I’m a Senior Lecturer at the International Institute of Public Policy and Management (INPUMA), Universiti Malaya. Before I was appointed a senior lecturer, I was a visiting fellow under the UKM–Nippon Foundation Programme at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), UKM, where I also served as a junior research fellow. Following my tenure at UKM, I was appointed as a Special Task Officer to the then-President of the Senate, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Utama Dr Rais Yatim, at the Parliament of Malaysia. In this role, I gained invaluable first-hand experience in policy discussions, bill drafting, governance processes, and diplomatic engagement. My primary research focuses on national security and foreign policy, Latin American politics, and the development and cultivation of a culture of peace in Costa Rica, examined through a constructivist framework. I have spent significant time conducting fieldwork, attending conferences, and establishing networks in Mexico and Costa Rica to deepen my understanding of Latin American politics and its wider implications for international relations. My academic interests also extend to global political dynamics from a postcolonial perspective, with a particular emphasis on debates surrounding Orientalism and Occidentalism. My work bridges theoretical insights with practical applications, fostering a nuanced understanding of the interplay between history, culture, international relations, and public policy. I am eager to supervise students within these areas of research and interest as well as those who seek to explore connections between Latin America and Southeast Asia.

Dr. Noor Ismawati Jaafar is a Professor in Information Systems at the Department of Decision Science, Faculty of Business and Economics. She held various administrative positions including Director of the Graduate School of Business, Deputy Dean (Research) and Head of Department. She obtained Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), from Macquarie University. She holds a professional qualification as Certified Financial Accountant (CFiA) from the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA). She teaches core courses related to Information Systems and Research Methodology. She has completed supervising eleven (11) Doctoral students and thirty three (33) Master students at Master levels. She has led consultancies involving projects such as the National Broadband Initiatives, Case Studies on COVID-19 Vaccination Roll-out Programme and the Economic Enhancement Programmes for MRT3. Her main research areas are IT governance, IT management, human computer interactions, and IT adoption. She has been appointed as Visiting Professor and Adjunct Professor at Aoyama Business School, Universitas Diponegoro, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Universitas Brawijaya, Universitas Negeri Malang and Prince of Songkla University (Trang). She was appointed as mentor for the APRU Asia-Pacific Women in Leadership Mentoring Program (APWiL). As a public intellectual, she hopes to profess her views on societal impact of technologies.

Kamarul Azam bin Kamarul Azmi is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Asian and European Languages at the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics. He obtained his Ph.D. in Language Learning and Assessment from Universiti Malaya. His core research areas include language learning and Japanese as a foreign language, with a particular focus on audiovisual translation in media. He is also a certified translator by the Malaysian Translators Association and the Malaysian Institute of Books and Translation. His current research interests and expertise include sociolinguistics, particularly the use of profane language in gaming, captions and subtitles in television, and Japanese pop culture, such as anime and otaku culture.