Dr. Dzul Afiq Zakaria is an accomplished artist, designer, researcher, and academician with more than a decade of experience in art and design. Actively involved in the art scene and design industries, Dzul’s passion for both his creative practice and academic career fuels his continuous exploration of aesthetics and innovation. A passionate thinker and coffee lover, Dzul balances an easygoing nature with a determined focus on achieving his goals. His artistic journey is influenced by figures like Willem de Kooning, Syed Ahmad Jamal, Yusof Ghani, and John Lennon, to name a few, who knew their own minds and found strength and creativity within—qualities that resonate deeply with Dzul's own approach to art and life. The world is all the better for it. His artwork blends abstract expressionism with the rich cultural traditions of Islamic and Malay art. His doctoral research explored the intricate relationship between spirituality, culture, and artistic expression, offering profound reflections on the legacy of these traditions. Through his exploration of complex patterns, symbolic themes, and cultural narratives, Dzul’s art connects the historical with the contemporary. His work is both intellectually rigorous and spiritually resonant, making him not only a painter but also a philosopher of art. Beyond painting, Dzul excels in graphic design, treating it as a visual language that communicates complex ideas. His contributions to art philosophy, aesthetics, and design, particularly within the context of Islamic and Malay traditions, are both transformative and significant.Industry Career & Experience: 2017 - Akademi Seni Budaya & Warisan Kebangsaan, ASWARA (Lecturer) 2015 - Management and Science University, MSU (Lecturer) 2014 - The Art People Gallery Malaysia (Board Director & Co-Exec) 2013 - Lensariolist Creative Etp (Art Director) 2010 - Malaysian Institute of Books & Translation, ITBM (Executive Designer) 2010 - Metafour Advertising Sdn. Bhd (Senior Designer) 2009 - Kumpulan Karangkraf Sdn. Bhd (Graphic Designer) 2007 - V2 Innovates Sdn. Bhd. (Graphic Designer)

Mohd Awang Idris, is a lecturer in Work and Organisational Psychology, Department Anthropology and Sociology, University of Malaya. He is Past President of the Asia Pacific Academy for Psychosocial Factors at Work (APAPFAW www.apapfaw.org). Currently he is Chair, Training and Development for APAPFAW. He also is Adjunct Professor at University of South Australia and Adjunct Associate Professor at Griffith University. His research interests mainly in occupational health psychology including psychosocial safety, employees' wellbeing and team performance. He publishes more than 50 publications (in books, chapters and journals), and also a reviewer for some well-known journals such as Safety Science, Work & Stress, Journal Occupational and Organizational Psychology, International Journal of Stress Management, Cross-Cultural Management: An International Journal; and Journal Occupational Health Psychology. He won the Tony Winefield Thesis Prize award for the best PhD thesis in psychology for 2010-2011 from the University of South Australia, Adelaide. Google Scholar Link RG Link 

Sharmani Patricia Gabriel is Professor of English at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya.  Her work is situated at the intersections of literary studies, postcolonial theory, and cultural studies, with a focus on cultural identity and issues of diaspora, difference, representation, and power. She is the recipient of various awards, including the Commonwealth Academic Staff Scholarship Award, which she took up at the University of Leeds, UK, and Fulbright Fellowships at the University of Northern Illinois and University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, USA. In addition to conducting research at the University of Michigan, she was also invited to develop and teach a course on Malaysian Literature in English. She has participated in international research projects and her articles have appeared in leading peer-reviewed journals such as Ethnic and Racial Studies, Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature, Critical Asian Studies, Ethnicities, and Cultural Dynamics. She has also edited and co-edited several books, the most recent of which is Orientalism and Reverse Orientalism in Literature and Film: Beyond East and West (Routledge, 2021). She is Editor-in-Chief of SARE: Southeast Asian Review of English and serves on the editorial board of several journals and book series. Sharmani is regularly invited to present keynotes and plenaries, at events within and beyond Malaysia, and has delivered public lectures in many countries including Indonesia, Spain, India, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Japan, Australia, and the USA.