Mazlan Mahmood 

Operations Associate (1987 – present)

At the time of this interview, Mazlan bin Mahmood had been the longest-serving current employee at the Institute of Policy Studies, starting out as a dispatch rider and office attendant after completing his National Service. His uncle had worked at the Department of Political Science at NUS, and introduced him to IPS’ founding director Professor Chan Heng Chee, who was looking for staff.

Once IPS moved to Hon Sui Sen Memorial Library, and with Ms Irene Lim overseeing administration when she joined IPS in 1999, Mr Mazlan took on additional duties, such as assisting with events management and logistics for seminars and public lectures. He noted that some of IPS’ administrative processes had changed following its merger with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP), and that IPS was now one of the research centres within LKYSPP, though he said that IPS remained an independent think tank.

He recalled how IPS had grown over the years and having to work with a large administration team, compared with his time as the sole office attendant at the beginning. IPS was relatively unknown at the start, but its profile grew through the many events that Mr Mazlan helped out with. His most memorable experience was being a chaperone for Malaysian politician Chandra Muzaffar when he visited IPS, who later thanked him for his assistance. While not a senior researcher, Mr Mazlan expressed his appreciation for the work IPS had done in analysing domestic and foreign issues.


This interview was conducted on 9 Jul 2019. Click here to listen to the full interview.