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About The Speaker

KHAIRIL AZMIN MOKHTAR is an Associate Professor at Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws (AIKOL), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) where he teaches constitutional law and human rights, comparative constitutional law and legal research methodology. The former Head of Department of Public Law and Deputy Dean of Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws received his doctorate from University of Wales Aberystwyth. He is the coordinator of Constitution, Administration, Good Governance, Integrity and Human Rights Research Unit (CANGGIH), AIKOL, IIUM. He has researched and published in numerous journal articles and book chapters on constitutional law, human rights, administration of Muslim affairs, federalism, comparative constitutional laws, human rights, mediation, peace study and legal system. He has also been involved in several consultancy projects and has conducted training programs for government agencies in Malaysia relating to the research areas. He is the editor of ‘ The Law and You. Elections ’ and ‘ Constitutional Law and Human Rights in Malaysia. Topical Issues and Perspectives ’ which have been published recently by Sweet and Maxwell Asia/Thomson Reuters.

JAMES CHIN is Professor of Political Science and Head of the School of Arts & Social Sciences (SASS), Monash University, Malaysia Campus. Prof Chin is a leading commentator on Malaysian politics and has published extensively on Malaysia and the surrounding region. In addition to his academic work, he is currently on the Advisory Board, Centre for Public Policy Studies (CPPS); Senior Fellow, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) and Senior Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) Singapore .

DENISON JAYASOORIA, Datuk Dr, is Principal Research Fellow at Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA), UKM. He was former member a member of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the Police to enhance the operations and management of the Royal Malaysian Police Force (2004-2005); member of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) (2006-2010) and also served as the Secretary, Special Implementation Taskforce for the Indian Community, Prime Minister’s Department (2010-2011).

Currently he is Secretary General, Society for the Promotion of Human Rights, Malaysia (Proham).

His current research areas are in adopting a human rights approach to ethnic relations with specific reference to minorities and marginalized communities. He has been active in public policy advocacy.

Dr. Denison was conferred the Darjah Panglima Jasa Negara (PJN) by the Malaysian Paramount Ruler in 2006 which carries the title Datuk.

His key publications are Social Development & Indians in Malaysia, an Agenda for Social Inclusion (2008, YSS, KL), Politics and Service: the Experiences of Banting Jaya (2002, JJ Resources, KL); Disabled People, Citizenship & Social Work, the Malaysian Experience (2000, Asean Academic Press, London) and National Development Plans and Indians in Malaysia: A Need for Comprehensive Policies and Effective Deliveries (2011). His most recent publications include: Malaysia: The need for Inclusiveness (KITA-UKM:2013) and edited a number of books in 2013 including -Proham and Human Rights Concerns in Malaysia (Proham:2013); Malaysian Issues & concerns, Some policy responses (ASLI-CPPS:2013); Race Relations in Britain & Malaysia: An anthology of discussion with Prof Dr Aneez Esmail (KITA-UKM:2013)

He graduated in 1981 with a Bachelor of Divinity, Serempore College, India; received his Diploma in Advanced Study of Social Policy from Oxford Polytechnic, United Kingdom in 1990 and a PhD. in Sociology from Oxford Brookes University, United Kingdom in 1996.

REGINA LIM is currently working as a paralegal researcher at a local law firm in Kota Kinabalu. Recently completed my PhD at the University of Birmingham. I worked as a research officer at the University of Bath from 2009-2011 in a research project funded by the Templeton Foundation. I am the author of ‘Federal-State Relations in Sabah, Malaysia: The Berjaya Administration, 1976-85’ (2008 ISEAS) and one of the contributors for ‘Encountering Islam: The Politics of Religious Identities in Southeast Asia’ ed by Hui Yew-Foong (2013).

SIMON SIPAUN graduated with a BA(honours) degree in political science and public administration from Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealang in 1965. He attended a one-year course in government and development at Oxford University, England in 1968/1969. He held several senior positions in the Sabah State Civil Service including State Training Officer, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government, Ministry of Communication and Works, Ministry of Finance, Secretary of Natural Resources and Deputy State Secretary. His last position before retirement was Sabah State Secretary from 1988 to 1993. From October 1993 to November 2003 he was Chairman of the Sabah State Public Service Commission. He has also served as Chairman/Director/Board Member in many government and private companies and agencies including Malaysia Airlines System, Employee Provident Fund and Malaysia University Sabah. He was a member of the National Unity Advisory Panel from 1996 to 2000. He was appointed as a Commissioner in the Malaysian Human Rights Commission by the King on 24 April, 2000. On 13 October, 2003 he was elected ViceChairman of the Commission until 24 April, 2010. He was appointed by the King as a member of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Advisory with effect from 25 February, 2009. He is the founding Chairman of the Society for the Promotion of Human Rights(PROHAM) with effect from 21 March, 2011. He is active in several welfare and charitable organizations.

KEVIN YL TAN LLB (Hons); LLM, JSD (Yale), taught full-time at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore from 1986 to 2000. In 2000, he founded Equilibrium Consulting Pte Ltd, a boutique consultancy focused on history, heritage and publishing. He is active in many organizations including the Singapore Heritage Society and the Foundation for the Development of International Law in Asia (DILA). He has edited and written over 30 books and over 50 articles on the law, history and politics of Singapore. He is currently Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore as well as at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University. Kevin specializes in constitutional law, the Singapore legal system, international human rights, and legal history.

BRIDGET WELSH is associate professor of Political Science at Singapore Management University. In 2004, she was a Henry R. Luce Southeast Asian Fellow at Australian National University and in 2007 she received a USIP fellowship. In 2009 she received the Max M. Fisher Prize for teaching excellence at Johns Hopkins University –SAIS and in 2011 was awarded a Distinguished Teaching Award by SMU’s School of Social Sciences. She has edited/written numerous books including, Reflections: The Mahathir Years, Legacy of Engagement in Southeast Asia, Impressions of the Goh Chok Tong Years, Democracy Takeoff? The B.J. Habibie Period, Awakening: The Abdullah Badawi Years (forthcoming 2013), Embracing Democracy: Political Attitudes in Malaysia (forthcoming 2013) and Does Democracy Matter: Regime Support in Southeast Asia (forthcoming 2013) and authored a wide range of articles. She is a consultant for Freedom House and the United Nations.

WONG CHIN HUAT earned his PhD from University of Essex, United Kingdoms with a thesis on electoral system and party system in West Malaysia. He is currently a fellow and the head of Political and Social Analysis section at the Penang Institute, a think tank funded by the Penang State Government. Prior to this, he taught journalism at Monash University Malaysia Campus. His academic interests cover electoral system, party system, decentralisation, ethnic politics, democratisation, plural society and civil activism. He is also a steering committee member of the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections 2.0 (Bersih 2.0) and a political columnist for FZ.com, thenutgraph.com and a few other internet media.