Professor Dato’ Dr. Sivamurugan Pandian

Professor Dato’ Dr. Sivamurugan Pandian is a lecturer at the School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). He has a BA in Anthropology and Sociology from University of Malaya, Malaysia and pursued his MA in International Politics at Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan; and Ph.D in Political Sociology from University of Malaya, Malaysia. His research interests include Malaysian politics, leadership, political behavior, ethnic relations and election studies. He is the author/editor of several books and has contributed articles to numerous journals, magazines and newspaper. He was a US Government International Visitor Leadership Program participant; one of the ASEAN – Republic Of Korea Academic Exchange Fellowship recipients; Sumitomo Foundation, Japan fellowship recipient; JASSO fellowship; and Japan Foundation fellowship recipient; Visiting fellow at University of Tokyo, Seoul National University and SungKyunKwan University, South Korea. He was one of the Executive Committee in Asia-Pacific Sociological Association (APSA); member of International Political Science Association (IPSA); and member of International Sociological Association (ISA). He was also the Principal Consultant/Researcher who formulated policies named as KAMI@Keluarga Malaysia Unity Plan 2021-2025 and Malaysian Indian Action Plan (PTMI) 2022-2027, both under Ministry of Unity, Malaysia. In July 2024, he was appointed as the Chief Consultant leading the Scientific Study from the Social Sciences Perspective of the Public View on the Separation of the Roles of the Attorney General and the Public Prosecutor, under the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department. At the same time, he was also appointed as the Chief Consultant for the Study on the Drafting of a New Bill Relating to Online Safety, Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department. The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) recently appointed him as one of the local experts for the Drafting of the Online Safety Bill. Currently, he is USM Board of Governors and Senate member; former Director for Centre of Managing Disaster (Nerve Centre) USM; and was a Deputy Dean at School of Social Sciences, USM. In 2023, he was appointed as one of the ‘Advisory Council Member for Unity’ chaired by Deputy Prime Minister. In October 2024, he was appointed as a member of the Special Task Force on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chaired by Chief Secretary of Malaysia. Currently, he is also a Member of the Audit Committee of The Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi). He was also one of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) President Advisory Council member and currently Vice President for Kuala Lumpur Badminton Association (KLBA). In 2016 and 2017, he was chosen as ‘Patriotic Icon’ by Ministry of Communication and Multimedia Malaysia. He can be contacted at psiva@usm.my.