CENTRE ASSOCIATES
Centre Associates comprise experts who are scholars and practitioners of international repute who provide training and advice. The Associates are experts in their field of specialty, whom the Centre draws on from time to time to execute or deliver selected programmes.
DR. BENJAMIN YH LOH
Dr. Benjamin YH Loh is a new media scholar who received his PhD in Communications and New Media from the National University of Singapore. His work focuses on the affordances of the digital public sphere, with a particular focus on minority and marginalized communities in Malaysia. Dr. Loh is the co-editor of “Sabah from the Ground: The 2020 Elections and the Politics of Survival'' (SIRD/ISEAS, 2021), and is now co-editing his second volume on digital minorities in Malaysia (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2022). He also has opinion pieces published in Malaysiakini and the South China Morning Post on media and communication issues in Malaysia. Currently, Dr. Loh is a senior lecturer at the School of Media and Communication at Taylor’s University.
TUSHER NABI KHAN
Tusher Nabi Khan is a a part-time lecturer at the University of Dhaka (DU) where he teaches Broadcast Journalism, Audio-Visual Media, and Mass Communication. He has also taught in different Universities as a faculty member and coordinator of Media and Mass Communication. Khan is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of an Ad agency called One By Zero which was approved and licensed by The Bangladesh Government in 2016. He has practical experience of working in the renowned print and electronic media of Bangladesh. Khan has an extensive theoretical and practical knowledge in Research Methodology. He has worked for human rights NGOs. Khan majored in Mass Communication with distinction (Magna cum Laude) from ULAB and completed his MSS in Broadcast Journalism from DU.
DR.BALAZS SZANTO
Balazs Szanto, PhD, is a lecturer in international relations and international development studies, including conflict resolution. His expertise is on security and foreign policy, focusing primarily on China, Japan and the ASEAN countries. Dr Szanto has written on territorial disputes on the East and South China Seas, as well as security and political issues in China and Japan.
LUTFI HAKIM ARIFF
Lutfi Hakim Ariff is an independent communications professional based in Kuala Lumpur. He has previously served in various roles in government, INGOs, research, and the private sector, in areas such as financial inclusion, human rights, and issues management. He also writes and produces a podcast on current affairs in Malaysia. He will serve as Asia Centre Malaysia’s contact person in Kuala Lumpur.
ALEXANDRA DEMETRIANOVA
Alexandra Demetrianova is a freelance journalist from Slovakia based in Bangkok since September 2010. As a former Slovak Radio Southeast Asia correspondent, she has focused her work on human rights, environment, sustainable development and in recent years also LGBT and women’s rights. Her coverage in Africa included female genital mutilation and indigenous people.
Currently, she writes for Asian Correspondent and an array of Slovak and international media titles. She has co-founded and is an editor of Hummingbird Media – web media for alternative journalism focused mainly on Global South. In her free time, Alexandra likes to organize awareness-raising events in fields of human rights and environment both in Bangkok and Slovakia. She has co-organized Thammasat Human Rights Film Festival, Common Rights Film Festival at ICIRD conference in Bangkok, and so far two editions of Planet Festival in Bratislava.
kenneth houston
Dr. Kenneth Houston is a lecturer in international politics specializing in conflict studies. He currently teaches and works in Thailand. Dr. Houston’s teaching and research areas include conflict resolution, regional governance and political discourse and he has published in the areas of regional integration, peace and conflict and religion and politics. A qualified mediator, he entered academia after over twelve years of experience in the Irish military where he served both in domestic security operations and on several tours of duty with the United Nations peacekeeping forces in the Middle East. He teaches a range of subjects including peace and conflict studies, regional politics and political theory at undergraduate and graduate level in International Relations. Currently, he serves as head of the department at a liberal arts university with responsibility for program management.
KEVIN MCGAHAN
Dr. Kevin McGahan is a lecturer at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he teaches and conducts research about international law, human rights, global migration, global governance, and Southeast Asian politics. McGahan also has an appointment as a faculty fellow at The College of Alice and Peter Tan and teaches periodically at Yale NUS College. In addition to his academic background, McGahan has practical experience in working with government agencies, political risk consultancies, and non-governmental organisations, including serving as an international election observer in Timor-Leste under the auspices of the United Nations.
MIKE RAOMANACHAI
Mike Raomanachai is a Technology Anchor and Senior Reporter for Voice TV, a national network in Bangkok, Thailand. He graduated with a Master Degree in Multimedia Communications at Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA, where he is inspired by technology businesses in Silicon Valley. Mike is also a multimedia journalist who has been working on new reporting platforms such as live streaming and live blogging for the past 7 years.
AKIKO SATO
Akiko Sato has been engaged in human rights issues as a practicing lawyer for over seven years both in Japan and Cambodia. She specializes in access to justice for socially vulnerable people including persons with disabilities, and business and human rights. Akiko contributed to the Business and Human Rights Unit at UNDP Asia-Pacific in developing a project to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. She has also conducted field research on land grabbing and labor conditions in garment factories in Cambodia as a member of Human Rights Now, Japan-based human rights NGO. She has an MA in Development Studies major in Human Rights from International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Hague and a JD from Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo.
CHIEDZA MUTSAKA SKYUM
Chiedza Mutsaka Skyum is Lecturer in International Relations at Stenden Thailand. She is also a migration researcher applying decolonial sciences in her PhD work on the precarious situation of the urban refugee population in Bangkok. She is also a part of the Community Outreach team at the refugee organization Asylum Access Thailand. After hours, she is Cofounder and current Director of Bangkok Rising, a volunteer women's organization. Together, diverse women in the community organise awareness-raising campaigns and arts, poetry, music and drama events for the elimination of violence against women and girls and gender based issues in the community.
MICHAEL WHITE
Michael John Venus White is a Human Rights Lawyer and Advocate. For the past twenty years he has worked for international organisations, Non Governmental Organisations, National Human Rights Institutions and Government agencies across the Asia Pacific region. For the past 10 years he has worked as a Senior Adviser to the New Zealand Human Rights Commission where he currently is responsible for strategic litigation, engagement with the United Nations and monitoring. Michael is an experienced trainer and facilitator and is an accredited Master Trainer for the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions. He has also been appointed an Asia Pacific Torture Prevention Ambassador to provide advice and assistance across the region on matters relating to the Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol. Michael has published widely on international law and human rights law and practice. He is regularly invited to give guest lectures on these topics.
CELINE MARTIN
Celine Martin is Technical Advisor for Destination Justice, a non-profit social change organisation which focuses on LGBTIQ rights, access to justice and youth empowerment. Her work involves providing research, advocacy strategy advice and capacity-building. She has been based in Cambodia since 2012 and has been supporting capacity building for Cambodia’s LGBTIQ NGO, Rainbow Community Kampuchea - RoCK. Celine holds a LL.M. in Humanitarian Law and Action and a Postgraduate Degree on Human Rights Field Lawyer from Aix-Marseille University (France) where she is currently pursing her PhD in human rights protection.