Helena Varkkey, Ph.D.

helenav@um.edu.my

Associate Professor

Department of International and Strategic Studies, University of Malaya

Year of PhD: 2012

Country: Malaysia

Website

About Me:

Dr Helena Varkkey is an Associate Professor at the Department of International and Strategic Studies, University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She completed her Doctorate at the Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney, Australia under the guidance of Associate Professor Susan Park and Professor Lily Rahim. Her findings have been published as a book in 2016 as part of the Routledge Malaysian Studies Series. Her writings have also appeared in many international academic journals, including International Environmental Agreements, Environmental Hazards, Asia Pacific Business Review, Wetlands, and Asia Pacific Viewpoint. One of her academic articles won third place in the ASEAN Peatland Media Award 2013. Her work was also featured in the 2014 Routledge Handbook on Contemporary Malaysia. Dr Helena has been interviewed by various media for her views on haze, agribusiness and ASEAN, including The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Financial Times, Channel News Asia, The Straits Times Singapore, and The Star Malaysia. Her commentaries on sustainable development and haze issues have also been published in The Straits Times Singapore. She continues to undertake research in this field.

Research Interests

Asian Politics

Environmental Policy

Palm Oil

Transboundary Haze

ASEAN

Countries of Interest

Malaysia

Indonesia

Singapore

My Research:

Dr Helena has been interested in sustainable development throughout her academic career, beginning at the undergraduate level when she was selected to represent Malaysia at the Hitachi Young Leaders Initiative in 2005, where she was involved in a working group on "Translating Environmental Awareness into Action". Her interest in the field has evolved to a focus on transboundary pollution in Southeast Asia, particularly pertaining to the role of patronage in agribusiness, especially the oil palm industry, and its link to forest fires and haze in the region. 

Publications:

Books Written:

(2016) The Haze Problem in Southeast Asia: Palm Oil and Patronage, Routledge

Despite the efforts of Southeast Asian governments and of ASEAN, transboundary haze continues to be a major environmental problem in Southeast Asia. This book demonstrates that the issue is complex, and explains why efforts to solve the problem in purely political terms are ineffective, and likely to continue to be ineffective. The book shows how state led, state incentivised agribusiness development lies at the heart of the problem, leading to a large rise in palm oil production, with extensive clearing of forests by burning, and the resulting haze. The author concludes by discussing the huge difficulties involved in overturning the system of "patronage politics".

Media Appearances:

TV Appearances:

(2019) Let's Talk with Sharaad Kuttan (ASTRO Awani, Malaysia) - More than the Air We Breathe

The "haze" which affected many Southeast Asian countries presented challenges at both the domestic and international level, and challenged nations to find solutions to this transnational pollution problem. We speak to Dr Rini Astuti, Asia Research Institute (National University of Singapore), Dr Helena Varkkey, Department of International and Strategic Studies (University of Malaya) and Mr. Alfajri , Department of International Relations (Universitas Abdurrab).