Chua Tian Chang

Born in Melaka on 21 December 1963, he was the eldest of four siblings. His father, Chua Neo Lai, is of Hakka descent and was a rice wholesaler. His late mother, Chan Yuet Chien, was a Chinese schoolteacher.[1] Chua was educated in Siang Lin Primary School and Malacca Catholic High School. He then studied Lower Six in Gajah Berang High School. In 1982, Tian went to continue his studies in Australia. He first studied Matriculation in South Sydney High School. After completing HSC, he got admitted into Agricultural Science in Sydney University. He said:

I wanted to be a scientist and invent things, like Thomas Edison. I got interested in the agro-sciences as I wanted to study things that could be useful.[1]

But in his third year, he switched to Philosophy at the University of New South Wales. Australia in the 1980s was a hotbed for student activists. "My father had hoped I'd study law for good future prospects. But I became exposed to peace movements, environmental issues, and human rights situations around the world". He became an active student leader and was involved in student movement under the Network of Overseas Student Collectives (NOSCA) and Left Alliance. His mates included Steven Gan and Premesh Chandran, co-founders of news website Malaysiakini. Together, they protested against the imposition of university fees on foreign students started by Bob Hawke's administration in 1985.[1] Chua had his first taste of arrest when he was locked up after a demonstration in Sydney. He was also recruited by East Timor then leader-in-exile, now president Ramos Horta to help prepare newsletters.[1]

Upon returning to Malaysia in 1990, he joined Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) in the campaign against Internal Security Act (ISA). He also began to get involved in the labour movement in Malaysia. In 1992, he joined Hong Kong-based Asia Monitor Resource Center (AMRC), a regional labour research NGO.

After his contract in Hong Kong ended, he went for further studies in the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague, The Netherlands. He graduated with Masters in Employment & Labour Studies. Tian again returned to Malaysia in 1996 and continued to pursue a trail of life as social activist.

In 1997, Tian was appointed the director of Labour Resource Centre (LRC). The centre was found in 1990 by a group of trade unionists and labour activists. He was also in the Board of SUARAM.

In 1998, SUARAM initiated a forum comprised NGOs and opposition parties known as Gagasan Demokrasi Rakyat Malaysia. The forum was officially launched during the saga of Anwar Ibrahim and Reformasi. Tian was elected the chairperson of the movement.

Chua was involved with the Reformasi movement in Malaysia in 1999 due to the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim as Deputy Prime Minister. He became famous when images of him sitting defiantly in front of a police water cannon truck were splashed across the global media during the height of the movement.[2]

Between 27 and 30 September 1999, Tian Chua and six other activists, including KeADILan leaders; Youth leader Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor, Mohamed Azmin Ali and Dr Badrul Amin Baharun; were arrested and as a result prevented from contesting in the 1999 general elections.[3] Further arrests were made on 10 April 2001 and those arrested were subsequently charged and in carcerated under the Internal Security Act (ISA).[4] They became known as the Reformasi 10.[5]

At the Kamunting detention camp, Tian Chua kept himself busy by dabbling in his love for drawing and painting. He drew the insects that entered his cell and made over 100 Hari Raya and Chinese New Year cards for friends and family. He had much time to read (including heavy tomes like Homer's Iliad, and learnt Thai, Norwegian, Arabic, French and Sanskrit, which he has mostly forgotten now. Tian Chua spent two years in detention under the ISA and numerous times in police lock-ups for championing various causes since 1996.[6]

In 1999, Tian Chua was invited to join the newly founded Parti Keadilan Nasional (KeADILan) headed by Dr Wan Azizah. In 2004, KeADILan merged with Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) and formed Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR). Tian Chua was appointed the Information Chief and was then elected the national vice-president of the party.[7]

He has manned the PKR service centre in the heart of Sentul since it was opened in 2004. Areas that came under his Batu constituency include Sentul. The constituency has the most Projek Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) public housing apartments and one of the highest rates of petty crime in the city. Tian Chua as a lawmaker himself later, had pledged not to change his ways:

I'm not changing my approach. My responsibility is to voice out and if there is something that needs me to, I will do it.

In the 2008 general election (GE12), Tian Chua contested in the Batu parliamentary constituency in Kuala Lumpur and won, defeating Barisan Nasional's Lim Si Pin, who is son of former national president of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan); Lim Keng Yaik with a 9,455 majority. Tian Chua won for the second time in the Batu, Kuala Lumpur for the 2013 general election (GE13) defeating Barisan Nasional's Dominic Lau Hoe Chai with 13,284 majority.

Tian Chua was disqualified to contest and unable defend his Batu parliamentary seat in the 2018 general election (GE14) when his nomination was rejected due to a RM2,000 fine from a court case that he paid in 2010.[8] He instead endorsed one of the independent candidates, 22-year-old law student P. Prabakaran who later won the seat and jointed PKR as the country's youngest parliamentarian.[9] The High Court in 2019 declared that his GE14 disqualification was invalid and that he is eligible to contest future general elections.[10] Tian Chua was elected as the Special Adviser to the Minister of Works during the short ruling period of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration after GE14 from March 2019 until it collapse due to the political crisis in 2020 in February.[11]

In 2009, Tian Chua took the lead role in a science fiction short film titled One Future, which depicted Malaysia as an Orwellian dystopia. The character's fate at the hands of the authorities in the film mirrors aspects of Tian Chua's own public life.

• Batu (federal constituency)