I hold a PhD in Politics and International Relations from the University of Aberdeen, UK. My doctoral thesis investigates the interplay between political modernisation and ecological modernisation in a developing country. It engages with modernisation theories while highlighting country-specific dynamics and offers theoretical and empirical insights into how the lack of political institutionalisation affects environmental decision-making, particularly in Malaysia. I am an Associate Fellow of the UK’s Advance HE. I worked as a teaching assistant in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Aberdeen for two academic years, during which my teaching experience spanned interdisciplinary modules in Politics, International Relations, and Sociology. Prior to entering academia, I served as Editor-in-Chief of an independent news website in Malaysia. I have authored, co-authored, edited, or co-edited four books on civil society, social movements, and environmental movements in Malaysia and Singapore. My current research areas include political modernisation, development, and institutionalisation, as well as environmental governance and misgovernance.

Dr Geetha Govindasamy obtained her PhD from  Monash University, Australia, M.A from the International University of Japan, M.Phil from Queens' College, Cambridge University, UK.  She is an expert on  East Asian international relations. She teaches  courses related to East Asian regional affairs. Generally, she publishes more on inter-Korean issues and East Asian interactions. Her publications  can be found in the local and international journals, UM Press and other reputable publishers. Thus far, she has been a recipient of various research grants from Korea Foundation, Sumitomo Foundation and local funding.  Her networking experiences include academic exchanges at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Korea University, Institute of Far Easter Studies (IFES), Kyungnam University and the Graduate Institute, Geneva (IHEID).  Dr Govindasamy was also invited to attend the Study of the United States Institute (SUSI) Exchange programe for acadermics in 2013 and in 2019, she was invited by the  Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan to be part of an academic tour to Tokyo and Okinawa.  Dr Govindasamy is a member of  Malaysian Scholars on Korea (MASK) and  the Malaysia-Japan Association (MAJAS) and simultaneously is the  Managing Editor of Wilayah: International Journal of East Asian Studies. At present, she is a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Cambodian Institute for Peace and Cooperation.

Dr. Arutchelvan Rajamanikam is a researcher and senior lecturer from the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya (UM). He has been active in understanding the role of highly prevalent protozoan parasite, mainly, Blastocystis sp. in healthy and diseased individuals. Arutchelvan completed his undergraduate studies in the field of Resource Biotechnology in 2010 and ventured into Parasitology during his Masters studies(MMedSc) in University of Malaya (2015). His interest in understanding the interaction and synergism of intestinal parasite and gut microbiome led him to complete his doctoral studies(PhD) in University of Malaya in the year 2019. Arutchelvan currently aims to make use of data analytics and data science to  decipher the gut microbial diversity patterns, metabolic profile and function in understanding health and explore the predictive ability of the gut microbiome for the benefit of preventive medicine. He has currently embarked into various projects relating to gut microbiome in colorectal cancer and mental illness with special reference to parasite with fundings closed to RM 1 million. He also contributes as reviewer for various ISI-indexed journals. Recently he was appointed as a working group member for European Cooperation in Science and Technology action (CA21105). His current research interest includes the host-parasite interaction in Blastocystis sp. and Acanthamoeba sp.