Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng Executive Director, Penang Institute

Dato’ Dr Ooi Kee Beng has been studying the process of nation-building in Asia and analyzing Malaysian politics over the last three decades. He was appointed Executive Director of Penang Institute in 2017. He received his Ph.D. in Sinology from Stockholm University, Sweden. Before returning to the region, he worked at Ericsson Electronics in Sweden for 22 years during the heyday of that company’s mobile phone era, while studying in Stockholm University. Courses that he taught at Stockholm included Chinese History, Chinese Philosophy and General Knowledge of China. His major academic interests were in Language Philosophy and Ancient Chinese Political and Strategic Thinking He joined Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (now ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute) in 2004, becoming its Deputy Director from 2011 to 2017. He writes regular opinion pieces for regional and global mass media on Malaysian matters and regional matters. These have been compiled in seven separate volumes. Many of these works can be accessed at (www.wikibeng.com). He was Visiting Associate Professor at the City University of Hong Kong (2009-2012); Adjunct Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore’s Department of Southeast Asian Studies (2009-2011); He is the Founder-Editor of Penang Monthly and ISSUES (Penang Institute) and ISEAS Perspective (ISEAS). He is also Series Editor for Trends in Southeast Asia (ISEAS).