Congratulations to our newly elected East Asia Governance Circle (EAGC) members! Thank you to those who cast their votes before the deadline of 29 June 2023, 11:59 Bkk time. All voters were allowed to vote up to four out of the five nominees. Here are our new EAGC members and the percentage of voters who voted for them.
SERVING a FULL TWO-YEAR TERM (July 2023 to June 2025)
Khoo Ying Hooi (Malaysia) — 95% of voters
Ryan Silverio (Philippines) — 90% of voters
Yap Swee Seng (Malaysia) — 75% of voters
SERVING THE REMAINDER OF HANUNG’S ONE YEAR TERM (July 2023 to June 2024)
Sok Leang (Cambodia) — 70% of voters
The newly elected EAGC members will be joining Vino Lucero (Philippines) who serves for one more year (July 2023-June 2024). We look forward to working together with all of you to further our vision in the region.
We include text from their election pitches below so you can get to know them.
KHOO YING HOOI
Associate Professor, Universiti Malaya
(Running for a 2nd term)
3 REASONS THEY SHOULD BE AN EAGC MEMBER
1. Experience in human rights advocacy and education at national, regional and international levels
2. Skills in effective governance, decision-making, and strategic leadership.
3. Scholar-activism approach
INVOLVEMENT IN CIVIL SOCIETY ACTIVISM
I am currently teaching at a public university in Kuala Lumpur, where I have the privilege of imparting knowledge on human rights, democracy and NGOs (including social movements). My dedication to this field has been unwavering since 2007. Before joining academia, I was attached to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM). I am also part of numerous local and regional human rights NGOs. I merge the realms of academia and practical work, ensuring a holistic approach to human rights advocacy in Southeast Asia, with a particular focus on Malaysia and Timor-Leste. My involvement has afforded me invaluable experience in international, regional and national human rights mechanisms, including the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), and national human rights institutions (NHRIs).
WILL CONTRIBUTE IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS TO THE EAGC:
My experience in NGOs at different levels and my current affiliation at a university could provide an advantage to the I4C-EAGC.
EXPECT TO GAIN THE FOLLOWING:
1. Knowledge enrichment and sharing
2. Network expansion
3. Learning and advocacy platform
COMMUNITIES / CAUSES
♡ Democracy, transparency, corruption, etc
♡ Freedom of expression, Censorship, Access to information, Disinformation
♡ Academic freedom
♡ NGO studies
RYAN SILVERIO
Executive Director, ASEAN SOGIE Caucus
3 REASONS THEY SHOULD BE AN EAGC MEMBER
1. Leadership in the area of organizational development
2. Experience and track record on resource mobilization
3. Intersectional politics
INVOLVEMENT IN CIVIL SOCIETY ACTIVISM
Ryan Silverio has more than 20 years experience working and leading civil society organizations. They started working with Philippine Human Rights Information Center (PhilRights) on various roles such as preparing human rights reports, managing a project on children and armed conflict, and undertaking resource mobilization. At present, Ryan is the Executive Director of ASEAN SOGIE Caucus, a regional human rights organization that was recently granted a UN ECOSOC status, and has actively innovated approaches for activists to engage ASEAN and UN mechanisms. They were once a faculty member of the Department of International Studies of Miriam College in the Philippines where they taught courses on social research, human rights, and governance. During their stint as an academic, Ryan integrated activism by ensuring that human rights was integrated into the courses, guiding students undertaking theses on themes such as SOGIESC and human rights.
WILL CONTRIBUTE IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS TO THE EAGC:
1. Help in raising funds for the programmes
2. Help enhance the programmed monitoring, evaluation, and learning frameworks
3. Provide technical advice in areas such as research, module development, and on themes related to human rights, intersectionality, and SOGIESC.
EXPECT TO GAIN THE FOLLOWING:
1. Ability to demonstrate leadership in a regional context, and space to innovate on new approaches to doing advocacy
2. Foster good working relations and rapport with amazing and creative activists across East Asia
COMMUNITIES / CAUSES
♡ LGBTQIA+
♡ Economic justice
♡ Persons with disabilities
♡ Democracy, transparency, corruption, etc
YAP SWEE SENG
Resource Person, Coalition for Clean Fair Elections (BERSIH)
3 REASONS THEY SHOULD BE AN EAGC MEMBER
1. Good knowledge and understanding of human rights and democracy in Asian countries
2. Good civil society networks both at national and international level
3. More than 20 years of experiences in managing civil society organizations at leadership level
INVOLVEMENT IN CIVIL SOCIETY ACTIVISM
I am a Malaysian activist and my involvement with civil society extents a period of more than 30 years, covering a wide range of issues, including anti-racial discrimination, student rights, environment protection, rights of indigenous peoples, police brutality, death penalty, human rights, migration, anti-corruption, free and fair election, self-determination, globalisation, democratization, and parliamentary reforms. I have worked for both national NGOs such as SUARAM, BERSIH in Malaysia and international NGOs such as FORUM-ASIA, Asia Democracy Network, ASEAN Parliamentarian for Human Rights, and Asia Network for Free Elections in various different capacities. My working experience has allowed me to learn about the state of human rights and social movements in many Asian countries, and the strengths and weaknesses of international and regional human rights mechanisms. They also gave me a keen interest in strategic analyses and an exploration of ways to empower social movements.
WILL CONTRIBUTE IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS TO THE EAGC:
I hope to contribute to make the work of I4C-East Asia more impactful in Asia and to enhance the effectiveness in the management of I4C-East Asia by contributing and sharing my knowledge, experiences and ideas.
EXPECT TO GAIN THE FOLLOWING:
I will be able to learn from others as well, gain more knowledge and experiences and the benefits to share and contribute to empower social movements and strengthen human rights and democracy in the region.
COMMUNITIES / CAUSES
♡ Youth
♡ Women
♡ Indigenous Peoples
♡ Persons with disabilities
♡ Democracy, transparency, corruption, etc
♡ Communication and digital rights
♡ Police brutality
♡ Freedom of expression, Censorship, Access to information, Disinformation
♡ Free & Fair Elections
♡ Parliamentary reforms
SOK LEANG
Freelance Researcher
3 REASONS THEY SHOULD BE AN EAGC MEMBER
1. He is committed to the promotion of human rights and gender equality
2. He has been a team player for projects he has been involved
3. He believes in diversity and inclusivity
INVOLVEMENT IN CIVIL SOCIETY ACTIVISM
Sok Leang has been working in human rights and gender equality as advocate, trainer and researcher for the past 12 years. He has been working with various NGO/CSOs in Cambodia on anti-discrimination, human rights, labor rights, gender equality, mediation, and teaching pedagogy, as well as being a consultant for project evaluation for NGOs/CSOs. He has conducted research in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), labor trafficking, transitional justice, and accountability and transparency. He has also been a part-time lecturer teaching Sociology, Cultural Anthropology and Critical Thinking.
WILL CONTRIBUTE IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS TO THE EAGC:
My time, my knowledge, my skill, and my service as much as possible.
EXPECT TO GAIN THE FOLLOWING:
Learning from great people in the I4C-East Asia Network.
COMMUNITIES / CAUSES
♡ Women
♡ LGBTQIA+
♡ Workers, Unions
♡ Democracy, transparency, corruption, etc
♡ Peace and conflict
♡ Freedom of expression, Censorship, Access to information, Disinformation