Dr Yap joined academic life as a senior lecturer in Faculty Languages and Linguistics at the Universiti Malaya in 2016. She was a Programme coordinator of the Chinese Programme at the Department of Malaysian Languages and Applied Linguistics (2017-2018). She completed her Doctoral programme (Applied Linguistics) at the Minzu University of China, Beijing; her Masters of Modern Languages and Linguistics; BA (Chinese Language Studies) and Dip. Education (Chinese Pedagogy) at the Universiti Malaya. Her main research interests are Global Chinese in general, Teaching Chinese as a Second language (CSL) in particular, attitudes, motivations and identities towards and among CSL learners, and the implications of the spread of the Chinese Language. Her teaching interests are broadly within Global Chinese, such as Chinese Specific Purpose (CSP) in Mass Media, Chinese Text Analysis, Chinese Research Methodology and Chinese Language Structure. She is appointed chairperson by the Educational Resources and Technology Division of the Malaysian Ministry of Education for the revision of the Secondary School Standard Curriculum Textbook(since 2019 till now).  She especially welcomes proposals for PhD or Master research projects on any aspect of Global Chinese, areas of particular interest include Chinese as a Second language (CSL), Language ideological debates relating to Global Chinese, Intelligibility issues relating to the spread of Chinese Language, Attitudes and Motivation towards CSL, Chinese language Teaching in higher education contexts around the world, Chinese Specific Purpose (CSP) in Mass media, and Chinese language structure-Chinese syntax, especially Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG).       

Dr. Tang Tuck Cheong joined the Department of Economics and Applied Statistics at the Faculty of Business and Economics, Universiti Malaya, on February 17, 2014. Previously, he served at Monash University Malaysia, starting as a tutor in the School of Business in July 2001 and ultimately holding the position of senior lecturer until February 14, 2014. Over the years, Dr. Tang has taught a range of undergraduate courses in economics. In 2012, he completed his PhD in Economics at Monash University, Australia, under the supervision of Dietrich Karl Fausten, and was awarded the prestigious Mollie Holman Doctoral Medal. His research expertise lies in open economy macroeconomics, including international trade topics such as import demand functions and balance of payments sustainability. He has published extensively in refereed journals and presented his research at numerous international conferences. Dr. Tang actively contributes to the academic community through his roles on the editorial advisory boards of the Labuan Bulletin of International Business and Finance and the International Journal of Management Studies, as well as serving as an associate editor for the Journal of Economic Development. Additionally, he is regularly invited to review articles for internationally recognized journals. Outside academia, Dr. Tang is a dedicated martial artist, practicing Wing Chun. He is also a former collector of collectible toys, including Transformers, action figures, and designer toys.

Dr Tan Boon Chin is an Associate Professor holding the position of Deputy Director at the Centre for Research in Biotechnology for Agriculture (CEBAR) at the University of Malaya (UM). He completed his BSc in Biotechnology at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and a PhD in Plant Biotechnology at the University of Nottingham. Dr Tan was employed by UM as a postdoctoral research fellow before taking up the senior lecturer role. Dr Tan's interests span the fields of plant molecular biology and biochemistry. His current research aims to combine omics and molecular approaches to understanding the regulatory mechanism of transcription factors in environmental-stressed crops, hoping to find ways to improve crop tolerance for near-future climates. These include (1) developing a product in the form of biostimulants to mitigate climate stress for these crops, (2) developing appropriate educational programmes for farmers to promote sustainable agriculture, and (3) making recommendations to policymakers. Dr Tan's research interests also encompass genetically manipulating biosynthetic pathways in plants to produce beneficial bioactive compounds. Additionally, he explores the potential of using plants as an alternative platform for producing high-value recombinant pharmaceutical proteins. He received several awards, including the Royal Society-Newton Advanced Fellowship (2017), the Travel Award for the Asia Pacific Biosafety Association Conference from the United States Department of State Biosecurity Engagement Program (2017), and the Alltech Young Scientist Award 2012/13. Dr Tan is currently the Lead Consultant for the National Biosafety Policy project. He is also an Associate Editor of the Journal of Plant Growth Regulation (JPGR) and an Editorial Board Member of BMC Plant Biology, Heliyon, Molecular Biotechnology (MOBI), Asia Pacific Journal of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (APJMBB), Discover Food, Discover Plants, and the Journal of Agribusiness Marketing (JAMA). Dr Tan is also the President of the Malaysian Society for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (MSMBB), an Honorary Secretary of the Asia Oceania Agricultural Proteomics Organization (AOAPO), a council member of the Malaysian Proteomics Society (MAPS), Malaysian Society of Plant Physiology (MSPP), and Malaysian Society of Systems and Synthetic Biology (MyBioSS), and an eLife Community Ambassador.  His research group is committed to dedicating their expertise and ideas to catalyse efforts toward achieving the second Sustainable Development Goal (SDG2). See the interview: https://www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/the-source/blog/blogposts-communicating-research/enhan...