Hanafi Hussin is an Honorary Professor at the Department of Southeast Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya.  He has received his Master's Degree and PhD in Cultural and Performing Arts Studies.  His current focus is on Southeast Asian anthropology, particularly ritual and performing arts. He actively researches and publishes on rituals and identity of the Kadazandusun community of Sabah, particularly in Penampang and Tuaran Sabah and Bajau and Bajau Laut/Sama Dilaut of the east coast of Borneo and Southern Philippines. He was the Dean of the Faculty of Creative Arts (2022-2024) and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (2016-2018). Before his retirement, he also served as Head of the Maritime Social Sciences and Humanities Unit, Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences (IOES) and Head of Universiti Malaya Migration Research Centre (UMMRC), Universiti Malaya. He was appointed and served as a Visiting Professor at various universities, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan, China (2024), Thammasat University (2021), Universitas Indonesia (2020-2021) and Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2020). He can be reached at hanafih@um.edu.my.