SEASSR Vol. 10, No. 1&2 (Jan-Dec 2025)

Abdul Rahman Embong, PhD, is a development sociologist and emeritus professor who served as a Principal Fellow at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), UKM until his retirement in January 2018. His latest books include Sains Sosial Malaysia: Meneruskan Tradisi Menanggapi Transformasi Masyarakat (Malaysian Social Science: Engaging Tradition and Social Transformation) (IIUM Press, 2022) and Abdul Rahman Embong & Anis Yusal Yusoff (with Ishak Shari) Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic and Governance in Malaysia: With Lessons from the 1997-1998 Asian Financial Crisis (UM Press, 2022). Email: rahmanhe2020@gmail.com.

Burova Elena, PhD, is a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Vietnam and ASEAN Studies within the Institute of China and Contemporary Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ICCA RAS), senior lecturer at the Institute of Asian and African Studies of Lomonosov Moscow State University, known as one of the leading centers for training specialists in Oriental Studies, and MGIMO University of the MFA of Russia, known as a leading center for International Relations Studies and most revered educational institution. Elena specializes in socio-economic development of ASEAN countries, notably on its mainland part. Her particular sphere of research interests is agriculture, food security, and as of late, Mekong resource management and development. Email: epylcina@yandex.ru.

Deena Nirmala Putri Soedikto (Deena Soedikto), MSc, is a Doctoral candidate in Sociology at Gadjah Mada University researching Indonesian young people’s green entrepreneurship and its role in social transformation. She holds an MSc in Sociology. Her academic interests intersect between youth studies, innovative and sustainable entrepreneurship, and futures studies. Email: deenanirmalaputris@mail.ugm.ac.id.

Gloria E. Melencio, is a Senior Lecturer in the History Division at the Department of Social Sciences, University of Philippines. Email: gemelencio@up.edu.ph.

Heng Siam-Heng, PhD, is a retired professor of management studies. He has held academic appointments at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, University of South Australia, National University of Singapore, Fudan University of China and four other Asian universities. His latest book is COVID-19 and the Structural Crises of Our Time (co-authored with Lim Mah Hui, and by ISEAS Publishing, Singapore). He has published 5 other books, several dozen journal papers and book chapters on business and management, Asian modernization, globalization, ASEAN, nation building, and postmodernism. He was the associate editor of the business weekly Asia 360˚. He has contributed op-ed articles to South China Morning Post, China Daily (HK), China Watch, IPP Review, Edge (Malaysia) and Straits Times. Email: hsh9839@yahoo.com.

Johan Saravanamuttu, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Adjunct Professor at Asia-Europe Institute, University of Malaya and was Adjunct Senior Fellow, RSIS, Nanyang Technological University (2016-2023). He was visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore from 2007-2013. In 1997, he was visiting chair of ASEAN and International Studies at the Centre for International Studies (CIS), University of Toronto. He has published extensively on Malaysia, its foreign policy, the middle class, general elections, the New Economic Policy and political Islam. His publications include: Malaysia’s Foreign Policy, the First 50 Years: Alignment, Neutralism, Islamism, Singapore: ISEAS 2010, Power Sharing in a Divided Nation: Mediated Communalism and New Politics over Six Decades of Elections in Malaysia, Singapore: ISEAS 2016, The New Economic Policy in Malaysia: Affirmative Action, Ethnic Inequalities and Social Justice, NUS Press 2012 (co-editor with Terence Gomez). Email: jsaravanamuttu@gmail.com.

Jomo K.S., PhD, was United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, received the Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought in 2007, and is Emeritus Professor, Universiti Malaya. Email: jomoks@yahoo.com.

Junaenah Sulehan, PhD, is a senior researcher and advisor at the Institute of Borneo Studies, University College Sabah Foundation in Kota Kinabalu, where she has also served as the founding Director from 2015 to 2024. She began her academic career in 1988 at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, where she remained until 2015 before moving to her current role. Her expertise is in the sociology of development, with research covering gender and development, urbanisation, sustainability, poverty, social relationships, and indigenous communities in Sabah. Over the years, she has authored books and journal articles on development, sustainability, border studies, gender and the indigenous maritime communities of Sabah. Since 2016, she has led ethnographic studies on the semi-nomadic Sama DiLaut maritime communities and indigenous groups in Sabah’s hinterland, combining interdisciplinary approaches to explore environmental change, resource use, human–animal coexistence, cultural resilience, and sustainable livelihoods. Since 2019, Junaenah has been active in Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) initiatives under the All-Party Parliamentarian Group Malaysia (APPGM), focusing on projects that support rural women in Sabah. She works closely with students to promote green initiatives, Green Talks, and sustainable environmental activities. Email: jsulehan@gmail.com.

Khairiah Mokhtaruddin, MA, is a PhD candidate at the Department of Social Administration and Justice, Faculty of Arts and Social Science in Universiti Malaya. She is interested in social policy and social justice. Her doctoral research focuses on social mobility of public housing residents. She holds an MA in Social Policy and Development from Middlesex University and a BSc (Hons.) in Psychology from University of East London. Email: khairiah.makata@gmail.com.

Linda Y.C. Lim, PhD, is Professor Emerita at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she was a past Director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies. A selection of her published research on foreign investment and industrialization, women in the labor force, Overseas Chinese business and the Singapore economy appeared in her edited collection Business, Government and Labor: Essays in the Economic Development of Singapore and Southeast Asia, Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2018. From 1976 to 2025 she authored some 200 media commentaries, and is now co-editor of Academia.SG, which promotes scholarship on Singapore through commentaries, webinars, a monthly newsletter and other activities. Email: lylim@umich.edu.

Mohd Hasfarisham Abd Halim, PhD, is an independent researcher at the Sungai Batu Archaeological Complex, Bujang Valley, Kedah, Malaysia, and currently also serves as chairman and head of the publication committee of the AncKed Sungai Batu Association. The latter plays an important role in offering heritage tourism packages in this area and promoting a heritage site on a global scale. He is also well-versed in the cross-disciplinary research fields of history, archaeology, heritage, and archaeotourism. Email: mhasfarisham@gmail.com.

Pete Gosling, PhD, (deceased) (November 14, 1927 – December 13, 2023). Peter Gosling studied at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he obtained BA (1952), MA (1953) and PhD (1958) degrees in geography, after sailing with the Merchant Marine in Latin America and Asia (1946-47). In 1956 he joined the University’s geography department as an instructor, becoming assistant professor in 1959, associate professor in 1964, and full professor in 1970, and serving two terms as the department’s chair (1966-69, 1972-75). He transferred to the department of anthropology in 1982 when the geography department was closed, retiring in 1994. Pete has very close connections with Southeast Asia, conducted extensive field research in Southeast Asia on rural development, water transportation and population resettlement, chiefly in Malaya/Malaysia and Thailand, including a major United Nations-funded project on a proposed Pa Mong dam in Thailand/Laos in the 1970s. He was a visitor at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur (1961-62), Khon Kaen University, Thailand (1973-75), and Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore (1980-81).

Philip Koh T.N. Koh, LLM, Adjunct Professor at Universiti Malaya; and School of Business & Taxation, Monash University Malaysia. He is also an Advocate & Solicitor at the High Court of Malaya, and Senior Partner, Mah, Kamariyah & Philip Koh. Email: philip.koh@mkp.com.my.

Rokiah Alavi, PhD, is a retired professor in economics at the International Islamic University, Malaysia, working primarily on international economics. She studied at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, and the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. Email: rokiahalavi@gmail.com.

Shaiful Shahidan, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer at the Research Center for History, Politics, and International Affairs (SPHEA), Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), and the Secretary-General of ICOMOS Malaysia. A recipient of the prestigious Erasmus Mundus Scholarship from the European Commission, he received advanced training in field archaeology across Europe and Southeast Asia. With over fifteen years of professional experience, he has been extensively involved in archaeological research across Peninsular and East Malaysia, including serving on the expert panel for the Lenggong Valley dossier, which led to its successful inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. His current projects include consultancy work on the Neolithic site of Guar Kepah and urban archaeological investigations at key locations within the George Town World Heritage Site, such as Fort Cornwallis and Sia Boey. He is an Expert Member of the International Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management (ICAHM), ICOMOS, and a registered archaeologist with the Department of National Heritage, Malaysia. His research interests span heritage management, urban archaeology, and the integration of scientific analysis with cultural interpretation in Southeast Asia. Email: shaifuls@ukm.edu.my.

Velat Bujeng, PhD, is an archaeologist and lecturer at the Centre for Global Archaeological Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia, specialising in archaeozoology and archaeomalacology. He focuses on mollusc and faunal assemblage analysis, taphonomy, and the reconstruction of prehistoric subsistence and coastal adaptations across Southeast Asia. His research documents biodiversity in archaeological deposits, clarifies patterns of resource use, and explores long-term interactions between humans and their environment. In field and laboratory work, he combines rigorous morphological identification with quantitative methods and practical training, strengthening local capacity in specialist analyses. Velat leads multidisciplinary projects that integrate excavation, zooarchaeological assessment, geochemical sourcing, and public outreach to inform heritage management and community engagement. He supervises postgraduate research and develops training modules in faunal identification and data management. Known for his methodological rigour and collaborative practice, he aims to translate specialist evidence into broader narratives about past lifeways, resilience, and environmental change, thereby supporting conservation and policy responses to threats from development and climate change. Email: velat@usm.my.