Loo Fung Ying is Associate Professor of cultural musicology and the Dean of Faculty of Creative Arts, Universiti Malaya. She teaches cultural musicology and research methodology. After obtaining her Fellowship (Trinity College of London) and Bachelor of Music (Hons) in piano performance (Universiti Putra Malaysia), she furthered her music study at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where she received her Master of Music in Piano Performance with distinction. She studied piano under Michael Schreider, Barno Haknazarov, Larisa Rakhmanova, and Lillian Joseph, and had master classes conducted by Artur Pizzaro, Boris Berman, Irina Osipova, Julian Jacobson, Richard MacMahon, Olga Malissova, and Ng Chong Lim. As a pianist, her performances locally and abroad included the first piano concertos of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky under the baton of Zakhid Khaknazarov, recitals at St. John’s Smith Square and St. Martin-in-the-Fields, and a recording for Ceri Richard’s Themes and Variations published by National Museums and Galleries of Wales, UK. Fung Ying continues to pursue research in music and completed her PhD at the University of Sheffield, UK in 2009. Her research interests include cultural musicology, performance practice, popular music, music and movement perception, and Tai Chi in application to the physicality of piano performance.  She joined Universiti Malaya in 2009 and has published over sixty refereed articles and book chapters. Her work has appeared in International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, Muzikološki Zbornik, Revista Música Hodie, Asian Theatre Journal, International Journal of Music Education, IEEE Multimedia, Women's History Review, Media Watch, Journal of Popular television, New Ideas in Psychology and The Routledge Companion to Women and Musical Leadership. Her research has been supported by grants from the Ministry of Higher Education, Universiti Malaya, and Universiti Putra Malaysia, and won her gold and silver awards at local and international research exhibitions. She is a member of the International Editorial Board of eTropic and Media Watch. She has held positions such as Deputy Director (Postgraduate study and Research) of Cultural Centre (now Faculty of Creative Arts), Universiti Malaya (from 2010 to 2018, and April 2024 to March 2025), Chair of Academic Programmes Accreditation Panel for PhD, Master’s, and Bachelor degree level (Malaysian Qualifications Agency), Internal Auditor of MYRA (Malaysia Research Assessment, Ministry of Higher Education), and Associate Editor of Malaysian Journal of Performing and Visual Arts. As an active composer and musician with the multiple award-winning Dama Orchestra (now Dama Asia Productions) from 2001 to 2016, she has over twenty productions to date, five albums and three sold-out musicals: Empress Wu, I Have a Date with Spring and Butterfly Lovers. In addition, her composition titled Freedom won second prize at the 2022 Seoul International Meditation Music Competition.

I am a gender and development researcher with experience in qualitative research, policy analysis, and program evaluation across various academic and development contexts. My work centers on issues of gender-based violence, women’s empowerment, social inclusion, and intersectionality in South Asia, particularly among marginalized and vulnerable communities. My research focuses on a range of themes, including women’s agency and leadership, masculinity and patriarchy, post-conflict education, and gender mainstreaming in public policy and development programming. I have led and contributed to several multi-country and national-level research and evaluation projects in collaboration with international organizations. My expertise includes designing research tools, conducting fieldwork, analyzing qualitative and quantitative data, and producing policy reports and publications. Research Interests: Gender-based violence and social/cultural norms Women’s empowerment and leadership Women and Conflict Masculinities and patriarchy Gender mainstreaming in policy and practice Education in conflict-affected regions Feminist and qualitative research methods Intersectionality and social justice in South Asia Gender and Culture Gender and Health Muslim Women in South Asian Women and Digital Space Supervision and Collaboration: I welcome students interested in pursuing Master’s or PhD research aligned with my research interests (mentioned above).  

Teh Bor Tsong is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Malaya. He obtained his Ph.D. in Regional Environment Systems from the Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan. He has more than 10 years of experience in the research relating to the evidence-based urban planning to support the green growth and climate change agenda of Malaysian cities. He specialised in the sustainable urban and regional planning, environmental studies and transportation planning.