Professor Alvin Ng Lai Oon

Professor Alvin Ng Lai Oon

  • Professorial Teaching Fellow
  • School of Psychology
Faculty of Medical and Life Sciences

Biography

Professor Dr Alvin Ng, DPsych, FMASO is a registered clinical psychologist (MAHPC(CP)00812) with special interests in mental health literacy and professional development. Prior to ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø, he served at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for 11 years as a lecturer and clinical psychologist. He was also a regular consultant on LiteFM’s Lite Breakfast Mental Health Hour which aired every Wednesday morning from 2015 to 2017. Dr Ng has given numerous talks and workshops to organisations, at conferences and to the public on mental health topics. 

He won the 2017 EduCoop National Outstanding Educator (Psychology) Award in recognition of his contributions towards the development of psychology in Malaysia. He has had honorary academic positions at Monash University Malaysia, University of East Anglia as well as the University of Exeter. He also received a Fellowship of the Malaysian Association for the Study of Obesity (MASO) in 2023. In September 2024, he spent a month at Brasenose College, University of Oxford as a Jeffrey Cheah Scholar-in-Residence. He was also recognised as one of Wiki Impact Malaysia's Top 100 Malaysian Changemakers 2024 under the Healthcare for All category. 

Dr Ng was instrumental in establishing the Malaysian Society in Clinical Psychology (MSCP) in 2010, of which he is also the Founding President. In 2025 he received a Lifetime Honorary Membership from MSCP for his contributions to the profession in Malaysia. While no longer in clinical practice, Dr Ng is active in the development of cognitive behaviour therapy in Asia, as an active member of the Asian Cognitive Behavioral Therapies Association (ACBTA), of which he was the secretary from 2021 to 2024, during which he also chaired the 7th Asian CBT Conference 2021, which was a 3-day online conference that attracted 7,474 participants from 80 countries. Recently, he was appointed as a Steering Committee Member of GLOW-CAT (Growing Local OSI Worldwide for Child Anxiety Treatments) Programme, hosted by University of Oxford and funded by Wellcome Trust.

Academic & Professional Qualifications

  • Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, Lancaster University, UK (2015) DPsych Clinical, Murdoch University, Australia (2002)
  • BPsych, Murdoch University, Australia (1998)
  • BA in Psychology, University of Western Australia, Australia (1997)

Research Interests

  • Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and stress-reduction
  • Mental health literacy
  • Psychometric development for cross-cultural psychopathology
  • Psychosocial mediators of health and well-being
  • Behaviour fluency

Notable Publications

  1. Ibrahim, S., Abdul Karim, N., Ng, A. L. O., & Wan Ngah, W. Z. (2013). Perceived physical activity barriers related to body weight status and sociodemographic factors among Malaysian men in Klang Valley. BMC Public Health, 13, 275-284.
  2. Nadzirah, A. B., Gan, C. H., Ng, A. L. O., & Kumagai, S. (2015). Islamic religiosity, depression and anxiety among Muslim cancer patients. The IAFOR Journal of Psychology & the Behavioral Sciences, 1(1), 53-64.
  3. Ng, A. L. O. (2008). Four noble truths of Buddhism. In A. Husain, J. Shahrir, M. Osman, S. C. Loh, M. N. Mariani & S. Hamidah (Eds.), Horizons of spiritual psychology (pp. 139-151). New Delhi: Global Vision Publishing House.
  4. Ng, A. L. O. (2012). Clinical psychology in Malaysia: Issues and opportunities. In N. M. Noor & M. A. Dzulkifli (Eds.), Psychology in Malaysia (pp. 182-220). Kuala Lumpur: Pearson Malaysia.
  5. Ng, A. L. O., Wee, L. H., Lee, J. K., Johari, M. Z., Hassan Nudin, S. S. A., & Omar, B. (2014). Developing a Malaysian psychotic symptom screening inventory: An exploratory study. International Journal of Culture and Mental Health, 7(4), 386-397.
  6. Ng, A. L. O. (2015). Clinical psychology in Malaysia: Roles and issues. In S. Haque & E. Sheppard, (Eds.), Culture and cognition: A collection of critical essays. (pp. 241-255). Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang.
  7. Ng, A. L. O. (2016). Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for mental well-being. In K. T. Ang (Ed.), Living with mental disorders: Real life stories of hope and recovery (pp. 166-179). Petaling Jaya, Malaysia: Malaysian Mental Health Association.
  8. Phang, C. K., Chiang, K. C., Ng, A. L. O., Keng, S. L., & Oei, T. P. S. (2016). Effects of brief group mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for stress reduction among medical students in a Malaysian university. Mindfulness, 7, 189-197.
  9. Poh, B. K., Ng, B. K., Mohd Din, S. H., Safii, N. S., Wong, J. E., Budin, S. B., Abd Talib, R., Ng, A. L. O., Khouw, I., & Abd Karim, N. (2013). Nutritional status and dietary intakes of children aged 6 months to 12 years: findings of the nutrition survey of Malaysian children (SEANUTS Malaysia). British Journal of Nutrition, 110, S21-S35.
  10. Poh, B. K., Rojroonwasinkul, N., Le Nyugen, B. K., Budiman, B., Ng, A. L. O., Soonthorndhada, K., ... & Parikh, P. (2013). Relationship between anthropometric indicators and cognitive performance in Southeast Asian school-aged children. British Journal of Nutrition, 110(S3), S57-S64.
  11. Sharifah Wajihah Wafa, S. S. T. W, Ruzita, A. T., Nur Hana, H., McColl, J. H., Roslee R., Ng, L. O., Ayiesah, R., & Reilly, J. J. (2011).  Randomized controlled trial of a good practice approach to treatment of childhood obesity in Malaysia: Malaysian childhood obesity treatment trial (MASCOT). International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, 6(2 -2), e62-e69.           
  12. Teoh, J. Y., Ng, A. L. O., & Iwama, M. (In press). Understanding the relationship between occupation and social inclusion of blind and visually impaired (BVI) people in conservative Malaysian Chinese families with the Kawa Model. In H. V. Bruggen, S. Kantartzis, & N. Pollard, (Eds.), 'And a seed was planted...' Occupation based approaches for social inclusion. London: Whiting & Birch.
  13. Ting, R. S-K., & Ng, A. L. O. (2011). Religious resources in psychotherapy: A traditional-sensitive approach for Chinese in Malaysia. In A. H. Quek (Ed.), Multiple perspectives of psychology: Issue, challenges and future directions (pp. 92-114). Kuala Lumpur: HELP Department of Psychology.
  14. Ting, R. S-K., & Ng, L. O. (2012). Use of religious resources in psychotherapy from a tradition-sensitive approach: Cases from Chinese in Malaysia. Pastoral Psychology, 61(5-6), 941-957.