Tham Hui Ying

Tham Hui Ying has always possessed a strong sense of justice, and that passion propelled her to pursue law at the University of Reading. However, in her fifth year of legal practice, the former president of the Association of Women Lawyers decided to be more involved in human rights advocacy. 

The decision brought her to enrol in a Human Rights Master’s degree under the Chevening scholarship. With more than seven years of legal and human rights advocacy experience in Malaysia with an emphasis on women’s and children’s rights, Hui Ying joined Asylum Access in Malaysia in 2018, and now is the Director of Asylum Access Malaysia. As the Director, she oversees all programs, and operations and takes on the role of primary policy advocate at Asylum Access Malaysia, an organisation that provides legal aid to refugees and asylum seekers. 

On top of providing legal assistance to refugee and asylum seekers, Asylum Access trains members of the community to become an advocate or a mouthpiece for their community through community empowerment programmes. The direct legal aid and the community empowerment programs provided by Asylum Access have benefitted 3,100 clients per year in Malaysia.

Hui Ying was listed as Prestige 40 Under 40 in 2021 and is currently Deputy Chair of Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN)  South East Asia Working Group. Hui Ying is also a board member of the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW), an organisation focusing on women’s sexual and reproductive health and also an Executive Committee of Family Frontiers, an NGO advocating for equal nationality laws in Malaysia.

To find out more on Asylum Access Malaysia, click here.