Biography

Natalie is currently pursuing a PhD in International Politics and Conflict Resolution sponsored by the Foundation for Science and Technology/ Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT). Her thesis which is being supervised by Assistant Prof. Carmen Amado Mendes, PhD, is on ASEAN Security Management in Maintaining Peace in Southeast Asia: An analysis from 1999 to 2015. Prior to starting the PhD, Natalie was Senior Officer at the Social Welfare, Women, Labour & Migrant Workers Division in the Socio-Cultural Cooperation Directorate of the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia. Natalie was also a Senior Analyst with the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia, the country's premier, autonomous and non-profit think-tank. She also worked with the United Nations Development Program (Malaysia) and served the Malaysian Royal Family. Natalie has been a columnist with theSun, a Malaysian daily since 2008 and has over 200 articles published under her column On Pointe. Apart from that, Natalie is the co-founder of MakanLah! a social enterprise with the aim to addresses issues of poor nutrition among young Malaysians. She was bestowed the Pingat Pekerti Terpilih (Medal of Great Achievement) for her service to the Malaysian Royal Family and received the Merit Service Award for her work with the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia. Natalie is a Chevening Scholar with a Masters in International Studies and Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London), she has completed the taught section of the Masters in Strategy and Defence Studies from University Malaya, Malaysia and holds a BA in Sociology from Massey University, New Zealand.