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Showing posts with label race & religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label race & religion. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

While 60% of the country’s population are Malays, non-Malays find the narratives of race and religion outdated and reflecting poorly on political leadership

  Malaysians now looking for a new narrative of diversity and inclusiveness, not just Malay unity

No easy battle ahead for Pejuang


IT looks certain that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pic), who now heads the Pejuang party, will defend his Langkawi parliamentary seat in the impending general election.

The former prime minister, who turns 98 next year, does not have much choice as he is the only candidate from his party who has a realistic chance of winning.

Although he has announced that his newly-formed movement Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA), led by Pejuang, will be contesting in 120 seats, he should not be too ambitious.

In the Johor state election in March, all 42 Pejuang candidates lost their deposits.

In GE15, the field is expected to be crowded with Opposition parties, which will not be helpful to his coalition of Muslim-Malay political parties and non-governmental organisations.

Most of the coalition leaders are has-beens and unknowns while even the electorate still has no idea what Pejuang – or the coalition – really stands for.

That, however, has not stopped Dr Mahathir, who was twice PM, from saying he “would reluctantly accept the responsibility of leading the government for a third time if needed”.

The Malay Mail reported him as saying at a GTA forum at the Bangi Convention Centre last week that “he would prefer a less taxing role, one that would allow him to advise or be an expert consultant to the prime minister”. But he was quick to add: “If the insistence were to be incessant, I would find it hard to only think about myself.”

“So, if the insistence is there, I will accept,” he said when asked about his willingness to assume the mantle for a third time.

“However, it cannot be for the full term,” he told the audience in Bangi. “Maybe just for a year.”

With due respect to Dr Mahathir, a seasoned political player, he may have been trying to boost the confidence of his audience ahead of the polls.

Heading a fledgling political party and a hurriedly put-up coalition, Dr Mahathir would surely want to instil hope and belief that victory is possible and that he can become a PM for a record third time.

Dr Mahathir may be good at setting records, but it would not be wrong to suggest that most Malaysians do not share his enthusiasm. In fact, we are quite horrified at the thought.

His political detractors, especially those in Umno, would want him stopped as Pejuang’s entry could split the Malay voters.

The same sentiment is shared by Perikatan Nasional led by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

While Dr Mahathir’s coalition talks of uniting the Malays and Muslims, the other two similar coalitions think it will be the other way around.

He has no friends in the Opposition either. Prior to his resignation as prime minister in 2020, Dr Mahathir had been meant to pass the post to PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, but he never did so, claiming there was no formal agreement setting a deadline for him to do so.

Dr Mahathir is still respected by non-Malays for his two decades as PM but that admiration took a huge dent after the collapse of the 22-month old Pakatan Harapan government. He has been blamed for the downfall as he quit as PM.

Worse, his occasional racist remarks have alienated many non-Malays.

While 60% of the country’s population are Malays, non-Malays find such narratives of race and religion outdated and reflecting poorly on political leadership.

Political leaders around the world have become younger – many are even in their 30s and 40s – and voters are looking for new ideas and a better Malaysia.

But Dr Mahathir still talked of race, saying at the Bangi convention that “he only wished to see his vision for the Malay community come to pass under a caring and trustworthy government”.

At 97, it is very hard for Dr Mahathir to change his beliefs.

His legacy is already ruined, but he can earn a last round of respect if he talks of bringing Malaysians together.

It is unfortunate that as the nation celebrates 65 years of independence, our political leaders still want to harp on Muslims and Malays as if other Malaysians, including the large non-Muslim bumiputra population in Sabah and Sarawak, do not exist at all.

The Chinese population may be declining but it remains an important 25% and playing a crucial role in Malaysia’s economy. The same goes for the Indians.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s “Keluarga Malaysia” campaign may be seen by some as mere political rhetoric, but it resonates with the call for diversity and inclusiveness.

Dr Mahathir’s problem is that he cannot let go. In March, he “confirmed” that he would not defend Langkawi due to health reasons but in June, he changed his mind, saying he “may” defend his seat if no suitable candidate is found.

Now, it is almost sure he will be a candidate.

Dr Mahathir deserves a rest from politics. He was discharged from hospital early this month after a bout of Covid-19 and in February, he had to undergo a procedure for a heart problem.

Seriously, he needs to know when to exit the stage. No one is indispensable and there is nothing worse than old scripts and sequels. It really turns off the audience.

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Thursday, September 1, 2022

PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang Racist comments: non-Muslims and non-bumiputra are the causes of corruption in the country

Bukit Aman corporate communications head Asst Comm Skandaguru Anandan said Abdul Hadi was called up by investigators on Monday (Aug 29).

"He was accompanied by his lawyer and he gave his cooperation throughout the recording of his statement," ACP Skandaguru said in a statement.

He said the investigations were conducted by the Bukit Aman CID Special Investigation Unit.

It is learnt that Abdul Hadi arrived at the federal police headquarters at about 3pm and left around 5.50pm.

It was reported that investigations were underway on the matter, with 28 reports already lodged against the Marang MP for his comments.

ACP Skandaguru also urged the public not to speculate or make any statements that could disrupt the investigation process.

Investigations are being conducted under Section 505(C) of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

Section 505(c) of the Penal Code is for making, publishing or circulating any statement, rumour or report with intent to incite or which is likely to incite any class or community of persons to commit any offence against any other class or community of persons.

Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 is for improper use of network facilities or network services.

Abdul Hadi came under fire for claiming that the root cause of corruption in the country was the influence non-Malays wielded over the economy and politics.

He said this had allowed non-Malays to dictate terms to the Malays, which in turn made the Malays become corrupted and entangled in financial scandals.

The PAS leader’s comments were roundly criticised by many Malaysians.

MCA secretary-general Datuk Chong Sin Woon had expressed shock at Abdul Hadi’s statement and demanded that he withdraw it immediately.

He said that corruption had nothing to do with race or religion.

“This is an obvious fact and basic common sense.”

He said Abdul Hadi had failed to prove his accusations with facts, analysis, empirical evidence or scientific grounds.

“This indicates that his allegations are utter nonsense,” he added.

G25 slams Hadi over remark | The Star


 







Bukit Aman probing Zahid's speech at Umno special briefing



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Saturday, July 10, 2021

Malaysia Is Staggering Down the Road to Failed Statehood?

 The country used to punch above its weight on the global stage. Now, white flags seem like a surrender to dysfunction.

Tilda Kalaivani waves a shirt as a white flag from her apartment balcony in Kuala Lumpur.

Photographer: Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty

Malaysia is raising the white flag on the road to failed statehood

These banners are not quite a movement; people have no hope, and not much desire, to overthrow the govt. It’s more of a shorthand for discontent at the atrophying state.

A white flag hung outside a house in Malaysia
A white flag hung outside a house in Malaysia |Twitter/@srhfarisya

What started as a cry for help by Malaysians during rolling lockdowns and galloping Covid-19 infections has come to epitomize the descent of their once-proud nation. The Southeast Asian country lost its status as a role model for the developing world some time ago. Now, it may be relegated to the lane of also-rans that shone during the heyday of globalization but failed to capitalize on a strong start.

Malaysians in distress have taken to  waving the white flag from windows and driveways. At the most basic level, it’s surrender and a plea for assistance: food, a bit of cash to help pay the rent. Thanks to social media, the banners have taken on an emblematic life of their own. Not quite a movement; people have no hope, and not much desire, to overthrow the government, and it isn’t clear these days that there’s one to topple. It’s more of a shorthand for discontent at the atrophying state and troubled economy.

The country’s prime ministers were once given grudging credit for stable leadership, albeit with authoritarian traits. However, lawmakers have proven breathtakingly unable to coalesce around a figure or program to guide Malaysia through this plight. The nation is beset by multiple crises — social, economic and political — fed and worsened by each other. It may only be a slight exaggeration to invoke the dreaded label of a failed state.

Civic life is suffering from numerous misadventures. The latest twist in a saga that’s been running since at least early 2020 came in the small hours of Thursday. The United Malays National Organization, the party that led Malaysia from independence until losing power in 2018 in the aftermath of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd. scandaldeclared it will leave the ramshackle coalition presided over by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and urged him to quit. That may not be the end of the machinations; UMNO itself is split between a group that wants to reclaim its dominant position and lawmakers willing to keep nice cabinet posts that Muhyiddin has given them.

There isn’t an easy way out of this mess. Malaysia’s travails go beyond any one person. No prospective leader appears to have sufficient support in parliament, let alone a mandate from the population of 32 million, to replace the weak prime minister and provide stable administration. An election is supposed to be held once the pandemic subsides, a determination that’s hard to quantify. The monarchy, rotated among hereditary sultans of nine states, is being forced to leave the ceremonial shadows to referee, something that the royal households appear less than comfortable doing.

So, the surrender flag captures the end of a strutting, can-do mentality, or “boleh.” Citizens are stepping in where authorities have failed as the pandemic has delivered seemingly endless misery. Southeast Asia has been rocked by the delta variant. On Thursday, Malaysia added almost 9,000 Covid cases. Only a bit more than 8% of Malaysians have received both vaccine shots, as of Monday. Some of the strictest lockdowns have been in Kuala Lumpur and the nearby commercial powerhouse of Selangor state, and taken a toll. At their worst, factories have been shut, public transportation has run on a skeleton schedule, and the military has manned road blocks.Some measures have been eased, but large parts of the country remain shuttered.

Asia, writ large, is in the midst of a strong economic upswing. However, that recovery has yet to fully visit Southeast Asia, a region of more than 650 million people. In its last World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund forecast growth in Malaysia of 6.5% this year. Gross domestic product plummeted by more than 5% in 2020, the worst performance since the Asian financial crisis in 1998. To meet such a bullish projection or even get close to it, the second half of 2021 needs to be stellar. Further interest rate cuts and fiscal outlays are almost assured. But whatever the numbers say, many Malaysians aren’t close to feeling the benefit. Even  rubber glove makers are worried; they appealed to authorities this week to lower Covid restrictions and let them continue to produce.

The last decades of the 20th century offered a different route. During Mahathir Mohamad’s premiership from 1981 to 2003, Malaysia was an emerging-market icon. The country grew rapidly with relatively low inflation and stable budgets. Mahathir loved to poke at the West, but he opened markets and privatized state companies. He resisted aid from the IMF and challenged orthodoxy by imposing capital controls and fixing the exchange rate during the Asian crisis. Contrary to predictions that the efforts would fail, they shored up Malaysia.

But it started to go wrong. Boondoggles like an ostentatious new airport and the soaring twin towers funded by state oil giant Petronas suggested waste. One of Mahathir’s successors, Najib Razak, bungled the  disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in front of the world’s cameras. Najib led UMNO to defeat in 2018 and has been  convicted of corruption related to 1MDB. Mahathir’s return at the helm of an opposition bloc offered a brief moment of renewal. But he couldn’t give up on political wheeling and dealing — even well into his 90s — and opened the door for Muhyiddin to edge him out of office.

Longstanding  ethnic and religious fault lines have been worsened in recent years by an urban-rural divide and a generation gap that no political organization has come to grips with. The credibility of the ruling class will keep eroding the longer it takes to vaccinate against Covid and for a recovery to take hold. The current intrigues sadly seem far removed from the daily needs of business, finance and even putting food on the table.

No country can continue on this course indefinitely and be a model for anything other than dysfunction.-Bloomberg

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Saturday, May 22, 2021

The colour blind virus ; Tighter MCO 3.0: 80% of govt staff, 40% of private sector to work from home

 

A healthcare worker holds a vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine arranged at the University Hospital in Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia, on Tuesday, March 2,2021. The first phase of the vaccine roll-out that will run through April involves about 500,000 frontliners comprising health-care, defense and security personnel, as well as teachers with co-morbidities, according to the government. Photographer: Samsul Said/Bloomberg

IS the coronavirus racist?

Of course not. The Covid-19 and its variants do not discriminate between race, creed or borders. They simply infect everyone indiscriminately, so the only defence is vaccines and social distancing.

But the handling of the pandemic has become intensely political along racial, class and national lines. To debate whether it should be called a China virus or an Indian variant is racist by implication. What matters urgently is how each individual, community or nation handles the pandemic. To distribute to the rich and powerful first before the poor and weak is discriminatory, but that is exactly what has happened in many countries.

The virus transmits through people. The epidemiologists suggest that minimising people travel and contacts would slow the transmission.

Those who care more about money object to shutting down the economy. Asians reacted more quickly by adopting masks and staying at home.

The West cared more about individualism and objected to masks, allowing the pandemic to get out of control.

But money and vaccines have begun to bring matters under control, except that if the coronavirus and its variants continue to spread in countries which cannot afford vaccines or can’t get enough supplies, no one is safe.

Thus, a microscopic virus has opened up the Pandora’s Box of almost all social divisions that were ignored and unaddressed. It is clear that science and technology, as well as competent organisation, plus mass cooperation would be the way to solve the pandemic.

But these three factors require trust that everyone should be protected justly.

The record so far shows that those governments which preach democracy, equality and rules-based order may be practising something rather different.

Why is it that in the United States, Pacific Islander, Latino and Black Americans have double the Covid-19 death rate than White and Asian Americans?

Israel is leading in the world vaccination rollout, and yet Palestinians have been slow to get vaccines. The UN Human Rights body has called the Israeli differential treatment of Palestinians “morally and legally unacceptable”.

Israel has illegally occupied Palestinian territory since the 1967 war, and even in the Holy Month, physically raided the Al Aqsa Mosque, sparking off the current conflict that has raged on in the middle of the pandemic.

This is not an equal fight. More than 200 Palestinians have been killed, including 64 children, versus 12 dead in Israel. More than 58,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been rendered homeless and Israelis have knocked out the only lab in the territory that processes covid tests.

An Arab-Israeli member of the Israeli Parliament has openly called the Israel action in Jerusalem as “ethnic cleansing”. The Israeli government can ignore world opinion because of the US’ strong backing.

The humanitarian crisis in Palestine is beyond a tragedy. But the Israel-Palestinian crisis shows how science and technology play a role in turning a David to a Goliath, switching the roles from victims of the Holocaust to become perpetrators of Occupation by might alone.

As geopolitical futurist George Friedman writes about “Gaza: Morality and Reality”, the moral question is extremely complex because both sides see themselves as victims.

In his geopolitical realist view, as long as Israel holds the greater military superiority, with the backing of the strongest military power of all – the United States – the conflict will not be resolved by anyone else.

This point is fully understood by the Israelis, who were scattered and not particularly powerful as a wandering people until 1947. But it was their brains and deep application of science and technology that overcame the Palestinian and Arab numerical superiority.

There are 1-2-3 options for the Israel-Palestine situation. If Israel-occupied territory were to be governed as one country, the demographics would favour the Palestinians with higher birth rates, so this solution was ruled out.

Logic suggests that perhaps a two-country solution of a separate Palestine and Israel state would be possible. The rest of the world supports this option, but the Palestinians are divided into the Fatah faction controlling the West Bank and the Hamas controlling Gaza. This creates a three-state possibility. Indeed, the greater the division between its enemies and their supporters, the more secure Israel’s position. This is classic “divide and rule” domination exercised by imperial colonials.

The Egyptian economist Samir Amin summed up this perennial Arab dilemma, commenting on the 2011 Arab Spring.

If it succeeds, then the Arab world will break out of the imperialist centre’s control. If it fails, then the Arab world will remain in “its current status as a submissive periphery, prohibiting its elevation to the rank of an active participant in shaping the world”.

Samir’s critique of Capitalism in the Age of Globalisation saw a capitalist centre comprising America, Europe and Japan, controlling a periphery of the rest.

This is achieved through five monopolies over technology, financial control, monopoly access to natural resources, media and communications, and weapons of mass destruction. The Israelis understood these perfectly and exploited them to achieve success and survival.

Thus, Israeli devotion to science and technology, military equipment, media and communications and their lobbying power playing guilt on the Eurocentric countries, ensure their dominance over the Palestinian and Arab opponents.

This is why faith or ideology alone will not control the pandemic, because it is through science and organisational power that domination continues over the weak and oppressed.

The Arab world may have physical control over much of the fossil-fuel natural resources, but as long as they remain technologically backward and divided, they will always be victims.

So, the coronavirus is not racist.

Guns do not kill people, people kill or dominate other people.

Friedman is right. Might decides geopolitical reality. For him and his ilk, morality is for the victim to complain and the victor to preach.

Those who do not learn from history will remain its victims.

Andrew Sheng comments on global affairs from an Asian perspective. The views expressed here are his own.

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Tuesday, December 17, 2019

YouTube ‘hypocritical’ in removing Xinjiang anti-terrorism video


A documentary released by China's national broadcaster CGTN on the anti-terrorism work in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has been blocked by YouTube for "copyright" issues. Some netizens said that YouTube's move shows how hypocritical some Western media are.

CGTN aired two documentaries on December 5 and 7 focused on anti-terrorism efforts in Xinjiang and terrorist organization the East Turkistan Islamic Movement's (ETIM) role in plotting terrorist attacks in China.

The two documentaries included rare footages of terrorist attacks in China, including the Urumqi riots in 2009 - which led to 197 deaths and over 1,700 injuries - and the attack on the Kunming railway station on March 1, 2014, which left 31 dead and 141 wounded.

CGTN also uploaded these two documentaries to YouTube, and the first, Fighting Terrorism in Xinjiang, was watched hundreds of millions of times.

However, it was taken down by YouTube "due to a copyright claim by Morgenland Festival Osnabruck."

Fighting Terrorism in Xinjiang was re-uploaded and can now be found on CGTN's YouTube account, but YouTube is asking users to register before watching the video as some of its content may not be "proper" for all users.

Youtube's actions have angered many users. Some netizens criticized YouTube's move as "shameful," and said it shows viewers how hypocritical Western media are.

A netizen commented, "Make sure everyone knows YouTube censorship previously deleted this video in order to wipe its view count, likes and comments!"

"YouTube, what are you afraid about in this video? Is your censorship of the video in line with what you claim about freedom of speech?" a netizen named "David Watson" commented.

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Thursday, October 24, 2019

Malay Dignity: Whither Malaysia now?

 

THE Kongres Maruah Melayu, or Malay Dignity Congress, held in a stadium near Kuala Lumpur on Oct 6 raised a furore among Malaysians. Organised by four public universities – including Universiti Malaya, the nation’s premier institution of higher learning – the congress was attended by about 5,000 people, mostly students but also leading politicians from Umno and PAS.

Rather than a forum to discuss issues faced by Malays and ways to overcome them, the congress has been widely condemned as a racist gathering. In his speech, Zainal Kling, the chief convener of the conference, declared that Malaysia belonged to Malays and reminded other races of their “social contract” with Malays, claiming it was the basis for granting them citizenship rights which could be revoked if they breached the agreement (bit.ly/dignity_congress).
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2019/10/06/malaysia-belongs-to-malays-shah-alam-congress-warns-ahead-of-dr-ms-speech/

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad aroused public ire by attending the conference; critics saw his decision to participate as a betrayal of the ideals of the reformist Pakatan Harapan coalition which toppled the previous Barisan government in a shock landslide victory at the polls last year.

Dr Mahathir made his mark as a champion of Malay rights early on. In The Malay Dilemma published in 1970, he argued passionately that due to hereditary and geographical factors, the Malays could not keep pace with Chinese immigrants and advocated special rights for the Malays. He became the chief architect of Dasar Ekonomi Baru, or the New Economic Policy (NEP), which was unveiled in 1972 for a term of 20 years and was designed to accelerate the development of the Malay majority (comprising circa 60% of the population of 32 million now) through affirmative action.

The NEP failed to achieve its stated goals, and Dr Mahathir stepped down as PM in 2003, but after 20 years in place, NEP privileges came to be seen as entitlement and could not be dismantled. Meanwhile, the Malaysian economy trails behind smaller Asian territories with fewer natural resources such as South Korea, Taiwan or even Singapore (2018 GDP).

In his 50-minute speech at the dignity conference, Dr Mahathir pointed out that the NEP failed “because the effort by the Malays was less than expected or hoped” and warned that “as long as we do not change our lifestyle, as long as we are unwilling to strive to face challenges at work, we will be left behind”. He said, “Our dignity depends on our achievement, not on government aid. If we are capable of making good products and creating wealth, no one will look down upon us.

“I believe that the Malay people have the capability but there is a difference between capability and willingness to work. They can do it but don’t want to do it, ” he chided. “We can build our dignity with our achievements in all fields, ” he declared. “Otherwise there will be another 10 dignity conferences and nothing will change.

“What I am saying may be hard to accept... but this is the truth of what has happened and this is what will be inherited by the young generation of which there are many in this auditorium today.” (Video at bit.ly/dignity_video.)

Dignity comes from doing and not just asking, Dr M tells Malay congress

https://youtu.be/tdIXzkuZQm8


But his words fell on deaf ears and resolutions passed at the conference made no reference to his pleas. There were calls instead for key government positions including the prime minister, deputy prime minister, finance, education, defence and home ministries and the attorney general to be reserved for Malay Muslims only. Another resolution called for the abolition of vernacular (Tamil and Chinese medium) schools. (“Resolutions on five areas presented at Malay Dignity Congress, but PM says not all will be met”, The Star, Oct 6; online at bit.ly/star_dignity.)

At 94, Mahathir has little need to make polite speeches to cling to power. Time is not on his side. He loves his people and deserves praise for his tireless efforts to change them but he forewarned in The Malay Dilemma that because politics created for the Malays a soft environment which removed all challenge to their survival and progress, “political power might ultimately prove their complete downfall”. No other Malay leader has shown equal foresight.

To a significant degree, the previous government fell because of a massive corruption scandal involving the theft of billions of dollars by then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. But, partly through a lack of administrative experience and partly due to foot-dragging by civil servants loyal to the previous government (which had been in power for 61 years), the current Pakatan Harapan coalition has failed to deliver on much of its reform agenda and is far from certain to win the next general election.

Malaysia has often been held up as a model Muslim-majority country but in a society where it is all too easy to play the race and religion card, the economy will not realise its full potential and the political future of minorities will remain at risk.

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Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Malaysian talent lost due to racial bigotry

Leng Siew Yeap
Leng Siew Yeap, a Malaysian, a graduate of UMS applied for a scholarship to do a doctorate degree but was refused outright by the local govt.

She was however offered scholarships by University of Edinburgh, London University and Cambridge University. She chose Cambridge University's Dorothy Hodgkin postgraduate award to study stem cell.

On graduation she accepted the offer from Harvard to study human immunology. She is now working in research for a Shanghai university hospital.

She has successfully helped to create an method/procedure 4 the body to secrete an antibody to fight HIV. She is now married to a Shanghai citizen, living and working in Shanghai. She and her achievements are never mentioned in any Malaysia newspaper.

View Full Profile - Shanghai Institute of Immunology


Shanghai Institute of Immunology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, China.




Research Interests
Our body is constantly attacked by pathogens. To fight against various pathogens, B cells produce a large antibody repertoire through different processes that involve genomic DNA alterations. During B cell development, a DNA cut and paste mechanism called V(D)J recombination generates a primary antibody repertoire by producing V(D)J exons that are made up of combinations of different V, D and J segments. Upon activation by pathogens, mature B cells undergo secondary antibody diversification, whereby Somatic Hypermutation (SHM) generates antibodies with higher affinity, while Class Switch Recombination (CSR) generates antibodies with different effector functions. In theory, our body has the capability to generate all necessary antibodies to fight against different pathogens through antibody diversification mechanisms. However, this is not the case. For example, in certain infectious diseases such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection/ acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), only a small percentage of the infected patients were able to produce effective antibodies. Our research aims to elucidate molecular mechanisms that facilitate approaches in generating highly effective antibodies to fight pathogens and infectious diseases. We employ various approaches including mouse models, cell line systems, CRISPR-mediated genome editing and next-generation sequencing technologies (Yeap et al., Cell, 2015, Figure below) to address our aims.



Top Malaysian researcher working to wipe out infectious diseases
Dr Yeap heads the antibody diversification team at Shanghai Institute of Immunology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, China.

LIKE many of her peers, Dr Yeap Leng Siew, 39, was raised believing that noble careers only include doctors and lawyers.

So when the Selangorian failed to enter medical school because she didn’t get straight As in the Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM), her childhood ambition of becoming a doctor came crashing down.

She was upset for awhile but remembered that as a secondary school girl, she had done well in Biology.

It encouraged her to take up Biotechnology at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS).

“I passed with flying colors and was the best student at university. If I hadn’t been rejected to do medicine, I wouldn’t have the career that I now enjoy. It was a blessing in disguise.”

Now married to a Chinese national and living in Shanghai, the mother-of-two graduated with first class honours from UMS in 2003, and received the Royal Educational Award and Tunku Abdul Rahman Medal. These awards recognise the country’s best student from each public university. After graduation, she was still unsure about her career path until a research stint at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) sparked her interest in cell biology.

She went on to do her doctorate in stem cell biology at the University of Cambridge, before continuing as a Harvard Medical School postdoctoral fellow at the Boston Children’s Hospital.

“Initially I wanted to do a Ph.D in Singapore but my GRE score (a US-based graduate entrance exam) was not great.”

Though she did not receive any offers during the first round of application, she was determined to pursue a Ph.D degree.

“People are bitter about rejections because they do not have backup plans. Prof Bing Lim, my supervisor at GIS, once told me to be open-minded because a narrow mind narrows potential. His words were etched in my heart ever since.”

She was later granted the Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Dorothy Hodgkin Postgraduate Award – a full scholarship for outstanding students from developing countries to pursue a Ph.D degree at the University of Cambridge.

She continued to make her mark when she was awarded the St Catharine’s College Graduate Prize for Distinction in Research during her stint in Cambridge. She then went on to receive the prestigious Cancer Research Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship in the United States.

Disappointment, she said, is part of life.

“It is how we overcome disappointments and take up challenges that distinguishes us from the rest.”

The former research assistant at GIS now heads the antibody diversification team at Shanghai Institute of Immunology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, China.

“Prof Huck Hui Ng from GIS once told me, ‘work hard, and the sky is the limit’. I now tell my students those very same words.”

In 2017, Yeap was selected by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) to receive the Excellent Young Scientist Fund, which is aimed at nurturing young talents with innovative potential.

She speaks to StarEdu about her work and advises young science students to expand their horizon. The world doesn’t end just because you didn’t get into medical school. There are many opportunities for those interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

> What is your area of research?I am interested in understanding why some people develop effective antibodies to fight diseases while others do not. For example, only a small percentage of HIV-1 infected patients develop potent antibodies against the virus, which is why this remains a major health problem globally. Another example is how despite being vaccinated for the flu or hepatitis B (HBV), some do not develop protective antibodies and are still susceptible to these illnesses. My research group is studying how the antibodies acquire high levels of mutations and other special characteristics. Understanding how these rare antibodies develop will shed light on developing HIV or new vaccines for the flu or HBV.

> How long have you been away from home? Sixteen years. During the final semester of my undergraduate studies, I did a 10-week research attachment at the National Cancer Centre of Singapore. It was a time when biological research was just starting to bloom there. I was very fortunate not to be sent home because of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, and even luckier, because I landed my first job as a research assistant at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS).

Seeing that I graduated from a university that didn’t even exist when he left his hometown, Kota Kinabalu, my supervisor at GIS, Dr Bing Lim, decided to hire me. He has been a great mentor ever since. In his laboratory, we were trying to culture human stem cells and I was fascinated by the idea that these cells may be turned into any type of cells for therapeutic purposes.

I realised then that I would have to pursue a Ph.D degree if I want to move further along in my research career. Two years later, I moved to the United Kingdom to begin my postgraduate studies in the lab of Prof Azim Surani at the University of Cambridge. When I completed my doctorate, my parents were expecting me to come home. So when I told them that I had planned on continuing my postdoctoral training in the United States, they were shocked. It took a while to convince them that a Ph.D degree is just the beginning of a career in research and that to have a chance of running my own laboratory one day, I would have to undergo a postdoctoral training as well.

In 2010, I started my postdoctoral training in the laboratory of a top immunologist, Dr Fred Alt at Harvard Medical School. During the five years of postdoctoral training, I met my husband and gave birth to my first child.

In 2015, we decided to move closer to home to start our career as independent researchers.

> What is it about home you miss the most?The food definitely – nasi lemak, durian, and my mum’s cooking.

> You helped find a way for the body to fight HIV. Tell us about that breakthrough.During my postdoctoral training, I developed mouse models to study how different antibody genes undergo mutation. We found that certain DNA sequences are more prone to mutations and that the same DNA sequences are also prone to deletions, another common characteristic of anti-HIV broadly neutralising antibodies.

These results suggest that DNA sequence direct the evolution of antibodies and these results were published in Cell in 2015, a top journal in the biological field. In 2017, we published in Proceedings of National Academy of Science on a related work where we analysed a mouse model carrying a human antibody gene and found that many mutations in anti-HIV antibodies are not easily achieved. Understanding how our bodies are able to elicit these rare antibodies will help in vaccine design strategies.

> What are you currently working on?We are continuously trying to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying highly effective antibody generation and developing approaches to guide our bodies to produce such antibodies during infection. We use animal models, cutting-edge gene editing techniques and next generation DNA sequencing in our research. We hope to one day wipe out infectious diseases like HIV.

> Are there any plans to work with other Malaysian researchers moving forward?We are constantly reaching out to researchers from all over the world, and Malaysia is definitely a priority. On Aug 9, I was in Malaysia with a delegation headed by Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine chancellor Prof Guoqiang Chen, and Shanghai Institute of Immunology director Prof Bing Su, to promote collaborations with Universiti Malaya’s Faculty of Medicine. We also visited the International Medical University (IMU).

With the Chinese government’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative, there are plenty of funding opportunities for academic exchanges and scholarships for graduate studies. Hopefully, more people will come to know about research and academic opportunities in our school.

I have been exposed to different research environments in top laboratories and research institutes around the world, and the current biomedical research environment in Shanghai and other major cities in China, is definitely on par with the places that I have been to.

>What is the most challenging aspect of working in a lab?As an independent researcher, my job is to design and supervise experiments, analyse the results with my students and postdocs, and write manuscripts for publications. I also have to make sure that the lab has enough funding to do research.

Some of the challenging aspects include dealing with failed experiments, manuscripts and grants being rejected, and harsh criticisms by peers. But the satisfaction in being the first in the world to discover something new and potentially textbook-changing, makes all the hard work worthwhile.

> What qualities would a young, aspiring researcher need?Passion, persistence and determination. In the labs I’ve been to, I’ve seen college or even high school students doing research internships during school holidays. These kinds of opportunities allow students to experience the laboratory culture and life as a researcher. Being exposed to different career options at an early stage allows students to make better career choices and develop greater potential. I hope young Malaysians can be more pro-active and seek out such opportunities to enrich themselves in their spare time. I didn’t know there was such a possibility when I was in school.-Source link

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