In her writings, Khoo Ying Hooi reminds Malaysians that dissent is not illegal.
When it comes to civil disobedience, Dr Khoo Ying Hooi is one of the first few names that pop up in the minds of Malaysians. Not only is the senior lecturer at the Department of International and Strategic Studies in Universiti Malaya an active promoter of civil activism through her columns in The Malaysian Insider, she also has academic expertise on the topic. She completed her PhD in Politics and Government in 2014, examining social movements and democratisation with a focus on the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) movement. She focused on non-state actors, transnational activism, protest research, human rights and democratisation, centred in South-East Asia, especially Malaysia.
Prior to embracing the academic world, Khoo had a colourful track record. She was formally a board member of Amnesty International Malaysia and was once the head of International Issues and Corporation of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam). Internationally, Khoo was an expert advisor under the Ministry of Education chosen to assist the government of Timor-Leste to develop the Timor-Leste Institute of Diplomatic Studies, where she developed a module on “Issues in World Politics”. She was also involved in the inclusion of an Asean human rights body (now the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights) in the Asean Charter.
On September 5, Khoo launched her new book, Seeds of Dissent, in tandem with the forum “Repression, Dissent and Opportunities: Protest and Political Change in Malaysia”, which was organised by Gerakbudaya Penang and Penang Institute. Seeds of Dissent is a collection of her commentaries on academic freedom, human rights, protests and political change in Malaysia. Khoo is never afraid to voice her opinions: her article, “Who Owns the Police?”, written in March got her into a one-and-a-half- hour questioning with the police.
Still, that has not stopped her from provoking our thoughts through her writings till this very day. Penang Monthly has a chat with her about academic freedom and the importance of talking about dissent.
