I have been teaching Japanese language since 1997. For me, teaching a foreign langauge is like having a good conversation. Students should pick up vocabulary and patterns of the language in linguistically and culturally rich context. I enjoy getting to know my students through actively engaging with them in class. Additionally, I believe that culturally appropriate performance is critical for smooth and comfortable interactions with natives speakers.  I received pedagogical training at Bryn Mawr College, PA, in 1997, through EEP (Exchange Japan Program, currently as known as Allex Japan Program) directed by Dr. Eleanor Jordan, a prominet Japnese educator. After the training I taught Japanese for two years in Kansas City, MO, and my passion for teaching grew more and more. I had an opportunity to study and teach at The Ohio State University (Japanese Literature) and Portland State University (Applied Linguistic) as a grauate student.  My previous teaching post includes; Maison de la Culture du Japon a Paris (Paris, France),Kiev Politechnic Institute (Kiev, Ukraine)Northeast Normal University (吉林省長春)Harvard University (Cambridge, MA)  I also taught at ICU (International Christian University), Portland State University, The Ohio State University as a summer instructor. Academically I am interested in Performance Based Pedagogy, Intercultural Communication, Literature (Modanizumu), Interpretation and Translation, and "Border" crossing. In my free time, I enjoy reading books, urban exploration, and singing Karaoke.  

Associate Professor Dr. Santha Chenayah has demonstrated sustained excellence across academic scholarship, institutional leadership, and societal engagement for over three decades. Her intellectual contributions to the fields of environmental economics, operations research, and sustainability reflect a trajectory of deep expertise, policy relevance, and global impact. Holding a Ph.D. and Master’s in Economics from Osaka University, Japan, and a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) from Universiti Malaya, she possesses a foundation rooted in both analytical rigor and regional policy insight.Dr. Chenayah’s research output includes over 40 peer-reviewed publications, many in high-impact journals indexed by Web of Science, Scopus, and ESCI. Her body of work addresses climate change mitigation, green disposal behavior, electric vehicle adoption, and solid waste management, demonstrating her interdisciplinary approach to contemporary environmental challenges. She has served as Principal Investigator or Co-Researcher on more than 20 funded projects supported by the Ministry of Higher Education, University of Malaya, and global institutions such as the World Bank. Her scholarly excellence is recognized through prestigious accolades, including the Outstanding Paper Award by Emerald Literati (2019), multiple Excellent Service Awards from University of Malaya, and the JSPS RONPAKU Fellowship awarded by Japan (2003–2007).Dr. Chenayah has contributed extensively to academic development through course instruction, programme coordination, and postgraduate supervision. She has taught more than 15 undergraduate and postgraduate modules covering macroeconomics, environmental economics, welfare economics, Environmental Management and Planning. Between 2020 and 2025 alone, she was appointed as internal examiner for over 40 postgraduate theses. Her leadership in academic quality assurance includes contributions to curriculum redesign and assessment at faculty and national levels.In addition to her pedagogical responsibilities, Dr. Chenayah has held key administrative roles, including multiple terms as Head of the Department of Economics at Universiti Malaya. She has served on more than 70 institutional and faculty-level committees, ranging from safety and health boards to steering panels on strategic policy and curriculum development. Her editorial leadership includes current appointments as the Chief Editor and Associate Editor of Institutions and Economies, and Associate Editor of the Singapore Economic Review (2024–2026), reflecting her influence in shaping scholarly discourse in economics across the region.A defining aspect of Dr. Chenayah’s professional portfolio is her international engagement and representation. As the Honorary Secretary of the Malaysian Economic Association (MEA), she has actively represented Malaysia at Federation of ASEAN Economic Associations (FAEA) conferences across ASEAN countries. These diplomatic assignments underscore her role in promoting regional economic integration, academic exchange, and multilateral collaboration. By fostering intellectual ties and facilitating joint dialogues on policy and development, her contributions have elevated Malaysia’s visibility in regional economics while expanding her own transnational scholarly networks. Such experiences enrich her academic leadership and position her as a regional ambassador of Malaysian economic thought.Complementing her academic and regional roles, Dr. Chenayah has contributed her expertise to national policy development and consultancy initiatives. She has led and participated in advisory projects for key institutions including the World Bank, MB Inc. Perak, and Malaysia’s Ministry of Environment, addressing strategic themes such as circular economy planning, rare earth supply chain resilience, and carbon mitigation. Her consistent engagement with media outlets, webinars, and public policy forums highlights her ability to translate research into actionable insights.Through the integration of research excellence, pedagogical innovation, academic stewardship, and ASEAN-level diplomatic engagement, Dr. Santha Chenayah exemplifies the ideals of a modern scholar whose work transcends borders and disciplines. Her sustained record of contributions aligns with Universiti Malaya’s mission to foster transformative education and globally relevant scholarship.

Professor Dr. Lim Kheng Seang, a University of Malaya (Malaysia) graduate in 1999 with MRCP (UK), is a Professor of Neurology in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, the Head of Neurology Unit, PPUM, and a Consultant Neurologist specializing in epilepsy at the University of Malaya Medical Centre and University Malaya Specialist Centre, Malaysia. He has been trained at the University of Malaya for his neurology subspecialty training (2008), followed by fellowship training in Melbourne (2011) and Cleveland (2017) for epilepsy.  He is the President of the ASEAN Neurological Association (ASNA, 2023-2027), the Chair-elect (2025-2029) and General Secretary (2021-2025) of the Asian and Oceanian Commission, International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE-AO), the chair of the Research Task Force in the commission, the past President of the Malaysian Society of Neurosciences (MSN) and Malaysian Epilepsy Society (PEM), an active member of the Malaysian Epilepsy Council and internationally and ex-chair of the Research Commission in the International Bureau of Epilepsy. He has been involved in many trials of newer treatments (e.g., newer drugs and transcranial magnetic stimulation) in epilepsy. He also specialises in non-invasive and invasive epilepsy surgery assessment, including long-term video-EEG monitoring, intracranial monitoring with stereo-EEG, subdural and depth electrodes, electrocardiography, and cortical stimulation. Other areas of expertise included vagal nerve stimulation, deep brain stimulation, transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcutaneous direct current stimulation, corpus callosotomy and radiofrequency ablation.  He is currently the Associate Editor for Neurology Asia, a reviewer for a few academic journals, and an organising committee member of multiple national and international conferences. He has published ≥ 150 original papers with an H-index of 24, in journals including Neurology (IF:8.055), Epilepsia (IF:5.562), Neuron (14.403), and JAMA Neurology (IF:29.91). His research work focuses on the psychosocial aspects of epilepsy, clinical studies, especially epilepsy surgery and seizures in brain tumours, genetics in focal and familial epilepsies, pharmacogenomics and pharmacokinetics of antiepileptic drugs, quantitative EEG and quantitative MRI research, and artificial intelligence. He is active in research, being the principal investigator and co-investigator in many local and international research projects, and has a strong collaboration with Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. He was awarded multiple university and national research grants of more than RM1.5 million, and he has supervised 20 postgraduate students and 30 international neurology fellows.