Ariffin Omar

Ariffin S.M Omar is a Malaysian politician who is a Vice Chairman of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a component party of Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition. He served as a senator elected by the Penang State Legislative Assembly in the Parliament of Malaysia from 2 June 2015 to 2 June 2018.

Personal life and education Ariffin Omar studied at St Xavier's Institution, Penang for his secondary school education. He then continued to study at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and later obtained a Bachelor's degree at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and in 1990, obtained a Doctorate degree from the Australia National University (ANU).

He worked as a lecturer in Universiti Sains Malaysia (1974–2006) and a lecturer at the University of Utah (1998) and was also a lecturer in Universiti Utara Malaysia and the National Defence University of Malaysia.

He was also a founding member of Aliran Kesedaran Negara (Aliran), a reform movement dedicated to justice, freedom and solidarity.

Now based at the Penang Institute, his research focuses on nation, nationalism, ethnic relations and religious freedom.

Works Bangsa Melayu (Malay Concepts of Democracy and Community, 1945–1950); Oxford University Press, 1993 The Bumiputera Policy: Dynamics and Dilemmas; Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2005