You are cordially invited to a free public forum as below: Theme: Strengthening Democracy - the role of the market Date: Sunday, 18 January 2009 Time: 3.30pm to 5.30pm Venue: Room Titan 2, Residence Hotel, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), Jalan Kajang-Puchong, 43009 Kajang, Selangor.
Is there a relationship between a healthy democracy and a free market? Do we need a free market in order to achieve true democracy? The Malaysia Think Tank is pleased to invite you to debate with a panel of international experts. Attendance is free. Chair: Professor James Chin, Monash University Malaysia Panellists (see biographies below): - Barun Mitra (Director, Liberty Institute, India), - Assoc Prof Xingyuan Feng (Vice President, Cathay Institute, Beijing), - Prof Julian Morris (Executive Director, International Policy Network, UK). ------------------------------------------------------------------------- About the speakers: Professor James Chin (Head of School of Arts and Social Science, Monash University, Malaysia) Prior to joining Monash, James served as Head of Swinburne University's School of Business (Malaysia Campus), Director of the Institute of East Asian Studies, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and Deputy Dean (Research and Academic Affairs), School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Papua New Guinea. He has also taught in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Professor Chin is an expert on political development and governance in South East Asia and the Pacific Islands. He was awarded the 25th Independence Anniversary medal by the Papua New Guinea Government for services to the country. He has published several monographs on Malaysian politics and the Chinese community in South East Asia. Professor Chin hold degrees from the University of Adelaide and the University of Sydney in Australia, and a PhD from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. Prior to an academic career, Professor Chin worked as a journalist in Singapore and Malaysia. James is also a member of the Advisory Panel at the Centre for Public Policy Studies. Barun S. Mitra - Director, Liberty Institute, India. Barun is founder and Director of the Liberty Institute, a non-profit, independent public policy research and advocacy organisation, based in New Dehi. The Institute is dedicated to understanding the implications of contemporary public policy issues, and seeks to harness the power of the market to enhance the range and scope of individual liberty. The Institute has recently undertaken an initiative to make democracy more meaningful and participatory, with the objective of converting good policies in to good politics as well. Barun writes on a range public policy issues with a special interest in economic development, environment, entrepreneurship, trade, technology, democracy and related issues. He has been published in a wide range of national and international newspapers and magazines, and is a regular commentator on television channels in India. Dr Khalil Ahmad, President, Alternate Solutions Institute, Pakistan. Dr. Khalil Ahmad studied Philosophy, History, Economics and Literature, and holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from University of the Punjab, and till 2006 taught courses on Philosophy and Education to graduate and post-graduate classes. During his college and university days, he had been an ardent Marxist, but two philosophers Sir Karl Popper’s and Frederick August Hayek’s ideas converted him to Libertarianism. Khalil founded the Alternate Solutions Institute, first free market think tank of Pakistan, and heads it. He frequently contributes articles on the current issues to various local/foreign newspapers including The News, Business Recorder, The Post, Pakistan Observer, The Frontier Post/Asian Wall Street Journal, South China Morning Post, Mint, Globe & Mail. He has published more than two dozen articles on the rule of law movement in the above-mentioned local papers. He has published a booklet (The Greatest Battle for the Rule of Law in Pakistan) on the rule of law movement in Pakistan. Associate Professor Xingyuan Feng, Vice-President, Cathay Institute of Public Affairs, Beijing, China. Xingyuan is the co-founder and board member of Cathay Institute for Public Affairs as well as co-founder and member of Chinese Hayek Society. His research focus is economic and social order and is an expert in study on Austrian School of Economics, Freiburger School of Economics and Constitutional Economics. He has authored a number of books such as “The EMU and the Euro”, “Reducing Regional Disparities in the EU and Germany,” “Rural Enterprise Finance and Informal Rural Organizational Innovations in China.” Xingyuan has also co-authored the book “The European Constitution Making and Implication for China” and published dozens of newspaper articles and journals in China and abroad. Since 2006 he is Member of the Editorial Board of the Electronic Journal of Sustainable Development (EJSD), a joint venture between the University of Buckingham and International Policy Network, England. He is also Editor-in-chief of a new book series “Theory of Order and Economics Series”. Professor Julian Morris, Executive Director, International Policy Network. Julian graduated from Edinburgh University in 1992 with a degree in economics. After pursuing graduate work in economics (leading to two masters degrees), he worked at the Institute of Economic Affairs and in 1998 was appointed Director of the IEA's Environment and Technology Programme. In his spare time, he completed a Graduate Diploma in Law at the University of Westminster in 1999. In 2001, Julian founded the International Policy Network, a think-tank based in London that works on global policy issues relating to health, environment, trade, and development. In 2002, he was appointed a Visiting Professor at the University of Buckingham.
