Civil Rights Advocacy
Kee Thuan Chye's political awakening began when he could not afford to pursue his Masters degree unless he had a tutor's position. He applied for the post at Universiti Sains Malaysia, his alma mater, and although he was the top student in his class, the job was given to someone else. Kee then joined the now-defunct National Echo as a literary editor where he wrote scathingly about political matters. Moving from Penang to Kuala Lumpur to join the New Straits Times in the late 1970s, he saw more clearly how race had been politicized to divide the people. Mahathir bin Mohamad who had become the Prime Minister in 1981 was becoming increasingly dictatorial and would tolerate no criticism of him and his government in the media.
What Kee Thuan Chye could not express through the newspaper, he eventually expressed in his plays. 1984 Here and Now which spoke out frankly against Big Brother and institutionalized racial discrimination, played to full houses in 1985, followed, amongst others, by The Big Purge which brazenly satirizes Mahathir and Operation Lalang.
In the aftermath of the 2008 general elections, Kee Thuan Chye rushed out his book March 8: The Day Malaysia Woke Up in a record three months, due to the topicality of the subject matter. This was followed by March 8: Time for Real Change in 2010. For speaking out without fear or favor, Kee was among the first recipients of The Annexe Heroes Freedom of Expression Awards when it was launched by The Annexe Gallery at Central Market in Kuala Lumpur in 2008 to recognize Malaysians who have done outstanding work in championing freedom of expression in the previous year. In 2010, he was also voted the 34th Most Trusted Malaysian in a poll conducted by Reader's Digest.
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