Dr. Saw Chaw Yeh is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Universiti Malaya. With a background in archaeology, art history, and anthropology, her research focuses on anthropological archaeology, particularly rock art studies. She has led surveys and documentation of rock art sites across Peninsular Malaysia, exploring their cultural significance and historical connections to local communities and the wider Southeast Asian region.

Mohd Anuar Ramli. He was born and raised in Kampong Air Putih, Junjong, Kulim, Kedah, Malaysia on 26th November 1976. The ninth children of almarhum Haji Ramli Ismail and almarhumah Hajah Sofiah Ariffin. Mohd Anuar received early education in Sekolah Kebangsaan Junjong (1982-1988), then continued secondary education in Sekolah Menengah Agama Tarbiyah Diniah, Kulim, Kedah (1989-1994), pre-university in Nilam Puri (1995-1997), subsequently earned his bachelor’s degree in Syariah (Fiqh & Usul) (1997-2000), master’s degree (2001-2004) and doctorate degree (2005-2010) in Universiti Malaya. He has been serving in Jabatan Fiqh & Usul (Department of Fiqh and Usul), Akademi Pengajian Islam (Academy of Islamic Studies) Universiti Malaya as a temporary lecturer since 2004 and now as a senior lecturer after finishing his doctorate study under Skim Latihan Akademik IPTA (SLAI) in 2010. Mohd Anuar’s areas of expertise are Fiqh of Culture, Fiqh of Gender, Fiqh of Consumerism and other related fields in Islamic studies. He has been teaching Introduction to Shariah, Fiqh of Culture, Fiqh of Consumerism, Fiqh of Worship (Ibadah), Maktabah Shariah and Research Methodology. He produced almost 40 postgraduate master’s and doctorate students and received numerous research grants from both internal university and external fund. Mohd Anuar has published almost 200 articles, chapters in books and conference papers in various categories either in the international or local level. The published writings cover diverse areas, such as custom and culture, gender, halal and consumerism, religious extremism and terrorism, contemporary fiqh and Malaysian society. He is always enthusiastic to serve as a versatile scholar that masters numerous fields and learns to explore new research area in Islamic studies framework. Mohd Anuar loves travelling to appreciate the beauty of panoramic nature and cultures of society as well as to enhance life experience and perseverance.

Started his research career in the think tank sector, Dr. Lee Chee Leong (Karl) is attracted to the rise of non-traditional diplomacy in the international order today. Such appeal has taken Dr. Lee into new research horizons that started with his Monash University's doctoral research on the Chinese sub-state diplomacy in China-ASEAN economic cooperation. With constructive supervision by Professor Helen Nesadurai and Associate Professor Kuik Cheng Chwee, Dr. Lee completed his doctoral thesis that unravels how a faraway and least developed sub-state of Guangxi managed to overcome its own hurdles, navigate the complexities within the Chinese state and become the frontline actor in China-ASEAN economic cooperation. Following his doctoral completion, Dr. Lee's research on non-traditional diplomacy has expanded into Taiwan’s quasi-state diplomacy in Southeast Asia. Such quest has led him spending at great length in comprehending the concept of soft power, a concept that finds its relevance to Taiwan, which has no official diplomatic with Southeast Asia but is heavily connected to the region and has to rely on soft power in its engagements with these Southeast Asian nations. Taking Malaysia as the first case study of Taiwan's soft power in the region, Dr. Lee is developing the third intervening variable correlating both Taiwanese soft power resources and outcomes, in his course of providing a dynamical explanation for such phenomenon. For the coming years, his research focus and publications will be on the different areas featuring Taiwan-Malaysia and Taiwan-Southeast Asia cooperation such as digital social innovation (DSI) for climate change, industry-based education/training programmes, smart cities, tourism, digital democracy, agriculture, public health and medicine, ornamental aquaculture and aquascape. To date, Dr. Lee was the recipient of several scholarships and fellowships in Malaysia and overseas: University of Malaya’s Graduate Fellowship (2010-2011); Monash University’s Merit Scholarship (2016-2019); Chinese Government Scholarship (2018-2019); and Taiwan Fellowship (2020). Prior to his appointment as Senior Lecturer at the Institute of China Studies (ICS), he was the Visiting Scholar at Guangxi University for Nationalities (GXUN) (2018-10992019), Taiwan Fellow at National Chengchi University (NCCU) (2020) and Associate Fellow at ICS UM (2016-2019).He welcomes any potential PhD candidate who would like to work on Taiwan-Southeast Asia relations, Taiwan's soft power in Southeast Asia and Taiwan-Malaysia DSI cooperation for climate change. He is also willing to discuss with potential doctoral candidates on proposals related to the Chinese sub-state (provincial) diplomacy toward ASEAN, China's soft power in ASEAN, Southeast Asian sub-state diplomacy, comparative cases of sub-state diplomacy around the world and conceptual innovation of sub-state diplomacy as well as soft power.