Khoo Ying Hooi is the Head and Senior Lecturer at the Department of International and Strategic Studies, University of Malaya. She completed her PhD in Politics and Government examining social movements and democratization with a focus on Malaysia’s electoral reform movement. Her research interests include NGOs, social movements, national human rights institutions, human rights and democratization with a regional focus on Southeast Asia/ ASEAN, especially Malaysia and Timor-Leste.
She is the author of “Repression, Dissent and Opportunities: The Bersih Movement and Democratisation in Malaysia” (forthcoming), and “Seeds of Dissent” (2015), a compilation of her commentaries on academic freedom, human rights, protests and political change in Malaysia. She is editor in the Volume I and II of “Ini Bukan Klise” (2013 and 2015), a compilation of essays on political issues in Malaysia. She is also a co-editor of “Exploring the Nexus Between Technologies and Human Rights: Opportunities and Challenges in Southeast Asia” (with Dr Deasy Simandjuntak, 2019) and “Social Movements in Malaysia: A Vehicle for Citizen’s Action” (with Dr. Denison Jayasooria, 2019). Ying Hooi is the convener of the courses on social movements and democratization together with human rights in Southeast Asia. She also teaches on international development and governance, human rights in international politics and introduction to politics.
Currently a columnist in a local Chinese newspaper, Sin Chew Jit Poh, Ying Hooi is the Editor-in-Chief of Malaysian Journal of International Relations (MJIR), and she sits in the Board of Editors with the Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs and Indonesian Law Review (ILREV).
Ying Hooi is the regional consultant for the thematic study on the right to safe drinking water and sanitation in ASEAN and Malaysia’s national focal point for the thematic study on the right to education: promotion of access to tertiary education in ASEAN under the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). She is also convener and trainer for the module “Issues in World Politics” for the Timor-Leste Institute of Diplomatic Studies (IDS), under its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. She holds several other positions including, Secretary-General in the Society for the Promotion of Human Rights (PROHAM), EXCO Member in Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor (EMPOWER), EXCO Member in Persatuan Aliran Kesedaran Negara (ALIRAN), Vice-Chair in the Courage Fund Cambodia (CFC), Advisory Panel in the World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS) Monitor. She is also a member of the Global Network of Scholars and Practitioners for Localizing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), London School of Economics (LSE)-Southeast Asia Early Career Researcher Network, and part of the Malaysian CSO-SDG Alliance.
Formerly a columnist in The Malaysian Insider (now known as The Malaysian Insight), Ying Hooi is also a former board member of the Amnesty International Malaysia (AIM). Prior to her academic career, Ying Hooi worked at several corporate sectors and the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) as the Head of International Issues and Cooperation. She was involved in the inclusion of an ASEAN human rights body (now ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights or AICHR) in the ASEAN Charter, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Malaysia in Geneva and the amendments to the SUHAKAM Amendment Bill 2009. She welcomes applications from students on subjects falling within the broad scope of her research interests particularly on Southeast Asia, ASEAN, Malaysia and Timor-Leste.
Khoo Ying Hooi's Academic Page 