Vilashini Somiah is an anthropologist who is a senior lecturer at the Gender Studies Programme at Universiti Malaya. She received her Ph.D. from the National University of Singapore, an MA from Ohio University, an MRes from Universiti Malaya, and a BA from the Universiti Malaya. She maintains a keen interest in underrepresented narratives of women, migrants, and Borneans living in the interiors. She co-edited “Revisiting Covid-19 in Malaysia: Plight and perseverance” (UM Press, 2023) and “Sabah from the Ground: The 2020 Elections and the Politics of Survival (SIRD/ISEAS, 2021). Her first single authored book, “Irregular Migrants and the Sea at the Borders of Sabah, Malaysia: Pelagic Alliance'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) won the ACUM (The Universiti Malaya Award for Outstanding Achievement) for the best Social Science book of 2022 and has received favourable reviews internationally. Outside of academia, she writes ethnographic articles on the local socio-political landscape.

To learn more about Dr. Somiah and her work, please visit https://www.vilashinisomiah.com