SEASSR Vol. 9, No. 1 (Jan-Jun 2024)

Afiq Nazrin Nor Rizlan, MPhil, is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Malaysia Sabah. His research is on history and social movements. He has published a book based on his Master’s thesis entitled, Perjuangan Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Borneo Utara dan Kesannya ke atas Penduduk Peribumi Islam (UKM Press 2019). His MPhil was obtained from the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Email: nazrin.syai92@gmail.com.

Asmawi Noor Saarani, PhD, serves as the Director of Policy at the Policy and Strategic Planning Section within the Public Private Partnership Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department in Malaysia. He holds a PhD from the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. As a Chartered Accountant affiliated with the Malaysia Institute of Accountants and an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in the United Kingdom, Asmawi brings a wealth of professional expertise to his role. In addition to his administrative responsibilities, Asmawi has experience teaching Master students on Fiscal Administration at the University of Malaya. His research interests lie in the areas of capital structure, strategic planning and sustainability. Email: asmawi@ukas.gov.my.

Clive Kessler, PhD, emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales, Australia is a renowned sociologist, an eminent analyst and thinker, and a long-time Malaysianist, who has devoted more than six decades to writing on Malaysia. He received his BA from the University of Sydney in 1965 and PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of London (London School of Economics and Political Science) in 1974. From 1970 to 1980 he was Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Barnard College, Columbia University in New York. In 1980 he became Professor of Sociology at the University of New South Wales, Sydney and was conferred with Emeritus Professor title upon his retirement in 2004. Prior to that, in between 1985-2002, he also held positions and performed professional activities at several Malaysian universities, namely as Visiting Professor and External Examiner at UKM, External Examiner and Assessor for Universiti Malaya, and also Curriculum Planning Consultant to Foundation Vice-Chancellor, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). For over six decades, Professor Kessler has been writing extensively on Islam in Southeast Asia, Malaysian politics, society, and religion. He is the author of Islam and Politics in a Malay State: Kelantan 1838-1969 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1978) – an anthropological and social-historical study of the basis of popular support in Kelantan for the Pan-Malayan Islamic Party or PAS. Email: c.kessler@unsw.edu.au.

Marium Ihsan is in her final year of the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Level at Lahore Grammar School Defence in Lahore, Pakistan. She was a 2023 research scholar at Pioneer Academics, where she worked under the mentorship of Professor Christopher Ankersen of the New York University’s School of Professional Studies to write this paper exploring her interests in colonialism, technology, and policy reform. She hopes to study Public Policy and Political Science in college. Email: mariumihsan09@gmail.com.

Ng Miew Luan, PhD, is Associate Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Education and Liberal Arts at INTI International University, Malaysia. Her research interests cover crucial areas such as education, media education, political communication, minority press, and language and power. Her publications includes Scopus-indexed journal papers such as “Malaysian Chinese language newspapers and national identity: A study of the roles of Sin Chew Daily in Chinese cultural preservation and nation building” (2018); “Chinese Cultural Preservation, Identity and Community: Examining the roles of Sin Chew Daily in Bridging Chinese Education, Cultural and Religious Rights of the Chinese Community in Malaysia” (2020), “Vaxx-Confident and Vaxx-Hesitant Agents: Factors Affecting COVID-19 Vaccination Willingness Among Young Adults in Klang Valley, Malaysia” (2023); “Perceived Social Media Influencers’ Reputation of a Beauty Cosmetics Company: A Perspective of Customers” (2024). She has also contributed book chapters in several books published in recent years. Email: miewluan@gmail.com.

Noor Ashikin Said, M.Sc., has just passed her PhD viva voce, 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.

Nor Hayati Sa’at, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Sociology of Development at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT). Her research focuses on the development of coastal communities, fisherfolk and estuarine communities. She has produced several works on social mobility and the implications of social change in coastal and fishing communities in Malaysia. She has held several administrative positions at UMT such as Deputy Director (Socio-Economic Development) at the Institute of Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable Development (2017-2019), Chairman of the Bachelor of Management Program (Policy and Social Environment), School of Social and Economic Development (2013-2016), and Deputy Dean (Research and Graduate Studies), Faculty of Social Development (2011-2013). She is a consultant-researcher in several government and non-government sponsored research projects. She has published many articles and books. She has authored, Keluar Dari Lingkaran: Mobiliti Sosial Komuniti Pesisir (Out of the Circle: Coastal Community Social Mobility) (2022), co-authored Penyelidikan Sains Sosial Malaysia Pasca-Merdeka (Malaysian Social Science Research in PostIndependence Malaysia) (2019); and co-edited Sains Sosial dan Kajian Pembangunan: Kumpulan Rencana Penghormatan untuk Profesor Abdul Rahman Embong (Social Science and Development Studies: Essays in Honour of Professor Abdul Rahman Embong) (2014). Email: norhayati@umt.edu.my.

Siti Salina Abdullah, PhD, is a senior lecturer and chair of counselling at the Faculty of Business, Economics, and Social Development at the University of Malaysia Terengganu (UMT). She is also an Associate Fellow of The Kenyir Research Institute and an Associate Fellow of IBTPL at UMT. Siti Salina is a Registered Counselor under the Malaysian Board of Counsellors, and a Panel Counsellor with the National Population and Family Development Board since 2014. She has also served as an external program reviewer for counseling programs at University College Bestari and Taylor University. Her research interests cover a wide range of topics, including delinquency, drug issues, non-traditional careers, poverty, and community well-being. Email: ctsalina@umt.edu.my.

Suseela Devi Chandran, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam, Malaysia. She earned her PhD in the field of International Relations. Her interest is in bilateral ties, particularly between Malaysia and India, and regional groupings in Southeast Asia. The author has published various papers and articles in respectable journals and magazines on topics such as Profiling Türkiye’s new role in OIC, and Malaysia-India: Diaspora ‘secret sauce’ to closer ties. She is also involved in teaching Education in Human Values (EHV) and various service projects under the Sathya Sai International Organization of Malaysiawhich is a non-governmental organization. Email: suseela@uitm.edu.my.

Vickneswaran Manickavasagar, MBA, is a retired corporate consultant. During his 32-year career at EY Malaysia, he specialized in corporate advisory services. Having graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Science from Northumbria University and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Edith Cowan University, Vickneswaran has a strong foundation in both technical and business disciplines. Given his analytical nature and his passion for reading, book reviewing comes naturally to Vickneswaran. Following his retirement, Vickneswaran manifests his love for literature even more, by actively participating in a book club that is based in Kuala Lumpur. As a dedicated book reviewer, he enjoys engaging in thought-provoking discussions and sharing his insights on various literary works with fellow enthusiasts. Email: vicknes55mbs@gmail.com.

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 PhD 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.

Zaharul Abdullah, PhD, is a lecturer at School of Distance Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Prior to this, he was a lecturer of policy studies at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), and a teaching fellow at Universiti Putera Malaysia (UPM). He served as a research officer and later a research associate at the Academy of Professors Malaysia (APM). He obtained his PhD in International Political Economy from the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). His research interests include China-Southeast Asia relations, the United States-China relations, The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and Contemporary Politics of China. He was the principal investigator for a research project on the BRI in Malaysia, and he is expanding his research on the BRI to include CLMV countries. Email: zaharul@usm.my.