Speaker Profile
Aiken, Robert S.
Robert Aiken was educated (formally at any rate) in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. A cultural and historical geographer by training and inclination, he is particularly interested in environmental change in Southeast Asia, hill stations of the Orient and seaside resorts in Britain. His chief passions are Jane and his two sons, classical music, jazz, single malt whisky, draft beer, golf, walking and cultural landscapes just about everywhere. He is a professor of geography at Concordia University in Montreal.
Email : raiken@vax2.concordia.ca
Anbalakan, K.
K. Anbalakan is a lecturer in History at the School of Humanities, USM. He has a MA degree in Indian political and constitutional history and a Ph.D. in Political Science. His research area is Indian nationalism, social, economic and political history of Malaysian Indians and identity construction. He has published a couple of articles and book chapters on these themes. To mention a few: The Role of Indians in the Malaysian Constitutional Struggle, 1946-1948: A Reassessment (1999); Tamil Literacy in Malaysia: Problems and Prospects (1999); Politik Pemisahan dan Pembentukan Pakistan (1994).
Email : anbala@usm.my, anb03@tm.net.my
Anwar Fazal
Dato’ Dr. Anwar Fazal has been involved in the ‘public service’ and working for the public interest since the early 1960s. He has served as instructor at the Royal Military College; Assistant Secretary at the City Council of George Town; Private Secretary to Chief Minister of Penang and Director of the Penang Development Corporation. Currently, he serves as Senior Regional Advisor, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). He founded the Consumers Association of Penang and proceeded to be the President of the International Organisation of Consumers Unions (IOCU) based in London, and the Environment Liaison Centre International based in Nairobi, Kenya. He is currently also Vice Chairman of Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Friends of the Earth Malaysia). He is a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, popularly known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Global 500 Award. He is also the recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Law from the National University of Malaysia (UKM) and an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy from the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).
Email : anwar.fazal@undp.org, mahfaz@tm.net.my
Ariffin Omar
Born in Penang in August 1949, he studied at the St. Xavier’s Institution in Penang, 1957-1969, Universiti Sains Malaysia (B.A. 1973) and Singapore University (M.A., 1979). After teaching for a spell at USM he went to the Australian National University to complete his PhD in 1991. A founder member of the Aliran Kesedaran Negara or Aliran, a reform movement in Malaysia, he has been actively involved in various human rights activities locally and at the international level. In addition to many articles, Ariffin has written Bangsa Melayu: Malay Concepts of Democracy and Community, 1945-1950, published by Oxford University Press and Revolusi Indonesia dan Bangsa Melayu: Runtuhnya Kerajaan-Kerajaan Melayu Sumatera Timur pada Tahun 1946, published by the Universiti Sains Malaysia. He is working on a third book on ethnic relations in Malaysia. He was an ISEAS fellow and a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Utah.
Email : ariffin@usm.my
Chakravarthy, Gitu
Gitu is an educationist who has played some sports. After graduation, he taught at St.Xavier’s Institution, Penang, before moving onto Malay College, Kuala Kangsar. Following this he was a lecturer at Maktab Perguruan Persekutuan in Penang. He was also a school Senior Assistant at S.M Tunku Bendahara in Kedah. He is currently a lecturer in the School of Humanities in Universiti Sains Malaysia. His academic interests include teaching literature (esp. Malaysian and Singaporean literature in English), teacher education, and literacy. He has played cricket, hockey and squash for Penang, and squash and cricket for Kedah. He was the Secretary of the Penang Cricket Association in the eighties. He was also on the committee of the Squash Rackets Association of Penang for a number of years, and he has served as the Director of coaching and chief coach of the Penang state squash team in the eighties.
Email : gitu@tm.net.my
Chan Lean Heng
Chan Lean Heng grew up in a tai-shan gongsi house of womenfolk in the inner city of Georgetown. Her great grandmother is a sinkeh who was responsible for setting up the gongsi house for women from ‘xi-qiao’ village who migrated as a community of women to work as domestic helps in Nan Yang. Amongst her various involvements to strengthen citizens’ participation and decision-making, LEAN is particularly committed in working to empower women. She also has a passionate interest in oral/social history (storytelling) especially in supporting individuals and groups to reclaim their forgotten, silenced or repressed lived experiences. She lectures at the School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia where she strives to enable students to learn the praxis of empowering social work. Her areas of contribution are in participatory training and evaluation, community/popular and continuing education, and participatory action research.
Email :<lhchan@usm.my>
Ché-Ross, Raimy.
Raimy Che-Ross was educated in Kuala Lumpur and Shah Alam before receiving his B.A (Political Science & Art History) at the Australian National University in Canberra. His subsequent appointments include a graduate internship at the Department of Photography in the Department of International Prints, National Gallery of Australia, and a brief administrative and research stint at the Balai Seni Lukis Negara (Kuala Lumpur). He is presently Tutor in Malay at the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT), Australia. His studies on Malay Philology have been published in “JMBRAS” (1998), “Jurnal Filologi Melayu” (1997), and “Indonesia & the Malay World” (2000), while his most recent paper (“The Private Papers of Baginda Omar of Terengganu 1844-1893”) was tabled at the Royal Institute of Linguistics & Anthropology (KITLV), in Leiden, earlier this year. Current research topics include Pre-Khmer Civilizations on the Malay Peninsular, Terengganu Malay Epistolography, State Portraiture from British Malaya to Merdeka (1870-1970), and modern Malay manuscript forgeries. His focus on the Jewish Diaspora in Penang stems from the observations of his formative years spent on the island, which has led to an abiding interest in Heritage Studies.
E-Mail : alkisah@hikayat.net
Chee Li Lian
Li Lian Chee is a senior tutor at the Department of Architecture, School of Design and Environment, The National University of Singapore. A native of Georgetown for twenty-one years, Li Lian Chee read architecture at the National University of Singapore. She obtained a Masters in Architectural History with Distinction at the Bartlett, University College London where her interest in feminist and psychoanalytic spatial theories were explored in a dissertation about the Freud Museum. She was offered a scholarship for PhD studies at Columbia University, New York and holds a place for PhD studies at the Bartlett. Her family, whom she frequently visits, resides in Georgetown but this is her first trip back as an academic on conference leave. She is currently researching the politics of Singapore spatio-cultural identity through urban artistic interventions, and plans to pursue PhD studies at the Bartlett.
Email : fishnginger@hotmail.com
Chen Kuo-wei
David Chen Kuo-Wei is a Ph D Candidate at the Institute of Building and Planning, National Taiwan University. He is an architect with the The Tachung Group in Taipei, Taiwan. He lectures at the Department of Architecture, Taipei University of Technology, and the Department of Architecture and Urban Design, Chinese Culture University.
Email : tachung@tpts1.seed.net.tw
Chung, Po-Yin, Stephanie
Stephanie Po-yin Chung was born and educated in Hong Kong. She obtained her D.Phil. from the University of Oxford in 1995 and is now Associate Professor, Department of History, at the Hong Kong Baptist University. Her major publication includes Chinese Business Groups in Hong Kong and Political Changes in South China (London: Macmillan, 1998).
Email : s53096@hkbu.edu.hk
DeBernardi, Jean T
Jean DeBernardi is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Alberta. She first came to Penang in 1978, and still vividly recalls her first view of George Town from a hotel room overlooking the red tiled roofs of the city. She returned in 1979 for two years of ethnographic research on Chinese popular religious culture. In 1991, she initiated an archival research project on Chinese religion in nineteenth century Penang, focusing on the ‘structure of the conjuncture’ between Europeans and Chinese. Since 1995, she has been conducting ethnographic and historical research on the localization of the evangelical Christian Brethren movement in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Penang. Her book Penang Chinese Religion: Memory,
Modernity, and the Politics of Unity under Empire and Nation-State will soon be published by Stanford University Press, and she now is working on a second book entitled Possessed by the Past: Chinese Spirit Mediums in Penang, Malaysia.
Email : jean.debernardi@ualberta.ca
website : <http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/~jdeberna>
Engelhardt, Richard A. (special address)
Richard A. Engelhardt (USA) is the UNESCO Regional Advisor for Culture in Asia and the Pacific. He was educated in anthropology, archaeology and the history of East, South and Southeast Asia at Yale University and Harvard University and at the post-graduate Population Institute of the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii. For the past 30 years, he has directed archaeology and heritage conservation projects throughout Asia and the Indo-Pacific region. He has also served in various executive capacities with regional professional institutions including the Indo-Pacific Prehistorians Association, the Thailand Culture and Environment Fund, the Siam Society under Royal Patronage, and the Hong Kong Archaeological Society. In 1981, he joined the United Nations system and has worked with the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, as well as a number of UN Specialized Agencies, including UNCHR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) whose office in the Philippines he headed from 1986-1989. From 1991-1994 he re-opened and served as Head of the UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) Office in Cambodia, where he launched the international safeguarding campaign for Angkor. In recognition of his services in the preservation of the Angkor Monuments, H.M. King Norodom Sihanouk awarded him the title of Commandeur de l’Ordre Royal du Cambodge. Currently Mr. Engelhardt is UNESCO Regional Advisor for Culture for Asia and the Pacific, based in Bangkok. In this position he has pioneered many projects for the protection of the built heritage and cultural landscapes of the region. In addition to his Cambodian knighthood, he has also been decorated by the Government of Viet Nam as Peoples Culture Hero; and the Government of the Philippines has bestowed upon him the Order of Ciudad Ferdinand de Vigan. Mr. Engelhardt’s professional interests include: ethno-archaeology, the evolution of cultural landscapes, urban archaeology and culture resource management. In recent years, he has held visiting lectureships at the University of Hawaii (USA) and Waseda University (Japan). He is the author of numerous scholarly articles, books and publications, including most recently: Two Thousand Years of Engineering Genius on the Angkor Plain (Expedition 37:3) and numerous articles on the Ethno-Archaeology of Maritime Communities in the Southeast Asian Archipelago which are being collated and edited in a book to be published by the University of Utah Press.
Fels, Patricia Tusa
Patricia has twenty-five years of experience as an architect and is the founder and principal architect of PTF Architects. Besides her architecture work Patricia writes extensively about cities and change. Articles published in Seattle Weekly, Arcade, and Places have discussed the value of vernacular buildings and the importance of maintaining city centers. She received her Bachelor of Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. She has been awarded the National Endowment for the Arts, Individual Design Arts Grant for research: Seattle Downtown; National Endowment for the Arts, Design Arts Grant for CityStage; Concorso ANIACAP, Rome, Honors Award with Bruno Chiotti, National competition on low income housing. She serves as Chair of King County Landmarks and Heritage Commission and is on the Historic Property Consultants List, Washington State Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. She has also been guest lecturer, University of Washington College of Architecture and Urban Planning and guest professor, University of Washington Rome Center.
Email : ptfels@nwlink.com
Francis, Ric
Ric Francis started his career at Western Australian Tramways became a Tramway Engineer. Joined Australian Army in Royal Australian Electrical & Mechanical Engineers for 12 years. Founder of Perth Electric Tramways, supervised the laying of the Perway & Overhead line wiring of the system. Member of Lions International for 28 years. District Chairman once and President of his club twice. Received World President award for his Leadership. Aims to research and record past Tramways of Asia. Member of Electric Trolleybus Group.
Email : <tram1@iinet.net.au>
Gallop, Annabel Teh
Annabel Teh Gallop is curator for Indonesian and Malay at the British Library, London. Her main interests are in Malay manuscripts and letters, and she is just completing her Ph.D. on Malay seals, entitled ‘Malay seal inscriptions: a study in Islamic epigraphy from Southeast Asia’, at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Another field of interest is the art of the Malay book, and the study of illumination and decoration in Malay manuscripts. Annabel has a deep affection for Penang, where her parents were married in 1959, and where they live now.
Email : <annabel.gallop@bl.uk>
Giordano, Christian
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Christian Giordano, born 27.10.1945 in Lugano (Switzerland), Italian citizen, twice divorced, Professor of Anthropology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland (since 1989) Dr. of Sociology, University of Heidelberg (1973); Habilitation in cultural anthropology, University of Frankfurt/M. (1987); Founding Director of the Museum for Extra European Cultures in Lugano (1987-1992); Dr. honoris causa, University of Timisoara, Rumania (1999), Chief of the Anthropolgy Dept., University of Fribourg, President of the Council, Interfaculty Institute of East and Central Europe, University of Fribourg, Editor of Studia Ethnographica Friburgensia. Visiting Professor: Naples, Torun (Poland), Asuncion (Paraguay), Berlin (Humboldt University), Munich, Salzburg, Timisoara, Moscow (Russian State University for Humanities) . Fieldwork in Sicily, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Poland, Bulgaria, Albania, Turkey, Rumania, Paraguay. Research topic: Political Anthropology, Historical Anthropology, peasant societies, ethnicity and nationalism (especially in South East Europe), Policies of multiculturalism, informal economy, political clientelism and mafia structures (especially in Italy and in Mediterranean societies). Hobbies: chess, former member of the Italian national team, traveling especially in South East Asia.
Email : christian.giordano@unifr.ch
Granroth, Christina
Born in Finland in 1956. BA in music, Sibelius Academy of Music, Helsinki, 1980. MA in Art History, University of Helsinki, 1986. Taught university courses in Art History and Ancient History, 1986-89. Moved with family to Singapore, 1989. Taught music at the United World College of Southeast Asia and Art History at the LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts, Singapore 1990-96. Moved to the Philippines, lectured European Art History at the University of the Philippines, 1997. Moved to the UK, took up a PhD course in history at the University of Cambridge, 1998. She is currently in her final year of the PhD course, working under the supervision of Dr. T.N. Harper, Magdalene College, with a planned submission in June 2002. Her thesis has the provisional title ‘European knowledge of Southeast Asia in the Early Modern Era: travel and scholarship’. Focusing on the Malay world, it examines through a series of case studies, how ethnographical knowledge of the region was acquired, spread and used in northern Europe and Britain during the long eighteenth century.
Email : granroth@tinyworld.co.uk
Ghulam-Sarwar Yousof
Ghulam-Sarwar Yousof (B.A. Hons. English, University of Malaya; Ph.D., Asian theatre, University of Hawaii) Established Malaysia’s first academic programme in performing arts at Universiti Sains Malaysia. Currently Professor of Liberal Arts Studies at Ansted University and Director of Asian Centre Penang, an Asian cultures research institute. Malaysian Governor on Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) Board. Received the prestigious Tokoh Maal Hijrah for his outstanding contribution to Malay culture. A leading scholar of Southeast Asian theatre, with interests in literature, religion and philosophy. Books include Ceremonial and Decorative Crafts of Penang (1986), Dictionary of Traditional Southeast Asian Theatre (1994), The Malay Shadow Play: An Introduction (1997). He is currently Professor of Theatre Studies at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.
Email : gsyousof@hotmail.com
Himanshu Bhatt
Himanshu Bhatt has worked as a full-time journalist with The Sun news daily, northern region bureau. He was head of public relations at the Malaysian Institute of Training and Development. He also freelanced as communications consultant for Paragon World Communications, consultant editor for Penang Insights web journal (http://penang.insights.com.my), writer for Asian Geographic magazine and www.starasiatravel.com (Star TV), and a corporate writer for industrial promotions projects. He is chairman of Penang Players Music and Drama Society, and a member of the Penang State Performing Arts and Culture Committees.
Email : himanshubhatt@yahoo.com
Ho Eng Seng
Engseng Ho is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and of Social Studies at Harvard University. He is interested in the sociocultural forms and problems particular to societies which are diasporic and internally multicultural. He employs ethnographic fieldwork and textual analysis to understand long-term creolization processes which shape such societies. His research experience is in Yemen and Southeast Asia, among Arab, Chinese and Malay communities.
Email : <ho@wjh.harvard.edu>
Huang Lan Shiang
Huang Lan Shiang hails from Hsin Chu, Taiwan. He is currently Assistant Research Fellow at the Institute of Taiwan History, Preparatory Office, Academia Sinica. He obtained his Doctorate from the Department of Architecture, Kyoto University, Japan in 1993. He specializes in research on Taiwanese traditional architecture and urban planning history. He is now conducting a comparative study of urban planning and architecture between Taiwan and South East Asia, particularly on the analysis of vernacular and overseas Chinese architecture from the cultural viewpoint.
Email : lansiang@gate.sinica.edu.tw
Jones, David
David Jones is foundation Director of the Landscape Architecture Program at The University of Adelaide established in 1995. He previously taught at RMIT University, Melbourne University, TSIT and the University of Pennsylvania. A registered landscape architect, he is consultant adviser to Art for Public Places and the Adelaide Hills Council, and is an active researcher and consultant on South Australian heritage landscapes and gardens. He has served as Honorary Secretary of Australia ICOMOS (1998-2000), chaired their 2001 national conference entitled ’20th Century Heritage: Our Recent Cultural Legacy’. As part of SACON International Ltd. he was involved in field and research work for the Acheh-Armenian Streets, George Town, Action Plan (1997), has researched and published articles on the history and significance of the Penang ‘Waterfall’ Botanic Gardens, and has been consulted on the possible World Heritage nomination for the Adelaide Park Lands and ‘Plan’. Many of his research publications follow from foundational research undertaken to prepare Designed Landscapes in South Australia (1997), the award-winning Gardens in South Australia 1840-1940 (1998), and contributions in S.A.’s Greats (2001), Wakefield Companion to South Australian History (2001), and in the forthcoming Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens (2002).
Email : <djones@arch.adelaide.edu.au>
Khoo Kay Kim
Prof. Emeritus Dato’ Dr. Khoo Kay Kim was born in Kampar Perak in 1937. Educated at Teluk Anson (Teluk Intan) and Ipoh. Admitted to University of Malaya (Singapore) in 1956 and graduated with BA Hons. in early 1960. Served four and a half years as a Graduate Teacher in Teluk Anson. Joined the Dept. of History, UM, in May 1964. Completed M.A. in 1967 and Ph.D. in 1974. Appointed Associate Professor in 1974 and held the Chair of Malaysian History from 1975 until retirement in 1992. Was Head of Department on several occasions, and Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences 1984-1986. After retirement continued to serve as Professor of History from 1992-1998. Served as Director of Sports Centre 1994-1996 and launched the first Sport degree programme in the country. Has served in numerous national committees on subjects ranging from literature to sport. At various times – President or Editor of the Royal Asiatic Society Malaysian Branch, also Editor of the Malaysian Historical Society and Malaysian Museum Society. From 1999-July 2000 was Research Fellow at the Institute of Defence & Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University. At the moment still a member of the Board of Directors, Institute of Strategic & International Studies, Malaysia. Recipient of research grant from Toyota Foundation, Sumitomo Foundation and British Council. External Assessor (History) to USM and Universiry of Brunei, and External Examiner, Dept of History, National University of Singapore (2 terms). Has published 15 books and 90 articles in learned journals. Made Professor Emeritus by UM in October 2001.
Email : f10khoo@umcsd.um.edu.my.
King, Phil
Phil King is a PhD Candidate, Centre for Asia-Pacific Social Transformation Studies (Capstrans), University of Wollongong. He completed his undergraduate degree in Southeast Asian history at the University of Wollongong with a brief period of study at Prince of Songkhla University, Pattani Campus, southern Thailand. An honours degree was pursued through Universitas Gajah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia in 1998-99. The thesis examined the past and present roles of
para-militia groups in Indonesia elections since 1955. This work is currently undergoing preparation for publication through the research institute he belongs to. Since beginning this PhD in 2000, he has completed one four month period of field research in southern Thailand/north Malaysia, whilst in Australia have continued writing, along with tutoring work in Southeast Asian history and politics at both the University of Wollongong and the University of Sydney.
Email : pk01@uow.edu.au
Kratoska, Paul
Paul Kratoska is an Associate Professor with the Department of History at the National University of Singapore. He lived in Penang between 1977 and 1987, when he was a Lecturer in the History Section at Universiti Sains Malaysia. In 1986 his book The Penang Guide was published by Graham Brash in Singapore, with a revised version in 1988 and reprints in 1989, 1990 and 1992. It is now largely a guide to how Penang has changed. Dr Kratoska has also published a book entitled The Japanese Occupation of Malaya, and has written on various topics in Malaysian and Southeast Asian history. He is the editor of the Journal of Southeast Asian Studies and founding editor of the H-SEASIA internet discussion list.
Email : <hispaulk@nus.edu.sg>
Lee, Pui-Tak
Lee, Pui-Tak (B.A., Chinese University of Hong Kong, M.Litt, D.Litt, Tokyo) Research Officer and Honorary Lecturer, Centre of Asian Studies, The University of Hong Kong, 1995-present. Hon. Lecturer, History, HKU, 1999-present. Adjunct Assistant Professor, History, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000-present. Compiler of Annotated Bibliography of Hong Kong History (Hong Kong: Joint Publishing Co., 2001). Editor of Hong Kong Reintegrating with China: Political, Social and Cultural Dimensions (HKU Press, 2001). Has authored several book chapters including, ‘Chinese Merchants in Hong Kong Colonial Context, 1850-1910’ in Hong Kong Economy and Society: Challenges in the New Era, edited by Wong Siu-lun and Toyojiro Maruya. Jointly published by CAS, HKU and the Institute of Developing Economies, Tokyo, 1998, pp. 61-86 and ‘Business Networks and Patterns of Cantonese Compradors and Merchants in Nineteenth Century Hong Kong’ in Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Volume 31 (March 1996), pp. 1-39.
Email : <ptlee@hku.hk>
Lee Yow Ching
Dato’ Lee Yow Ching, BE., P.Eng., C.Eng., FIEM., FICE., FCIWEM is Director of Water Supply, Penang Water Supply Department. He has about 36 years of experience in water supply including 15 years as Chief Executive Engineer and 10 years as General Manager of the Penang Water Authority. He has contributed towards the success of the Penang Water Authority which won several quality awards in water supply management given by the Malaysian Government and the Penang State Government. When the Penang Water Authority was corporatised in 1999, he was appointed Director of Water Supply, Penang Water Supply Department, a government regulatory body responsible for supervising and overseeing the operations of the newly corporatised company. Dato’ Ir. Lee Yow Ching is active in community service and holds numerous posts in several organizations.
Email : lyc@sukpp.gov.my
Leong Yee Fong
Leong Yee Fong (B.A. Hons, Dip Rd, University of Malaya, Singapore; MA, University Sains Malaysia; Ph.D. University of Malaya). Currently he is a lecturer in history at the School of Humanities, USM. His research interests include Malaysian labour history and overseas Chinese in Malaysia and other parts of South East Asia.
Email : yfleong@usm.my
Liang, Clement
Clement Liang is a multi-linguist with extensive travelling experience. He developed a keen interest in Japanese culture since his school days. During a job posting to Japan, he actively participated in cultural exchange activities to promote a better understanding of Southeast Asian history and culture among the Japanese. He also represented Malaysia in a number of forums held by the Asia 21 Club in Japan to discuss the new order of Asian relationships and issues arising from the Second World War.
Email : Clement_Liang@Dell.comP
Lim Gaik Siang
Lim Gaik Siang is the Asia-Pacific regional manager of multinational corporation for engineering products. She is well-versed in Chinese performing arts and classical music. She is a council member of the Penang Heritage Trust, currently serving as the chairperson for the Chinese Colloquium of the Penang Story project. She is also the technical consultant and Mandarin language resource person for the organisation. Having grown up in the inner city of George Town, she is dedicated to saving Penang’s heritage.
Email : limgspc@tm.net.my
Lim, Jon
Jon Sun Hock Lim, B. Arch, M. Arch. (Melbourne University), PhD. (National University of Singapore), FRIBA.. Joined Dept of Architecture, University of Singapore in 1971, and presently serves as Senior Fellow; historian on colonial architecture of Singapore & West Malaysia, and Editor of ASEAN Monograph ‘Transforming Traditions’ (2001). Author of ‘Shophouse Rafflesia’ (JMBRAS, 1993), current interest includes collecting oral history and documentation of Penang architects (1786-1963) and studies on built-form typologies.
Email : <jonlimsh@hotmail.com>, akisec@nus.edu.sg
Loh Wei Leng
Loh Wei Leng is Associate Professor at the History Department of the University of Malaya. She is currently co-ordinating the Millennium Markers weekly series of the Star newspaper which appears every Monday. An economic historian, she is currently researching business history and
maritime history of Malaysia and Southeast Asia.
Email : f10loh@umcsd.um.edu.my
Lubis, Abdur-Razzaq
Abdur-Razzaq Lubis is an Asian Public Intellectual (API) Fellow sponsored by Nippon Foundation. Since 1998, project leader, The Toyota Foundation research grant for Mandailing migration, governance and cultural heritage and Malaysian representative, Badan Warisan Sumatra. From 2000, Malaysian representative Yayasan Pengkajian Budaya Mandailing (Mandailing Studies Foundation) and Yayasan Bindu Matogu, an environmental NGO based in Medan, North Sumatra province. He established the Horas Mandailing website, www.mandailing.org. He was UNESCO-LEAP co-Site Manager for Islamic heritage in George Town, Penang, a project which won the UNESCO Special Achievement Award in 2001. He was the Field Officer for Islam and Bio-diversity Indonesia project supported by Alliance for Religions and Conservation (ARC). He is the author of several publications including Di$credit Interest-Debt, The Instrument of World Enslavement; Water Watch: A Community Action Guide; Jerat Utang IMF? Sebuah Pelajaran Berharga bagi Para Pemimpin Bangsa – Khususnya Indonesia. He is the co-author of several works such as Dinar Emas, Solusi Krisis Moneter, Taiping, Town of Everlasting Peace (1997), Ipoh, The City that Tin Built (1999), Lebuh Acheh & Lebuh Armenian, Wadah Tumpuan Warisan Budaya (2000) and Raja Bilah and The Mandailings in Perak, 1875-1911 (MBRAS forth coming).
Email : arlubis@mandailing.org
Mohd. Anis Md. Noor
Dr Mohd Anis Md Nor is a Professor of Ethnochorelogy and Ethnomusicology in the University of Malaya. Professor Anis has pioneered the study of Zapin dance and music in Southeast Asia and has published widely on the said topic. Although his foremost research area deals with Malay dance and music in Southeast Asia, his current studies are on the interfacing of dance traditions among the Malayo-Polynesian societies in Southeast Asia and Polynesia and the making of new traditions through contemporary performances. He is a member of the ICTM Study Group on Ethnochorelogy; Chair of the Asia Pacific Dance Research Society; National Advisor to MyDance (World Dance Alliance-Asia Pacific Malaysia Chapter); Co-Chair of the Research and Development Network of the WDA-AP; Chairman of the Committee on the Core-Field for Culture Implementation Co-ordination Unit, Prime Minister’s Department Pulau Pinang and Artist-in-Residence/Consultant to the Johor Heritage Foundation.
Email : a6anis@umcsd.um.edu.my
Mohamad Rashidi Pakri
Mohamad Rashidi Pakri holds a Bachelor degree from University of Wisconsin and Masters Degree from Universiti Sains Malaysia. He has taught at various levels beginning with secondary level at Mara Junior Science College, Matriculation Centre at Northern University of Malaysia Matriculation Centre, Diploma level at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and at the Centre for Languages and Translation, USM. Currently he is a fellow at the School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia and a Ph.D candidate in the field of colonial discourse at the Department of English, University of Malaya.
Email : rashidip@tm.net.my
Nadarajah, M.
M. Nadarajah obtained his Ph.D. in sociology at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, in 1995. Before pursuing his Ph.D., he worked as an education officer with a consumer association in Kuala Lumpur. Since 1995, he has worked in many areas. He has worked as consultant for a sustainable development project with a regional organisation then based in Penang. He is presently associated with a pioneering research done on philanthropy in Malaysia by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang. In addition, he is associated with the Asian Communication Network (ACN), an inter-faith, inter-disciplinary communication network based in St. John’s University, Bangkok and manages a mailing list called “Rethinking Asia”. After recently publishing a book entitled Culture, Gender and Ecology: Beyond Workerism, which is his Ph.D. thesis, he is now working on a book entitled Culture in Sustainability of Cities for a Japanese institute, IICRC, which is associated with UNU-IAS, Tokyo. Nadarajah, who teaches sociology and organisation theory at a private college in Kuala Lumpur, is also a documentary filmmaker and his latest production is entitled, Sustainable Penang.
Email : dr_nat@tm.net.my
Nagata, Judith
Nagata, Judith
Judith Nagata is Professor of Anthropology at York University, Toronto, Canada, and has previously taught at the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University, Montreal, and in the School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang. Her research has focused on issues of ethnic relations and the politics of identity in Malaysia and North America, and on transnational (diasporic) communities between Southeast Asia and Canada. Her other research interests revolve around global religious transformations, new religious movements and the role of religion in civil society. Over the past 20 years, she has followed the changing directions of Malaysian Islam, Buddhisms and local Christianities, with particular emphasis on the dakwah movement, about which she has written extensively in books and scholarly journals, including her volume, ‘The Reflowering of Malaysian Islam’ (University of British Columbia Press, 1984). She has also written (eg. American Anthropologist 2001), on the discourses of “fundamentalism”, and how these are used non-theologically within many different religious traditions as a form of political and social demonisation or verbal warfare. In additon, she has published many articles on aspects of Malaysian kinship, rural-urban tradition and heritage, and on issues relating to religious civil society, and on the Chinese in Indonesia. Professionally, she has served as president of several Canadian associations of (Southeast) Asian studies, and is active on the conference circuit of many major international academic organisations.
Email : <jnagata@yorku.ca>
Nazima Versay Kudus
Nazima Versay Kudus holds a B.Ed TESL (Hons) degree from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. She has taught at various secondary school levels with the Ministry of Education and the Centre for Languages and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Currently, she is teaching English language at the School of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Pulau Pinang. Her research and teaching interests are in the areas of material design and development and the teaching of literature with a small ‘l’.
Email : nazimavk@hotmail.com
Nordin Hussin
Nordin Hussin obtained his Bachelor of Arts in History with Honours from the University of Malaya August 1983, Master of Arts degree in History from University of East Anglia, School of European History, 1987 and is a candidate for the Doctorate of Philosophy in History from Sociaal Culturele Wetenschappen, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Lecturer, Department of History, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, (UKM) 1986-present. He was awarded the UKM Grant for Dutch Language Course at Leiden University, 1993; Excellent Service Award under the SSB Scheme 1994 (for the top 5% of Academic Staff UKM); SLAB Scholarship UKM, 1996/2000 for Ph.D degree at Vrije University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He has written many articles and book chapters and is the author of Akhbar dan Majalah di Malaysia: Sejarah dan Perkembangan (Newspaper and Periodicals in Malaysia: Its Historical Development), (eds.) Jabatan Sejarah, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 1988. His research interests are in the Riau Sultanate in the Eighteenth Century, the Dutch administration in Melaka (1641-1795) and its impact on the social-economic history, and the Spratly Islands from the English and French Documents.
Email : <nordin@pkrisc.cc.ukm.my>
Ooi Bok Kim
Ooi Bok Kim, Hockchew Penangite grown up in George Town, is a trained Architect from Taiwan and Wales. Currently attached to AR&T Heritage Consultancy in charge on commenting plans submission on Heritage site in Penang and preparing for Dossier Nomination Penang in UNESCO World Heritage List. He is enthusiastic about heritage conservation, local culture and social history. While in Taipei, he participated in the Yao Shan Cultural Foundation’s heritage conservation movement before returning home in 1991, and started to get involved in research on local immigrant architecture and history.
Email : poh5468@tm.net.my
Paul G. Pakirnathan
He completed his B.A in English Language Studies at UKM in 1998 and MS. Corporate Communications at UPM in 2001. His areas of interest include languages, communications at the interpersonal levels and topics relating to Indian Studies. He has done studies on how Indian students’ performance in their English paper is influenced by their attitude towards the language.
And recently a project paper on how the 3 major races in Malaysia adapt themselves to the Japanese organizational values and how they communicate within that realm. Currently he is working as a lecturer at a private institution. He has also been involved in the translation/ co- authoring of articles for the G. Sarangapany Conference 2000 organized by the Malaysian Tamil Writers Association.
Email : paul_selvam@hotmail.com.
Pieris, Anoma
Anoma Pieris is a Ph.D. candidate from UC Berkeley. Her area of study is Architectural history and her research is on penal labour in the construction industry. She is also a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and The University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. She is currently in Singapore researching her dissertation.
Email : <anomap@hotmail.com>
Quilty, Mary
Mary Quilty was unfortunately unable to get funding to come to the conference in person but her paper on trade and concepts of freedom in early 19th century Penang shall be read out for in her in absentia. She is at home in Canberra, Australia awaiting the results of her PhD thesis which she submitted in August last year on ‘British Economic Thought and Colonization in Southeast Asia, 1776-1850’. In her thesis she looked at the influence which classical economists, such as Adam Smith and Ricardo, had on British colonial administrators in Southeast Asia, such as Raffles and Crawfurd. Her publications include ‘Textual Empires’ (Monash Asia Institute, 1992) on a similar topic. In the early 1990s she co-edited with Prof A.C. Milner the Australia-in-Asia series for Oxford University Press. This was a three volume series which analysed the cultural differences existing between Australia and the various countries of the Southeast Asian region. She is currently at home with her two youngest children, working on a voluntary basis to improve conditions and rights for asylum-seekers who come to Australia.
Email : marcc@iprimus.com.au>
Ramanathan, K.
K. Ramanathan was born in Sungai Patani, Kedah on a Christmas day. He had his early education in Ibrahim School. He is a trained school teacher and has served in the state of Terengganu (from 1967-1974). He then completed his Bachelors degree in Political Science (1974-1977) at
Universiti Sains Malaysia. In 1977 he was awarded a fellowship by the University of British Columbia, and successfully completed his M.A. degree (1979). From 1981-1988, he was a lecturer at the MARA Institute of Technology (now UITM). From 1988 onwards he has been a lecturer at Universiti Sains Malaysia. In 1995 he obtained a Ph.D from the University of Amsterdam and in 2001 he was made an Associate Professor. Dr. K. Ramanathan has written a number of text books in Political Science and Public Administration (in the Malays Language). One of his books, Asas Sains Politik, is now in the 10th reprint. Since his childhood he had served in temples as a volunteer worker. He has also served in a number of temples as committee member and as occasional consultant. He is also well regarded for his study on hindu temples and their operations.
Email : <krama@usm.my>
Rerceretnam, Marc
Marc Rerceretnam is a PhD candidate with the Economic History Discipline, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Sydney. He submitted his PhD thesis in January this year. He has presented a number of papers on the Indian Christian community in colonial Malaya and is tutoring at the University of Sydney. He also has a keen interest in comtemporary political issues in Singapore and Malaysia.
Email : marc_9@freemail.com.au
Salina Haji Zainol
Salina Haji Zainol is a lecturer in the History Department of the University of Malaya. Her paper will present material from her MA thesis on trade relations between Aceh, East Sumatra and Penang, 1819-1871.
Email : f10lina@umcsd.um.edu.my>
Shinozaki, Kaori
Ph. D. Student at Department of Area Studies, Graduate School of Arts and Science, University of Tokyo. Research student at University of Malaya, Oct. 1999-Dec. 2001. Presented a paper at the 3rd Malaysian Studies Conference at UKM, August 2001, and the revised version of the paper ‘Re-examining the Historical Links between China and the Chinese in Southeast Asia: The
Establishment of the Chung Hua School in Penang (1904)’ will be published in the next issue of Journal of Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.
Email : kaoris@pd.jaring.my
Shang, William
William Shang is Associate Professor, Kibi International University, Department of International Comparative Sociology. He specializes in China Trade paintings or so-called visual records, and promotes the use of visual records as historical source material for research in Chinese history (Qing Period). He is currently focusing on the study of East-West cultural contact in Asia, history of mentality seen through paintings and the authenticity of visual records. Recent publications include Historical Pictures of Qing Period China: Western Perspectives, Taishukan Shoten: Tokyo, 2001, pp. 1-212. and Pearl River Landmarks: A Method of Dating Paintings in Arts of Asia, vol. 31, no. 5, September-October 2001, pp. 102-115.
Email : <bill_shang@yahoo.com>
Sibert, Anthony
Anthony E. Sibert (Dr.) retired as Lecturer in the School of Education, University Sains Malaysia, Penang and has since participated in the development of Private Higher Educational Institutions in roles such as Chief Executive Officer and Director of Studies. He is currently the Dean of Continuing Education and Training, Olympia Colleges Malaysia – Raffles Education Group. La Salle Education trained at St. Joseph Teachers Training College at Pulau Tikus Penang, where he has lived most of his life, as well as with his Social Sciences background, he developed a keen experiential involvement in the effects of the growth and development of the Catholic Church and La Salle Education in Malaysia from Penang.
Email : a_sibert@hotmail.com
Songprasert, PhuwadolK
Phuwadol Songprasert is Associate Professor of History, Faculty of Social Sciences at Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Suriati Ghazali
Suriati Ghazali (B.A. M.A. University of Malaya; PhD. University of Leeds) is a lecturer in Human Geography at the School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Her research interest is on the Geography of Gender, particularly the geography of women in Malaysia. Her recent publication titled ‘Di mana mak, ayah? Agihan tugas baru kesan pemodenan dan perindustrian’ (Where’s mum, dad? A new division of labour brought by modernisation and industrialisation) published by Utusan Publications and Distributors, 2002. She loves creative writing and was awarded Hadiah Sastera Malaysia in 1990 through one of her short story titled Sumarni.
Email : suriati@usm.myTan Kim Hong
Tan Kim Hong
Tan Kim Hong was formerly a school administrator and History Tutor with the School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia. He is at present a Lecturer in Economics, Department of Business Studies, INTI International College Penang. He has compiled and edited The Chinese in Penang: A Pictorial Documentation (1976) and The Labour Party of Malaya, 1952-1972 : Selected Documents (2000). His is currently conducting a research on the Left-wing Movements in Malaysia in the 1960s and 70s.
Email : kim@intipen.edu.my
Tan Liok Ee
Tan Liok Ee was formerly Associate Professor with the School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia, where she had been lecturing since 1971, first in Philosophy then subsequently in History. She is author of The Politics of Chinese Education in Malaya, 1945-1961 (1997); co-editor of Alam Pensejarahan: Dari Pelbagai Perspektif (1996), Sorotan Terpilih Dalam Sejarah Malaysia (2000), and New Terrains in Southeast Asian History (forthcoming 2002); and various articles on Malaysian historiography, social, political and educational history of the Chinese in Malaysia, as well as women’s history. She continues to research and write after retirement but also is involved in several education related projects as a member of the Penang Educational Consultative Council.
Email : letan@pc.jaring.my.
Tan Sooi Beng
Tan Sooi Beng is an Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology at the School of Arts, Universiti Sains Malaysia. She is the author of Bangsawan: A Social and Stylistic History of Popular Malay Opera (Oxford University Press, 1993) and co-author of Music of Malaysia: Classical, Folk and Syncretic Traditions (Ashgate Press, 2002, forthcoming). She has published numerous articles on the Malaysian performing arts including articles on the Chinese puppet theatre and opera as well as popular music in Malaysia. She has also published texbooks on Malaysian music for secondary school and university students.
Email : sbtan@usm.my
Thilagavathi V. Gunalan
Born in Butterworth on the 10th August 1970 but grew up at Batu Lanchang, Penang. Studied at St. Georges Girls School and continued education at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, a place of turning point in life. Won a scholarship in 1995 to pursue M.A. and Ph.D. She was appointed as a Tutor and later went to Southeast Asian Studies Centre, University of Hull, England to complete her M.A. Advisor of the Historical Association at UKM, controller of the History Department Library. She later transferred to School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia in May 2001. At present, she is the Secretary for the Conference on Southeast Asia: Reflections and Vision organized by History Dept of USM. She is also conducting research on Tamil Education in Penang and Sejarah Melayu.
Email : gunalant@hotmail.com
Trocki, Carl A.
Carl Trocki is the Professor of Asian Studies at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. He has also held the Jacobson Chair of Southeast Asian History at Georgetown University in Washington DC. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University and has worked and travelled widely in Southeast Asia. He has published extensively on the history of Singapore, Johor and the Malay world as well as on the history of the Chinese diaspora and the Asian opium trade. He is the author of Prince of Pirates: The Temenggongs and the Development of Johor and Singapore, 1785-1895, of Opium and Empire: Chinese Society in Colonial Singapore, 1800-1910, and of Opium, Empire and the Global Political Economy: A Study of the Asian Opium Trade, 1750-1950. He has additional research interests in the recent political and social history of Southeast Asia and is currently working on projects related to the history of modern Singapore and Chinese merchant networks in Southeast Asia and Southern China.
Email : <c.trocki@qut.edu.au>
Turnbull, Constance Mary
Born and educated in England, Mary Turnbull first came to Kuala Lumpur in 1952 as an administrative official with the Malayan Civil Service. Three years later she joined the staff of the University of Malaya, which then had a single campus based in Singapore, and for the next 16 years taught in the History Departments of the University of Malaya in Singapore and later in Kuala Lumpur, and in the University of Singapore. In 1971 she moved to Hong Kong, where she became Professor and head of the History Department at the University of Hong Kong, retiring to England in 1988. Since then she has held research fellowships at the Universities of Durham and Cambridge and taught for a year at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. She has published extensively on Singapore and Malaysia, including The Straits Settlements, 1826-67 (Athlone Press, London & Oxford University Press, Kuala Lumpur, 1972) and A History of Singapore, 1819-1975 (1977), 2nd edition A History of Singapore, 1819-1988 (1989). She now lives mainly in England, and takes an active part in academic affairs in Oxford and in Hong Kong University, where she is an honorary professor and honorary research fellow of the Center of Asian Studies.
Email : <maryturnbull@beeb.net>
Van Langenberg, Carolyn
Carolyn van Langenberg holds a Doctorate in Communication & Media from the University of Western Sydney, Nepean. She is an Honorary Associate in English Studies at the University of Sydney where, with the assistance of a grant from the Literature Board, she will work on a biography about the West Australian writer, the late Gerry Glaskin. Her novel, fish lips (Indra Publishing, 2001), the first in a trilogy set in both Australia and Malaysia from the forties to the beginning of the twenty-first century, is about love, death and madness.
Email : cjrml@pnc.com.au
Visscher, Sikko
Sikko Visscher is connected to the Amsterdam School for Social Science Research of the University of Amsterdam. Currently he works for the research group “Brokers of Capital and Knowledge in Provincial Asia”. Having earlier completed an MA in Modern Asian History, he has recently completed his Ph.D. dissertation “Business, Ethnicity and State; the Representational
Relationship of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the State, 1945-1997”. In the course of his academic training he spent 12 months living and studying in Beijing and completed 14 months of research in Singapore.
Email : <visscher@pscw.uva.nl>
Utaka, Yushi
He is currently working as a research fellow at School of Housing Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia for 2 years till Oct 2003. The Program is under JSPS Japanese Government and Economic Planning Unit, Malaysia. His study interest is urban planning, especially of the living environment of the multi-ethnic society in the Malaysian Society. Currently, he is researching the subject of Malaysian urbanism under rapid development and modern Islamic influences. In Japan, he was a lecturer teaching architectural design and urban planning theory at Hiroshima University. Now, he is involved in a Malacca conservation project under JICA as well as an urban planning project in Japan.
Email : <utaka@hiroshima-u.ac.jp>
Wade, Geoff
Graduated from the Australian National University majoring in Bahasa Indonesia/Malaysia and Southeast Asian History. Subsequently pursued Chinese studies at University of Sydney and Beijing Languages Institute, followed by historical research at Nanjing University. Completed his PhD at the University of Hong Kong, examining Ming texts as sources for Southeast Asian history. Taught in Department of History, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 1995-96. Currently coordinating a China-ASEAN Project at the Center of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong. Research interests lie in diverse aspects of the history of early modern Southeast Asia.
Email : gwade@hkucc.hku.hk
Wu Xiou An
Wu Xiao An earned his PhD at the University of Amsterdam. He held a lectureship at Xiamen University (1991-93) and was rewarded fellowships at the University of Amsterdam (1993-99), the National University of Singapore (2000-1), and Kyoto University (2002). His research interest includes Southeast Asian modern history and overseas Chinese. He is author of “Chinese Business in the Making of a Malay State, 1882-1941: Kedah and Penang” (RoutledgeCurzon, London, forthcoming).
Email : wu@cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Zabielskis, Peter
Peter Zabielskis is currently completing his PhD dissertation in cultural anthropology at New York University where he was also recently a Fellow at the International Center for Advanced Studies, Project on Cities and Urban Knowledges. His dissertation on issues of housing, heritage and historic preservation is based on over two years of research in Penang and was supported by a Fulbright Fellowship and grants from the Asian Cultural Council and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. He has taught at New York University and the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Art and Science. He has also worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum in New York, and as a cultural consultant for a number of documentary films. His multimedia documentation of a performance of the Mandailing Gordang Sambilan in the village of Maga, Sumatra, was recently a feature story on the website of National Geographic magazine.
Email : ptz0637@nyu.edu
ADVISORS & CHAIRS
Badriyah Haji Salleh
Dr. Badriyah Haji Salleh (Ph.D, History Department, Columbia University). Formerly Associate Professor of History at Universiti Sains Malaysia where she worked from 1985 to 2001. Has been a schoolteacher at several secondary schools in Perlis and Perak. Author of Kampung Haji Salleh dan Madrasah Saadiah-Salihian 1914-1959 (1984); co-editor, Alam Pensejarahan: Dari Pelbagai Perspektif (1997); Majalah dan Suratkhabar Melayu Terbitan 1887-1967 di Perpustakaan Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang (1999) and Warkah Al-Ikhlas 1818-1821 (1999). She was recently appointed General Manager of the Malacca Museums Corporation.
Email : badriyah@pd.jaring.my
Cheah Boon Kheng
Dr. Cheah Boon Kheng was formerly Professor of History, University Sains Malaysia.
Email : bkcheah@pc.jaring.my
Dzulkifli Abdul Razak
Dato’ Dr. Dzulkifli joined Universiti Sains Malaysia, (USM) as an academic staff in 1980. He was made an Associate Professor in 1984, and Professor in 1995. He has served the University as Deputy Dean in the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences from 1988 – 1994, the Director of the National Poisons Centre beginning 1994. In December 2000, he was made the Vice-Chancellor of USM after serving as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor since July 2000. At the international level, Dzulkifli has been a Consultant to WHO/HQ (Geneva) and WPRO (Western Pacific Regional Office) where he was responsible for conducting missions to various countries. Since 1995, he has served as a member of WHO Expert Advisory Panel on Drug Policies and Management and in the year 2000 he was appointed as a member of the WHO Scientific Advisory Committee on Tobacco Product Regulation for a period of three years. Dzulkifli received the 1999 Olle Hanson International Award in recognition of his work in areas of healthcare. In the year 2001 he was named the Tokoh Pengguna Negeri Pulau Pinang 2000. This year he received the Rotary Research Foundation Gold Medal 2002. He received the Pingat Jasa Kebaktian (PJK) from the Governor of Penang in 1993 and was recently bestowed the Darjah Kebesaran Dato’ Paduka Mahkota Selangor (DPMS) which carries the tittle Dato’. He is married to Datin Masrah Abidin with four children, two sons and two daughters.
Email : vc@notes.usm.my
Khoo Salma Nasution
Khoo Salma Nasution nee Khoo Su Nin is a local historian, cultural interpreter and facilitator, Hon. Secretary of the Penang Heritage Trust (since 1989) and co-founder of the Asia & West Pacific Network for Urban Conservation (1991). Responsible for the restoration of the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Penang Base (1993), project manager of the Syed Alatas Mansion pilot restoration project (1994) which won the Badan Warisan Malaysia’s ‘Most Excellent Project’ Award in Conservation & Heritage Development Restoration (1999). Coordinator of The Sustainable Penang Initiative (1997-1999), co-site manager of the Community Participation in Waqf Revitalization (1999) project which won the UNESCO-LEAP Special Achievement Award (2001). Author of several books, of which the best known is ‘Streets of George Town, Penang’ (1993), and co-author of several heritage maps. Co-researcher in the Toyota Foundation-funded research project on Mandailing migration. Research interests include the social history of the Straits Chinese and Indian Muslim communities in Penang. Project director of the ‘Penang Story’ project under the Japan Foundation grant.
Email : lubisksn@pd.jaring.my
Khor, Neil
Neil Khor is Joint Secretary of the Penang Story Project and is Research Executive in Star Publications (M) Bhd. He was also faculty member of the Department of English, Faculty of Arts, University of Malaya. In 1999-2000, was USIS grantee in University of California, Berkeley and Commonwealth grantee in University of Canberra. In 2001, he was Guest Lecturer in the American Studies Centre, University of Bergamo, Italy. He is currently Editorial Board Member of the Southeast Asian Review of English, a scholarly journal published by the Malaysian Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies, of which he is Honorary Treasurer. He also writes for the Penang Story Series and is preparing a pictorial biography of Penang due for publication in September 2002 in commemoration with The Star’s 30th Anniversary.
Email : neilkhor@thestar.com.my
Khoo Kay Kim (speaker)
Lee Kam Hing
Dr. Lee Kam Hing is the Research Editor of Star Publications.
Email : leekh@thestar.com.my
Loh Kok Wah, Francis
Francis Loh is Professor of Politics in Universiti Sains Malaysia. He was born in Penang, schooled in St Xavier’s Institution before continuing his university education in Dartmouth (B.A.) and Cornell University, USA (PhD). His books include Beyond the Tin Mines (1988); Fragmented Vision: Culture and Politics in Contemporary Malaysia, co-editor (1992); Sabah and Sarawak: The Politics of Development and Federalism, editor (1997); and Democracy in Malaysia: Discourses and Practices (2002), co-editor. He is Secretary of Aliran, a Penang-based NGO and an editor of Aliran Monthly where he also regularly publishes on current affairs.
Email : kwloh@usm.my
Loh Kwong Yu, Laurence
Laurence Loh (Architectural Association Diploma, London, 1974), is a member of the Malaysian Architects Association (PAM), the Lembaga Arkitek Malaysia and the Royal Institute of British Architects. In 1986, as Chairman of PAM Northern Chapter, he was the organising chairman of the ‘International Conference on Urban Conservation & Planning’, the first major heritage conference in Penang. Since then, he has been involved in many conservation and restoration projects, as well as the formulation and drafting of state heritage policies and guidelines. His firm Laurence Loh Akitek has won many awards including the PAM Architecture Award in recognition of Design Excellence in Conservation and Adaptive Re-Use Buildings Category, 1995 for Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, Penang; PAM Architecture Award in recognition of Design Excellence achieved in Historical Conservation and/or Adaptive Re-use Category, 2000 for the Restoration of The Khoo Kongsi Pavilion, Canon Square, Georgetown, Penang; and the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage 2000 Awards in recognition of the ‘Most Excellent Project’ for the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, Penang. Laurence Loh is the Deputy-President of Badan Warisan Malaysia (National Trust of Malaysia) and the chairman of the Art Gallery Committee, Penang.
Email : lla@tm.net.my
Nadarajah, M. (speaker)
Mandal, Sumit K.
Sumit K. Mandal is Research Fellow at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. An historian with interests in social history, cultural politics, ethnicity and language, his recent publications include ‘Reconsidering Cultural Globalisation: The English Language in Malaysia,’ Third World Quarterly, vol. 21, no. 6 (2000) and ‘Boundaries and Beyond: Wither the Cultural Bases of Political Community in Malaysia?’ in Robert Hefner, ed., The Politics of Multi-Culturalism: Pluralism and Citizenship in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press (2001).
Email : sumitmandal@hotmail.com
Pillai, Sonni
Sonni Pillai served as Assistant City Secretary (1956-62) and then as City Secretary (Chief Administrative Officer) of the City Council of George Town (1962-1970), during the days of popular locally-elected Councils and thereafter when the Sate Government took control of the Local Authorities. Born in 1923 in Burma, he went to school at St. Xavier’s Institution in Penang. From 1941-46 he was at the University of Ceylon and on the editorial staff of “The Times of Ceylon”. He read law at Grays Inn, London (1946-50) and entered law practice. He is currently in private law practice in Kuala Lumpur.
Tan Pek Leng
Tan Pek Leng is currently the Executive Director of the Socio-Economic & Environmental Research Institute, a policy research institute for the State Government of Penang. She previously taught history in Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Brunei Darussalam. She has published articles on the secret societies in the Straits Settlements.
Email : seripg@tm.net.my
Trocki, Carl A. (speaker)
Tunku Ismail Jewa
Tunku Dato’ Dr. Ismail Jewa DSDK; KMN; PKT; PK; PPA; PhD. Tunku Ismail was born in Alor Setar, Kedah 65 years ago. He was trained as a secondary school teacher at Brinsford College, Wolverhampton, England. Before joining Universiti Sains Malaysia as a lecturer in 1973 he was Principal of Sekolah Abdullah Munshi in Penang. He was Dean of Education and Professor of Educational Administration at USM until his retirement in 1995. At present he is the Chairman of the Adorna Institute of Technology in Jawi, Penang. He obtained his B.A. and PhD from Universiti Malaya and M.Ed. from the Pennsylvania State University. His present involvement in NGOs, professional organizations and corporate affairs includes: President, State of Penang Family Planning Association; Deputy Chairman, State of Penang Consumers Council; Chairman, Bureau of Information and Education, State of Penang Consumers Council; President, Brinsford Alumni Association Malaysia; Life Member, Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration; Member, Malaysian Institute of Management; Chairman, P.I.E. Industrial Bhd. and Director, Oriental Holdings Bhd.
Wade, Geoff (speaker)
Wang Gungwu
Professor Wang Gungwu is Director of the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore; Distinguished Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore; and Emeritus Professor of the Australian National University, Canberra.
He was born in Surabaya, Indonesia, and educated in Ipoh, Malaysia. His first degrees were from the University of Malaya, Singapore, and his doctorate from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has taught at The University of Malaya (in Singapore, 1957-59; in Kuala Lumpur, 1959-1968), where he was Dean of Arts (1962-63), and Professor of History (1963-68). From 1968 to 1986, he was Professor of Far Eastern History in the Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. During that period, he was also Director of the Research School for five years (1975-1980). In 1986, he was appointed Vice-Chancellor (President) of the University of Hong Kong and was there until the end of 1995. Among his recent books in English are The Chineseness of China: selected essays (1991); Community and Nation: China, Southeast Asia and Australia (1993); The Nanhai Trade: the Early History of Chinese Trade in the South China Sea (2nd edition, 1998); China and Southeast Asia: Myths, Threats, and Culture (1999); The Chinese Overseas: From Earthbound China to the Quest for Autonomy (2000); Don’t Leave Home: Migration and the Chinese (2001); Only Connect! Sino- Malay Encounters (2001); To Know is to Act: Chinese dilemmas (2002); Bind Us in Time: Nation and Civilisation in Asia (2002).
Email : eaiwgw@nus.edu.sg
Wazir Jahan Karim
Wazir Jahan Karim (B. Soc. Sc., Singapore; M.Phil, Ph.D, London School of Economics). Professor of Anthropology, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Author, Ma’ Betise’ Concepts of Living Things (1981), Women and Culture: Between Malay Adat and Islam (1992) and others. Director-
General, Academy of Social Sciences, Malaysia (AKASS); established MAWAR, which promotes Orang Asli history, heritage and culture and ERA 21 – Engendering Research and Advocacy in the 21st Century. Established KANITA (Women & Children in Development). Founder-director of the Women’s Development Research Centre at the Universiti Sains Malaysia. Special project consultant to HAWA (Hal Ehwal Wanita).
Email : wazir@pd.jaring.my
Yeoh Seng Guan
Although Seng Guan was born in the famous culinary town of Ipoh, he can trace his roots to 19th century Penang. He discovered the Penang Heritage Trust while he was conducting fieldwork on a famous Catholic pilgrimage shrine in 1998. He holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh (1997) and has research interests in inter-faith dialogue, urban anthropology, the anthropology of religion, and gender studies. When not trying to inculcate an enthusiastic appreciation of ethical theories among students in Sunway College or attending countless meetings, Seng Guan currently spends most of his free time filming and researching religious festivals and urban public spectacles in order to make the definitive ethnographic documentary. In May, Seng Guan will become an associate fellow of the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS) based at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Email : yeohsg@hotmail.com
