Dr Hui Hon Chung
Dr Hui Hon Chung
Assistant Professor
Hon Chung has been closely associated with the higher education industry for over two decades, mostly as a practicing economist plying his trade in several universities and one central bank. A technical aficionado with a penchant for numbers, shapes and wit, his scholarly interests are mostly in economics where he made some breakthroughs in the late 2000s in what was then a pioneering study of the linkages between housing and the economy in Malaysia, at the time when housing economics had yet to emerge as the ‘big topic’ that it would eventually become after the crash in the US housing markets. Since then, he had gone on to produce other studies, most recently being an event study of how key political news in Malaysia affected exchange rates. He has also helped to manage various undergraduate programmes in the past – an experience that has given him a clearer insight on how universities can actually be run. Other ventures he has been involved in as an academic included the development of new degree courses and programmes and media work in helping to bring academic research to the public domain.
Areas of interest
- Real estate economics, Digital economy, Financial Markets,
Qualifications
- PhD (2010)
- Master of Science (2002)
- Bachelor of Science with Honours (2000)
Background
Hon Chung began his career crunching numbers in the hallowed cubicles of the Central Bank of Malaysia. Besides functioning as one of the Governor’s economic technocrats, he also co-wrote speeches (copies of which have been lost) for some cabinet ministers. Feeling that a suit-and-tie type of career was not his cup of tea, he made a switch to academia. His academic adventure has, quite literally, taken him places: prior to joining Heriot Watt, he was with HELP Education Group, University of Nottingham and recently Wawasan Open University. It was at Nottingham where he flourished as an academic, immersing himself deeply in the mundane tasks of teaching and administrative work, and the less-mundane tasks of research and supervision. Today he sees himself as teacher, scholar and administrator – all in that order.