Danny Wong Tze Ken is Professor of History at the Department of History, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya where he teaches history of Southeast Asia and History of China. His research interests include the Chinese in Malaysia, China’s relations with Southeast Asia and History of Sabah. He is currently Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya. He was Director of Global Planning & Strategy Centre, Universiti Malaya and former Director of the Institute of China Studies and former Head of the Malaysian Chinese Research Centre at the same university. He was Visiting Professor at Peking University (2018). He was also Visiting Yip (China) Fellow at Magdalene College, Cambridge University (2017-2018); Visiting Scholar at the Hakka College, National Central University, Taiwan (2017); and Visiting Professor at the Center for Integrated Area Studies, Kyoto University (2010). Professor Wong is a Member of the Board of Governors, Chinese Heritage Centre, Singapore and Council Member of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Member of the Board of Trustees, SEASREP Foundation, and a former Chairman of the UNESCO Southeast Asian Shared-History Textbook Technical Committee.  Among his publications are: The Kinabalu Guerrillas and the 1943 Jesselton Uprising (2020), Chinese Studies in Malaysia and Singapore in a Global Context (2019), One Crowded Moment of Glory: The Kinabalu Guerrillas and the 1943 Jesselton Uprising (2019), The Diaries of G.C. Woolley, Vol. 1: 1901-1907 (2015); Vol. 2: 1907-1913 (2016) & Vol. 3: 1913-1919 (2018); The Chinese Overseas in Malaysia in an Era of Change (2018), Historical Sabah: The War (2010), The Nguyen and Champa during 17th and 18th Century (2007), Historical Sabah: the Chinese (2005), Historical Sabah: Community and Society (2004), The Transformation of an Immigrant Society: a Study of the Chinese of Sabah (1998).

  Dr. Wang I Ta started his piano study at the age of ten and received his formal training in the National Taiwan Normal University (BA) under prof. Lina Yeh, Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University (MM) under prof. Boris Slutsky, and University of Minnesota (DMA) under prof. Alexander Braginsky.     He was the recipient of the Rising Star Award of National Concert Hall in Taiwan 2008, Hutchinson Scholarship (University of Minnesota), and Rosenberg Scholarship (Peabody Conservatory). He was the winner of the Schubert Club Music Competition, the Walnut Hill Concerto Competition, and the Eleanor Bell Watson Competition. Besides his formal education, he also attended and performed in renowned festivals such as TCU/Cliburn Piano Institute (now Piano Texas), International New York Keyboard Festival, and Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory-The International Summer School.   As a soloist, he has collaborated with the KLPAC Orchestra, Camerata Youth Orchestra, UM Symphony Orchestra, Hunan Symphony Orchestra and Longwood Symphony Orchestra, etc. His concerts in Taiwan were sponsored by the National Culture and Arts Foundation from 2008 to 2012.  He is currently the Head of the Music Department and a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Creative Arts, University of Malaya.

Dr. Jamilah Syafawati Yaacob completed her B.Sc (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology & Biotechnology) from University of Melbourne, Australia in 2007, and her M.Sc (Crop Biotechnology) from University of Nottingham (Malaysia campus) in 2009. She received her PhD in Biotechnology from University of Malaya in 2013 and was one of the recipients of the University of Malaya Excellence Awards in 2014 for completing her PhD in less than 4 years. In 2010, during her PhD candidature, she had also won a Gold Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Biosciences & Biotechnology during University of Malaya Innovation and Creativity Expo. After successfully completing her PhD, she then joined the Institute of Biological Sciences at the Faculty of Science, University of Malaya as a Senior Lecturer. Since then, she has taught and coordinated various undergraduate courses such as Biology of Organisms, Genetic Engineering in Animals and Plants, Cell and Tissue Culture and Higher Plant Physiology. At the postgraduate level, she has also helped in teaching Research Methodology, a compulsory course upon entry into postgraduate studies at the department. Since her employment as an Academic, she has served the department and University in various administrative duties, such as the programme coordinator for Bachelor of Science with Education (ISB), BSc in Biotechnology, academic advisor, final year project coordinator and many more. Her current research interest is on manipulation of plant tissue culture system for biotechnological applications, with special emphasis on stress-induced plant secondary metabolites and proteins for medicinal applications and sustainable production of functional food colorants. Her present research works include projects on understanding and manipulating plant’s response towards abiotic stress for over-expression of valuable bioactive compounds, such as in Azadirachta indica (neem). The regulation of proteins involved in the biosynthesis of these bioactive compounds or secondary metabolites are analyzed through proteomics-based approach, to allow for a better understanding of the biosynthesis pathways that has been affected. In addition to that, she is also working on the epigenetics aspect of plant phenotypic plasticity, to understand the epigenetic regulation (with focus on histone modification) in DNA repair and somaclonal variation. In recognition of her work and scientific achievements, she has won several awards such as a Gold Medal at International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition (ITEX) in 2013 and a Bronze Medal at Bioinnovation Awards/BioMalaysia & Bioeconomy Asia Pacific 2013. Other than that, she is also actively participating in the scientific community and the public by taking on various roles as a judge or jury in scientific competitions and innovation programs at national and secondary school levels. These include her role as a judge for Malaysian Agricultural Invention Show (MAgIS) competition organized by Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry in 2016, and judge for science videos and scientific poem recitation competitions organized by Ministry of Education in 2017-2018, among others. Professionally, she was also one of the representatives in the working group for pineapple planting material for preparation of Malaysian Standard (organized by SIRIM Malaysia) in 2018. Outside of work and research, she also loves to join various events that promote sustainability and green environment.