The Reform Movement in Malaysia

23 October 2003

by Tian Chua

Labour activist and Vice-President of Malaysia’s opposition Keadilan Party

 

In 2001, Mr Tian Chua was detained without being charged for two years under Malaysia ’s Internal Security Act. The Act empowers the Home Minister to make an infinitely extendable two year detention order where he suspects an individual to pose a threat to national security. Prior to his detention, as Director of the Labour Resource Centre in Malaysia , Mr. Chua conducted workshops on human rights and basic labour standards in factories across the country. Before completing a Masters in labour studies at the Institute for Social Studies in Den Hague, in the Netherlands, he worked with the prominent Malaysian human rights group, Suaram, and with the Hong Kong-based labour organization, Asian Monitor Resource Centre, and was associated with Asia Pacific Workers’ Solidarity Links. Later, Mr. Chua joined the Parti Keadlian Nasional (National Justice Party), formed in 1999, to fight for the rights of workers, democracy, and the elimination of corruption in government.

 

Mr Chua discussed the prospects of Reformasi (the Reform Movement in Malaysia) in the post-Mahartir era, and provided an update on the human rights situation and democratisation in Malaysia. He also shared his experiences as a political prisoner.