2nd Freedom Academy (16th to 18th Jan 2009)

Wan Saiful Wan Jan and Tunku Abidin Muhriz from Wau Bebas (under Malaysia Think Tank) would be organizing the 2nd Freedom Academy (January 2009). The 1st one was held successfully in August 2008.

The theme this time around is Globalization, The Free Market and Developing Countries. It would be held at Residence Hotel, UNITEN from 16th to 18th January 2009.

Sadly, I can't make it this time too, as it clashed directly with JobStreet.com Malaysia Career & Training Fair that 3 days at MidValley Exhibition Center.

Quoting directly from the site:-

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Globalisation and the free market are taking a bashing. The global economic turmoil has resulted in claims that we are looking at the end of capitalism. And, for many years we have been told that globalization, trade liberalization, and capitalism are bad for the poor and for developing countries generally. But what does free market capitalism really entail? Are the criticisms justified?

University students, graduates, and young professionals from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei are invited to attend Malaysia Think Tank’s second Freedom Academy which will be held on 16 – 18 January 2009 (Friday – Sunday) at Residence Hotel, UNITEN, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.

At this Freedom Academy participants will study in depth the true meaning and morality of capitalism, how globalisation has brought prosperity to developing economies, and why free market capitalism is still the way for forward.

Speakers from India, Pakistan, China and the United Kingdom will provide thorough and detailed analysis of how free market capitalism has benefited developing countries.

We are particularly looking for those sympathetic to, or are curious about, libertarian and classical liberal ideas.

Come and enjoy the Freedom Academy! You will be challenged intellectually and you will get an invaluable opportunity to network with like-minded friends.
The Programme

Come with an open mind, and go back with a good understanding of the positive impact brought by globalisation and the free market to developing economies.

In this Freedom Academy, we will discuss important topics including:

The financial crisis: causes and solutions
The meaning and morality of capitalism and the free market
The role of government
The impact of globalization on developing economies
How the market works and can the market produce social justice for the poor
Case studies from other countries
This Freedom Academy will be conducted in English.



Attendance fee

Fees are to be paid in full before the start of the Freedom Academy.

RM325.00 (only RM195 for Kelab Wau Bebas members, i.e. participants of previous Freedom Academy) - which will cover all meals from Friday dinner to lunch on Sunday, lectures, books, delegates pack, and accommodation (shared twin room) at Residence Hotel.

RM195.00 (only RM175 for Kelab Wau Bebas members) – without accommodation.



Scholarships

The Malaysia Think Tank can offer scholarships to selected applicants. You can apply for full or partial scholarships to cover attendance fee. We do not pay for travel expenses. The Malaysia Think Tank reserves the right to determine the value of scholarship to be awarded.



Deadline

All applications must be received before Monday 5 January 2009.

Successful applicants will be informed by as soon as possible, before Friday 9 January 2009.



Further information

For further information, please contact Noor Amin bin Ahmad via email amin@malaysiathinktank.org

Lecturers

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.

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.

Alec Van Gelder, Network Director, International Policy Network.
Alec van Gelder is Network Director at International Policy Network, a think tank based in London. Among other publications, Alec is author of "Dirigiste Divide; how Governments obstruct development and access to ICTs" and "Nashville in Africa" and his work on trade, health, technology and development issues has been published in many newspapers including: the Globe and Mail, Boston Globe, Business Day, Wall Street Journal and International Herald Tribune. Alec holds a Master’s degree in International Economics and Development from UCL in Belgium and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Lehigh University in the United States. He speaks English, Spanish, French and Dutch with fluency.

Wan Saiful Wan Jan - MTT Director General & Head of Libertarian Education Project (LEAP).
Wan Saiful is Director General of the Malaysia Think Tank and heads MTT's Libertarian Education Project (LEAP). He is also Editor of WauBebas.org, a joint Cato Institute - Malaysia Think Tank project for speakers of the Malay language (Bahasa Melayu). Wan Saiful boarded at Sekolah Alam Shah, Kuala Lumpur, and then Tonbridge School, England. He went to the University of Liverpool, Northumbria University and Middlesex University Business School, London. He holds a BA (Hons) in Management and an MSc in Research Methodologies. Wan Saiful has worked for the British Conservative Party's Research Department, and, prior to that, the think tank Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit. He was also vice chair of his local Conservative Association, which oversees two parliamentary constituencies. In May 2007, he contested in the English local elections as a Conservative Party candidate. He is now Head of Policy for the Conservative Muslim Forum.

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.

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”.





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