospace Malaysia Innovation Centre (AMIC), a research center pioneering the industry-led research collaboration with aerospace industry players and academia. His research activities focus on the aerospace composite structure, manufacturing digitalization and sustainable technologies. He is also the Head of Composite Research Group which conduct various composite manufacturing technology research projects with the use of artificial intelligence, computer vision, and data analytics. Email: syazwan.rashidi@amic.my

Tan Raan Hann, PhD, is Research Fellow at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). She received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon in 2016. Her research interests include ethnic and religious minorities, languages and cultures, and identities. She has conducted ethnographic fieldwork among the Orang Tugu community in Jakarta, Indonesia, and has published her research in Malay, English and Portuguese. She is a member of the Centre for Latin American Studies (IKAL) in IKMAS, UKM. Email: ranhan@ukm.edu.my

Viswanathan Selvaratnam, PhD, is a Life Member of the Malaysian Social Science Association, a third-generation Malaysian and a retired social scientist. He did his undergraduate studies at the University of Malaya in Singapore, his Masters’ at the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, and Ph.D. at the University of Manchester. In his previous avatar, he taught sociology at the Faculty of Economics and Public Administration, University of Malaya for many years and briefly at the National University of Singapore. Following that, he had a stint at the World Bank in Washington D.C. as Higher Education Specialist before going into retirement. Some of his publications include: From Dependence to Autonomy: The Development of Asian Universities (ed. with Ph.G. Altbach 1989), ‘Higher Education in the Arab Republic of Yemen’ (1991), ‘Innovation in Higher Education: The Singapore Experience’ (1994), and ‘Malaysia’s Higher Education and the Quest for Developed Nation Status by 2020’ (2016). Email: selvaratnam432@gmail.com.