SENATOR YUSMADI YUSOFF PERSONAL Age: 46 Date of Birth: 12th Oct 1974 Place of Birth: Balik Pulau, Penang Citizenship: Malaysia CONTACT (Residence) No. 30, Jalan 2/132, Taman Gasing Indah, 59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Mobile +6012 3093469 E-mail: [email protected] (Office) Suite 5-05-03A VSQ@PJ City Centre Jalan Utara, Petaling Jaya Selangor, Malaysia Tel +603 7931 6187 Fax +603 77842684 SOCIAL MEDIA @yusmadi Yusmadi Yusoff @yusmadi.yusoff Yusmadi Yusoff yusmadi.my fny.my rights.com.my https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusmadi_Yusoff SUMMARY Yusmadi is a lawyer and former Member of Parliament (2008-2013). He is a Partner at Fahda Nur & Yusmadi and the founding Chairman of RIGHTS Foundation (RIGHTS), an independent think tank and charity organisation focusing on regional governance, human rights and social justice initiatives. He is a prominent member of the Malaysian legal community with a wealth of experience in law, politics, human rights and international affairs. Called to the Malaysian Bar in 1999, Yusmadi was trained and practiced as a lawyer in a few of Malaysia’s top law firms before joining Fahda Nur & Yusmadi as a partner. As a lawyer, Yusmadi was involved in many high profile cases such as Al Maunah, the first case on waging war against YDP Agong, counsel in the Royal Commission Enquiry on VK Lingam Tape, Sharifah Aini vs Siti Nurhaliza, Dato Seri Koh Kim Teck murder case, defending squatters from forced evictions, illegal assembly cases etc. Yusmadi is also active in defending cases assigned by YBGK (National Legal Aid Foundation). He is also an active member of the international legal community, regularly invited as speaker by international governments to forums such as the Doha Forum (Qatar), World Forum for Democracy (Strasbourg), Forum 2000 (Prague) and Tamil Eelam Human Rights Protection Conference (Chennai). He was appointed by the Secretary General of Commonwealth to be part of the Commonwealth Election Observation Team for Maldives Presidential Election in 2013. Yusmadi was also one of the Election Observers at Virginia and Maryland during the US Mid Term Election in 2007 organised by the Center for Democracy & Election Management, American University, Washington D.C. In the 12th Malaysian General Election, Yusmadi was elected as a Member of Parliament of Malaysia for Balik Pulau, Pulau Pinang and was appointed by DYMM Yang Di Pertuan Agong (the King of Malaysia) as the Special Parliamentary Committee for Anti Corruption under the Malaysia Anti Corruption Commission. As a Member of Parliament, he was entrusted to be the spokesperson for matters pertaining to education and international affairs. He has been appointed to many inter-parliamentarian committees including the Treasur- er for Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU Malaysia), Secretary for ASEAN Inter Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC), the Malaysia-European Union Caucus, the Malaysia-South Korea Caucus and Malaysia-Indonesia Caucus. In August 2018, Yusmadi was appointed the Honourable Senator of the Upper House (Dewan Negara) of Malaysia. His human rights activism at the local and international level was duly recognized when he was selected for the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) for Multi Regional Human Rights Advocacy Programme in the US in 2004. In 2006 he was awarded the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship (Law & Human Rights) by the Fulbright Commission hosted by American University Washington College of Law, Washington D.C., a highly prestigious scholarship. Yusmadi is a prolific writer and his views on law and politics are sought after by both printed and electronic media in Malaysia. He was a columnist in a leading newspaper and a regular invited panellist in Malaysia satellite TV channel on law, politics and international affairs particularly regarding US Foreign policies and Southeast Asian affairs. In 2018 Yusmadi was invited by Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of Blackstone (world biggest private equity firm based in New York) to serve as Interviewer for Schwarzman Scholars. The program is modeled after the Rhodes Scholarship; however, instead of sending exceptional graduate students to Oxford, our Scholars will study together in a cohort program for one year Master's Degree in Global Affairs at Tsinghua University, one of the top academic institutions in China. More on the program is available at: www.schwarzmanscholars.org. Yusmadi was appointed as Adjunct Professor at ISTAC IIUM (International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization) with effect from 1 March 2019 on Pro bono basis. Areas of research are Islam, democracy and political ethics. In October 2019, Senator Yusmadi was selected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore as the first Lee Kuan Yew Senior Fellow in Public Service at Lee Kuan School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. In December 2019, Senator Yusmadi Yusoff was unanimously elected as the first Dewan Negara Caucus Chairman during its first meeting today. Yusmadi graduated with an LL.B (Hons) from International Islamic University Malaysia where he has studied both Common Law and Islamic Law. He also graduated with Master of Law (LL.M) in International Legal Studies with specialization in Human Rights protection from American University, Washington College of Law in Washington D.C. In Summer 2008, Yusmadi was selected as Draper Hills Democracy & Development Fellow by the Center on Democracy, Development & the Rule of Law (CDDRL), Stanford University at Palo Alto, California. He has completed his Secondary Education at Islamic School Al-Mashoor (L), Penang and Sultan Alam Shah Islamic College, Klang (KISAS), Selangor. EXPERTISE Law, Human Rights, Democracy, Development, Public Policy and International Affairs CURRENT PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS Senior Partner, Fahda Nur & Yusmadi – Advocates, Solicitors & Syariah counsel (2007 – present) A boutique law firm specialising in civil, commercial law, criminal defence, human rights, public interest and Islamic law cases. Founder & Chairman, RIGHTS Foundation (2008 – present) RIGHTS is an independent private think tank and charity organization stands for Regional Initiatives for Governance, Human Rights & Social Justice. ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS Lee Kuan Yew Senior Fellow in Public Service at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Natinal University of Singapore (2019) Draper Hills Democracy & Development Fellow (Center for Democracy, Development & the Rule of Law) Stanford University, Palo Alto, California (2008) American University Washington College of Law, Washington D.C LL.M International Legal Studies (Human Rights), Dissertation: ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism & Its Challenges International Islamic University Malaysia LL.B (Hons), Law, 1994 – 1998 - Activities and Societies: Vice president of Law Society Association, Asean Law Students' Association (ALSA), founding committee the first Malaysia Law Students Association (MALSA) - Attending Malaysia-Indonesia Legal Integration Visit at University of Indonesia, Jakarta (law students exchange programme) 1995 Matriculation Centre International Islamic University Malaysia Certificate, Law, 1993 - 1994 Professional qualification Admitted to the High Court of Malaya 1999 (Malaysian Bar) PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATION Admitted to the High Court of Malaya 1999 (Malaysian Bar) HONOURS AND AWARDS Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow (Law & Human Rights) by the Fulbright Commission of the United States of America (2007-2008) International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) on Regional Human Rights Advocacy by the United States Department of State (March 8, 2004) POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Summer Program 2007 Certificate, International Human Rights, 2007 - 2007 Activities and Societies: A Summer Human Rights Academy organized by American University Washington College of Law and the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights on June 15, 2007 in Washington D.C. Successfully completed courses on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, International Justice for Human Rights Violations, Rights to Political Participation and United Nations Human Rights System Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University Certificate, Global Development and Social Justice, 2007 - 2007 Activities and Societies: Participated in the Atlanta Enhancement Workshop on Global Development and Social Justice on March 18-23, 2007 The United States Institute of Peace, Washington D.C. Certificate, Peace Studies, 2007 - 2007 Activities and Societies: Participated in the Collaborative Peacemaking Workshop organised by the United States Institute of Peace on May 11, 2007 in Washington D.C. PUBLIC SERVICE EXPERIENCE Senator of the Upper House (Dewan Negara) of Malaysia. August 2018-present Committee Chairman, Senate Reform Working Committee Member of Parliament, Malaysia March 2008 – May 2015 Elected as Member of Parliament on 8th March 2008 representing the constituency of Balik Pulau (P.053) in Penang and held a few positions in Inter-Parliamentarians organizations and caucuses such as:- Special Parliamentary Committee on Anti-Corruption appointed by YDP Agong (the King) of Malaysia under Malaysia Anti Corruption Commission Act 2009 Member of Commonwealth Election Observer Team for Maldives Presidential Election 2012 Member of ‘Middle East Economic Enrichment’ Doha Forum sponsored by UCLA and Qatar Government Treasurer, Inter-Parliamentary Union, Malaysia; - Part of IPU Malaysia delegates to ICC on Rome Statute i.e. admission of Malaysia as International Criminal Court member - Part of delegates