Covid-19 and Psychology in Malaysia: Psychosocial Effects, Coping and Wellbeing Strategies

Part of a mini series of Focus books on COVID-19 in Malaysia, the chapters in this book addresses the psychosocial impact on the pandemic and ways in which people have learned to develop the ability to be more resilient despite the challenges of living and working during this public health crisis.

Covering a range of topics including life under lockdown, working on the frontlines, and the rapid adaptation to online teaching, the contributors highlight the pervasiveness of the pandemic on Malaysian society, identified factors that potentially increase the psychosocial impact of the pandemic on different segments of the population and how Malaysians have found ways to cope throughout this period. This is an opportunity to witness how researchers from multiple disciplines can join forces during challenging times. There are a great many lessons to be learned from the successes and failures in responding to the pandemic and the measures that have been necessary to contain it.

A fascinating read for scholars with an interest in crisis management in non-Western contexts, especially those with a particular interest in Malaysia, or Southeast Asia more generally.

D. Gerard Joseph Louis (The chief editor of the psychology book) is the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Mental Health), Dean of the Faculty of Behavioral Sciences, Education and Languages at HELP University, Kuala Lumpur and the CEO of the HELP Education Services, a subsidiary of the HELP Group that oversees the management of the K-12 International Schools Division. He has been involved in the field of education, counselling and training for over 30 years.

Gerard, is a Counselling Psychologist and has extensive experience in the supervision and development of both professional counsellors and counsellors-in-training. His research and professional interests are in the areas of resilience and wellbeing. Over the period of the Movement Control Order (MCO) from March to July, 2020, he was involved in offering webinars to private and government organizations and the public at large on issues related to managing mental health and wellbeing during periods of uncertainty brought about by COVID-19 pandemic. He also led the initiatives of the Department of Psychology at HELP in the delivery of a host of virtual events, podcasts and other resources in response to the mental health issues arising from the pandemic (https: //university.help.edu.my/mental-health-response-to-COVID-19/)

Surinderpal Kaur (The editor of COVID-19 in Malaysia multidisciplinary series) is an Associate Professor and Dean at the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. She attained her PhD from Lancaster University, UK. Her research interests include Media Discourses and Multimodality, focusing specifically upon public discourses in mainstream and social media that relate to public health, migration, terrorism issues. She has been actively involved with Universiti Malaya’s social outreach initiatives to offer solutions to the mental health challenges faced by Malaysian during the COVID-19 pandemic (Caring Together/UMPrihatin), focusing specifically on the social media platforms of Telegram and Facebook. She is currently compiling a database of research and data from all over the world to help Malaysian scholars in their research on COVID-19.

Huey Fen Cheong (The managing editor of COVID-19 in Malaysia multidisciplinary series) is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English Language, Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya. Her research interests are interdisciplinary from gender studies and linguistics to marketing and psychology. Her works are usually humanitarian, from gender equality (for men and women) and anti-racism (skin whitening and Black Lives Matter) to decolonisation of academia. The last one explains the initiative behind this book series in creating a platform for researchers to study the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia, which addresses the lack of COVID-19 research and publication in South East Asia. She is also the founder of the Facebook group, (Post-)COVID job market in Malaysia (https: //www.facebook.com/groups/2805574166392321), which shares information about the new normal of employment and employability during this challenging time.