Cheah Kah Peng

Cheah Kah Peng (simplified Chinese: 谢嘉平; traditional Chinese: 謝嘉平; pinyin: Xiè Jiā Píng) was a full-time painter, writer, filmmaker and human rights advocate before he was elected as a Penang State (Legislative) Assemblyman in Malaysia.^[1][2][3]

Cheah Kah Peng was born in Georgetown, Penang. Cheah 谢 is his family name, and Kah Peng 嘉平 is his given name. He attended Soo Chow University and University of Oxford where he studied law. He received the prestigious British Government Chevening Scholar Award and read law in Oxford.

Living as a young traveller in Europe, Asia and Australia during the 1980s and 1990s he became involved in many civil and human rights campaign activities. He travelled widely as a painter, writer, filmmaker and human rights advocate before he returned to Malaysia from Australia during the mid 90s, and became one of the earliest founding members of a new Parti Keadilan Nasional 国民公正党 on 4 April 1999 (which subsequently amalgamated with Parti Rakyat Malaysia 马来西亚人民党 to become Parti Keadilan Rakyat 人民公正党).

The political party he helped to construct focused on dismantling its colonial legacy of racial divide (or apartheid) through tackling institutionalised racism, poverty and inequality. He was elected as member of the party’s Supreme Council and served as central committee member from 1999 to 2010. He was reported to be one of the International Human Rights lawyers at risk in international journals from 1999 to 2003 during which he was one of the few lawyers who stood up against Malaysia’s draconian Internal Security Act. In the year 2000, he was arrested and imprisoned in Malaysia for a trumped up charge of obstructing police officers in execution of their duty while the truth was that he tried to stop the police from causing grievous bodily harm to political detainees.

Cheah Kah Peng is currently the people’s representative or State Assemblyman 州立法议员 for Botanical Gardens 植物园 (Kebun Bunga) Penang and he remains a part-time painter writer filmmaker and human rights advocate.

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