OUR
PEOPLE
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Core Team
Tan E Hun
Executive Director
Through her role, she focuses on developing and delivering policy, and in empowering local communities and the wider public. She commonly works with key stakeholders including parliamentarians, ministries, government agencies and civil society organisations to shape public policy discourse, and frequently participates in various focus groups, working committees and roundtable discussions.
Prior to joining REFSA, E Hun spent more than a decade working in the private sector, which informed her approach and understanding of cross-sectoral collaboration between the public, private and non-profit sectors.
E Hun holds a Law degree from the University of Leeds, UK and a Master’s degree in Management with Finance from the University of Bath, UK. She is also a Fellow Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Raja Ahmad Iskandar Fareez
Communications Director
Iskandar brings in over 6 years experience in the media and communications industry specialising in public relations and strategic communications with a brief stint in the financial services sector. He joins REFSA as he believes that good public policy-making plays an instrumental role in shaping the lives of every citizen, especially the vulnerable and underserved communities. While he has a wide-ranging interest in various issues and policies, he is particularly passionate about the areas of information and media literacy as well as social mobility.Â
Iskandar holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics from the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra.
Fakhrurrazi Rashid
Research Coordinator
Fakhrurrazi believes in the need for REFSA as a think tank to enhance policy debates. He believes that policy discourses in Malaysia needs to be backed by rigorous evidence-based research. He graduated from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) with a Bachelor’s in Politics and Government Studies, where he specialised in parliamentary studies and public policy. His main research interests are urbanization, political economy, and institutional reforms.
Jaideep Singh
Researcher
Jaideep joined REFSA because he is drawn to the organisation’s focus on socio-economic development in Malaysia through pragmatic, pluralist policy recommendations.
He previously served a two-year public policy fellowship at the Zanzibar Ministry of Finance and Planning in Tanzania under the UK-coordinated Overseas Development Institute. In addition to his background in international development, he is particularly interested in the linkages between trade and industrial policy.
Jaideep holds an MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge and a BSc (Hons) in Economics from the University of Warwick.
Kieran
Research Assistant and Librarian
Kieran is a Social Sciences graduate from Monash University Malaysia who is deeply passionate about social justice. She has accumulated a range of experiences, from capacity building to media, whilst volunteering for numerous non-governmental organisations including UNAM Youth, Malaysian Youth Delegation, MYADP and HungerHurts. Kieran aims to use her skills to contribute to REFSA’s cause, and is interested in the field of environmental development and social change.
Advisory Team
Chairman of Board of Trustees
YB Liew Chin Tong is the Chairman of REFSA since 2012, and currently serves as a board member of Penang Institute. He was the Executive Director of REFSA from 2007-2011. He was also the Executive Director of Penang Institute (previously Socio-Economic and Environmental Research Institute, SERI) from 2009-2012, and was formerly a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore.
He has published numerous books and prominent academic journals focusing on political and socio-economic issues of the nation.
He is the current Deputy Defence Minister of Malaysia, appointed on 17 July 2018 after being sworn in as a Senator. He was first elected Member of Parliament for Bukit Bendera (2008-2013), and was subsequently the Member of Parliament for Kluang (2013-2018).
YB Liew graduated with a degree in Political Science and an honours degree in Asian Studies from the Australian National University, and holds an International Masters in Regional Integration from the Asia-Europe Institute, University of Malaya.
Frederik Paulus
Advisor, Economics and Finance
Frederik has a 20-year career in financial services, with a specialisation in risk management and compliance. He is well-versed in financial services regulation, from capital and balance sheet management to financial crime compliance, and how banks’ strategies need to adapt to this regulatory landscape. Further afield, he is fascinated by the interplay between policy-making and the real economy, as well as the social and political ramifications. Frederik writes a weekly newsletter focused on the intersection of economics, finance and technology, with a particular focus on privacy and tech regulation. He holds a Masters in Economics from the University of Antwerp and a Masters in Finance from London Business School.