Council
AMEU’s Research Advisory Council consists of notable experts in various fields who advise AMEU on our research initiatives.
Hover and click to learn more about our Research Advisory Council.

Prof. Geoffrey Williams

Dr. Lee Hwok Aun

Ms. Doreenn Leong

Professor Dr. Ong Kian-Ming

Dr. Rachel Gong

Prof. Geoffrey Williams
Professor Geoffrey Williams is Founder and Director of Williams Business Consultancy Sdn Bhd and until April 2024 was a Professor and Provost at the Malaysia University of Science and Technology (MUST). He is a Visiting Fellow at Universiti Malaya and a Visiting Research Fellow at Bank Negara Malaysia and until recently was a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER). He was also formerly Deputy Vice Chancellor of Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK).
An economist by profession, Prof. Williams is a graduate of the University of Cambridge and has held academic positions at London Business School, Pembroke College University of Oxford and the University of London. Professor Williams was a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2004 and Fellow of the Malaysian Institute of Management in 2010. His most recent work has focused on Economic Policy, Pensions Policy, Fiscal Policy, Income and Labour Market issues and Higher Education Management. He also has an interest in Sustainability, Social Responsibility, ESG Finance and Investment and related Policy Analysis.
Prof. Williams created the SRI-Kehati Sustainability Index for the Indonesian Stock Exchange and in 2017 he was honoured with the Lifetime Contribution Award for his work on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability around the world. His work has been published in leading academic journals and has had direct impact in the business world. He is widely covered in the media including the Financial Times, the Daily Telegraph, the BBC, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Channel News Asia and China Global Television Network. He is a daily contributor to media in Malaysia on TV, radio, print and online news portals and runs a weekly column on economics, business and policy at Free Malaysia Today.

Dr. Lee Hwok Aun
LEE Hwok Aun (PhD) is a Senior Fellow and Co-coordinator of the Malaysia Studies Programme at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. He previously worked for a decade at University of Malaya. He holds degrees from University of Massachusetts-Amherst, SOAS University and University of British Columbia. His research focuses on Malaysia’s electoral politics, affirmative action, inequality, discrimination, and labour.
He is the author of Affirmative Action in Malaysia and South Africa: Preference for Parity (2021, Routledge), and numerous articles published in the ISEAS Perspective and ISEAS Trends in Southeast Asia series, and in Southeast Asian Studies, Journal of Contemporary Asia, Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Journal of Southeast Asian Economies, and other international refereed journals. He also co-edited Inequality and Exclusion in Southeast Asia: Old Fractures, New Frontiers (2021, ISEAS) and The Defeat of Barisan Nasional: Missed Signs or Late Surge? (2019, ISEAS), and was national consultant for the Malaysia Human Development Report (2013, UNDP).

Ms. Doreenn Leong
Ms. Doreenn Leong is a seasoned journalist with over 20 years of experience in the field. Throughout her illustrious career, she has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to delivering accurate, insightful, and thought-provoking news stories.
Ms. Doreenn has held editorial positions at established business publications, including The Edge Malaysia and Focus Malaysia, where she mentored and inspired the next generation of journalists. She also served as the Head of Corporate Communications at Sedalia Innovator Berhad, where she successfully secured the company’s spot in RHB’s Top 20 Jewels List as one of two companies featured on their roadshow.

Professor Dr. Ong Kian-Ming
Professor Dr. Ong Kian-Ming is currently the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Pro VC) for External Engagement at Taylor’s University, a position he has held since June 2024. Prior to this role, he served as the Program Director for the Philosophy, Politics & Economics program at the same university. Dr. Ong’s academic background is extensive, including a PhD in Political Science from Duke University, an MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge, and a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics. He was a former Fulbright Scholar and an ASEAN Scholar, completing his secondary education at Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College in Singapore. Before entering politics, Dr. Ong worked as a lecturer at UCSI University, a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and a researcher at the Socio-Economic Development and Research (SEDAR) Institute and the Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Studies (INSAP).
Dr. Ong’s influence extends beyond academia, as he serves as Senior Adviser to Global Counsel, an international advisory firm, and holds various advisory roles with organizations such as the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), Malaysia China Chamber of Commerce (MCCC), Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM), and the Selangor Digital School/AI Nustantara initiative by the Selangor IT and Digital Economy Corporation (SIDEC). Additionally, he advises the Federation of Automobile Workshop Owners Association of Malaysia (FAWOAM), Malaysian Used Vehicles and Autoparts Traders Association (MUVATA), and has been involved with think tanks like the CEREBRUM council established by Johor Corporation. His recent engagement as a Senior Visiting Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute further highlights his thought leadership in the region.
Dr. Ong is a former Member of Parliament (MP) in Malaysia, having represented Serdang from 2013 to 2018 and Bangi from 2018 to 2022 under the Democratic Action Party (DAP). He also served as the Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI) from 2018 to 2020. Outside of his professional career, Dr. Ong enjoys jogging, watching movies, and listening to podcasts. He recently launched his own podcast channel, “Are we OK?” where he engages in discussions on various topics.

Dr. Rachel Gong
Dr. Rachel Gong is a Deputy Director of Research at Khazanah Research Institute (KRI). Her ongoing research focuses on digital policy, including digital inclusion, the digital economy, and digital governance. She led the team that produced KRI’s book on digital policy,”#NetworkedNation: Navigating Challenges, Realising Opportunities of Digital Transformation”.
Rachel’s primary research interests lie in how digital technologies affect society, and her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Sociological Perspectives, the Journal of Consumer Culture, and the Journal of Technology in Human Services. Her work on “Going Viral: Online Goal Emergence and Adaptation in the Anti-Human Trafficking Movement” appears as a chapter in Communicating for Social Change: Intersection of Theory and Praxis.
Rachel graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University and received her PhD in sociology from Stanford University.