Dr. Zaharah Hussin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Foundation and Humanities, Faculty of Education, University  Malaya (UM) born in Kedah. Prior to that, she was a secondary school teacher, SLAB tutor, lecturer and senior lecturer at UM. She is also a person who is also entrusted with administrative duties at UM since she started working as a lecturer in 1997 until now, starting from as the coordinator of Teaching Training, Head of Department and is now the Deputy Dean (Higher Degree) in her Faculty. Her academic expertise is in the field of teacher training and educational research especially Islamic Education, Curriculum, Values ​​and Akhlak Education, content analysis, Delphi techniques in research, model development and qualitative research in general. Dr. Zaharah is also active in publishing articles in national and international journals, academic books and presentations in conferences and webinars. Her book published by UM publisher entitled Akhlak  Education: Curriculum Analysis and Design was awarded the National Book Award 2018 Education category by the National Book Development Foundation in conjunction with the Book Fair 2018. He has also contributed teachers, researchers and experts particularly in Islamic Education field locally and internationally.

Sheue-Li Ong is a senior lecturer in the Department of Economics at the Faculty of Business and Economics, Universiti Malaya. She is also honored to serve as a Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa (2022 - 2025). Within her academic role, Dr. Ong primarily focuses on teaching mathematics and programming courses. During her undergraduate studies, Dr. Ong, originally a Mathematics student, had the opportunity to complete an internship at the Central Bank of Malaysia, which greatly influenced her decision to pursue further studies in the field of Economics. Dr. Ong has had the privilege of receiving full scholarships for her master's and Ph.D. studies, which included three memorable years spent studying in Japan. This experience greatly contributed to her knowledge and passion for her research areas. Upon completing her studies, she served as a visiting scholar at Edith Cowan University in Australia (2016) and Yokohama National University in Japan (2017). She also pursued a three-month fellowship at Yokohama National University in 2023, further enhancing her knowledge and collaborations. With a specialization in time series analysis, Dr. Ong's research interests lie in the field of international economics. Her contributions to the academic community have been recognized through a number of best paper awards for her collaborative publications with esteemed co-researchers. Furthermore, she has been granted funding from esteemed organizations such as the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), Institut Masa Depan Malaysia (MASA), and the Social Wellbeing Research Centre (SWRC). Beyond her academic responsibilities, Dr. Ong serves as a coordinator for graduate employability, actively supporting students in developing the skills and knowledge necessary for success in their professional journeys. She maintains a strong commitment to continuous learning and building her expertise, with a profound desire to make positive contributions to society.

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.