Quick Facts
Biography
Prof Dr Ariffin S.M Omar is a Malaysian politician currently serving as a senator elected by the Penang State Legislative Assembly in the Parliament of Malaysia. He is also a Vice Chairman of the Democratic Action Party.
Personal life and education
Ariffin Omar studied at St Xavier’s Institution, Penang for his secondary school education. He then continued to study at Universiti Sains Malaysia and later obtained a Bachelor's degree at the National University of Singapore and in 1990, obtained a Doctorate degree from the Australia National University.
He worked as a lecturer in Universiti Sains Malaysia (1974–2006) and a lecturer at the University of Utah (1998) and was also a lecturer in Universiti Utara Malaysia and the National Defence University of Malaysia.
He was also a founding member of Aliran Kesedaran Negara, a reform movement dedicated to justice, freedom and solidarity.
Now based at the Penang Institute, his research focuses on nation, nationalism, ethnic relations and religious freedom.
Works
- Bangsa Melayu (Malay Concepts of Democracy and Community, 1945–1950) ; Oxford University Press, 1993
- The Bumiputera Policy: Dynamics and Dilemmas ; Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2005