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).       

ChM Dr Joon Ching Juan is Professor of Catalysis and Nanotechnology at Nanotechnology and Catalysis Research Centre (NANOCAT), Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. Currently, he has been appointed as Chair of Frontier Natural World Research Cluster at Universiti Malaya and Head of International Co-operation relation at NANOCAT. He obtained his BSc (Hons) Chemical Technology (2003) and PhD in Chemistry (2007) degrees from the National University of Malaysia, Malaysia.             He has been actively involved in various research activities especially in the area of nanomaterial and catalysis. Most of his research activities are focused on understanding the and manipulating nano-structure to be applied in environmental and energy. Up to date, he has managed to publish more than 200 WoS publications with an h-index of 47 (10,348 citations). With his expertise and experience, he has received about RM 9,500,000 (ca. USD 2,000,000) grants from national, industry and international organizations such as The World Academy of Science Grant (TWAS, UNESCO), E-science fund (MOSTI), and industry grants. As a strong believer in research driven innovation, he has filed eight patents to be used in industries.             He is also the recipient of several prestigious awards and recognition including 2% Top Scientist in the World by Sandford University (2022-2020), Ten Outstanding Young Malaysian (2020) by Junior Chamber International,  Future Academician Award by Ministry of Education (2018), Malaysia Research Star Award by Ministry of Education (2017), National Young Scientist Award by Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (2016), outstanding paper award by Elsevier (2018), Pro Vice Chancellor Award in Teaching, Monash (2012), and just few to mention. Besides being engaged in teaching and research, he also serves as Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC, UK), Chartered Chemist (CSci, UK), Chartered Scientist (CSci, UK), Member of Malaysia Institute of Chemistry (IKM), and others.             In term leadership and administration, he is elected as the President of Balai Ikhtisas Malaysia (BIM) which oversee all professional bodies, Treasurer of Federation of Asian Chemistry Society (FACS), National Representative/Associate member of IUPAC in Chemistry and the Environment Division, Associate Member of IUPAC in Chemical Research Applied to World Needs (CHEMRAWN), council member and honorary secretary of Malaysian Institute of Chemistry (IKM). In addition, he also appointed as radiation protection officer (RPO), chemical safety and security officer training (CSSO), deputy quality manager (DQM), National Focus Group Member Globally Harmonized System (GHS), National technical committee member of Nanotechnologies (ISO Standard), National committee Member, Industry Standards Committee on Environmental Management (ISC Z). He has conducted various courses, talks, keynote, and plenary lecture on chemical safety and security, green synthesis laboratory, water pollution, photocatalysis wastewater treatment, biofuel, bioenergy, etc. With his experience and expertise, he has also been appointed as consultant and advisor to many governments’ bodies and industries.

Mohammad Tawfik bin Yaakub is a senior lecturer in the department of Political Science, Public Administration, and Development Studies, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Malaya. He obtained his Degree in Social Sciences (Political Science) in 2010, his Master of Social Sciences (Political Science) in 2012, both from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Political Studies in 2018 from the University of Malaya (UM), Kuala Lumpur. Prior to joining UM, he worked as a tutor in the School of History, Politics, and Strategy at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) from 2010 to 2012, and as Assistant Secretary at the Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) from 2012 to 2013. He subsequently served as a Research Assistant at the Centre for the Study of Malay Excellence, Academy of Malay Studies (UM) from 2013 to 2015. During his tenure at the Faculty of Business and Economics, Mohammad Tawfik bin Yaakub was also appointed to hold several positions at the faculty and university level, including Research Fellow at the University of Malaya Centre for Democracy and Elections (UMcedel) from 2021 to 2022, committee member of the University of Malaya Sports Program from 2021 to 2024, and Department Representative for the Postgraduate Committee from 2020 to 2021. Mohammad Tawfik bin Yaakub has extensive knowledge in the field of Political Science, with specialisation in Malaysian politics, federalism, Malay politics, comparative politics, and ethnic politics. He was also named Chief Researcher, in charge of two national studies: The Re-Empowerment of Parliament Institutions in Malaysia After 14 General Elections and Its Impact Towards Democracy from 2019 to 2021, and The Socioeconomic Influence of Voters on the Results of the 14th General Election in Selangor from 2019 to 2022. Other co-researcher projects include: “Re-introduction Of Local Elections in Malaysia: Assessment of Its Possibility and Impact On The Social Structure from 2018 to 2020”; “Addressing The Future Of Work: Policy And Stakeholders Response On Graduate Employability Since The Pandemic from 2022 to 2024”; and “Border Security Along Kudat And Sandakan Sabah's Eastern Coastal Areas: The Impact Of Social-Business On Sustainable Livelihoods from 2018 to 2020”.  He is also active in publishing articles on Malaysian politics in journals, books, book chapters, and mainstream newspapers. Since 2021, Mohammad Tawfik b Yaakub has published one Scopus-indexed article, 14 articles in internationally and locally indexed journals, a book titled “Dua Era Kerjasama Politik UMNO-PAS: Bermula Cita-Cita, Berakhir di Putrajaya” in 2020, and seven chapters in books. In addition, from 2018 to the present, he has written 200 articles about Malaysian politics for mainstream print and online media outlets such as Berita Harian, Utusan Malaysia, Sinar Harian, Kosmo, Harakah, and Awani Online. Mohammad Tawfik b Yaakub is frequently invited to appear as a political analyst for Malaysian mainstream media outlets such as TV1, TV3, Astro Awani, Al-Hijrah TV, Sinar Harian, Bernama TV, Sarawak TV, and the country's main radio channels such as Buletin FM, Era FM, Sinar FM, Nasional FM, KL FM, and Bernama Radio. He was a panellist on Sinar Harian, Bernama, RTM, and Astro Awani during the 15th Malaysian General Election. Apart from that, from 2021 to 2022, he is frequently invited by government institutions such as The Royal Malaysian Police College (PDRM), the Islamic Training Institute of Malaysia (ILIM), Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Teacher Training Institute, Ministry of Education and Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UNISZA) to conduct courses and provide briefings on political developments in the country. In addition, he was invited by the Public Service Department (JPA) to serve on the interview panel for the Hadiah Latihan Persekutuan (HLP).