Kee Thuan Chye

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Kee.

Kee Thuan Chye
Chinese name	紀傳財 (traditional)
Chinese name	纪传财 (simplified)
Born	(1954-05-25) 25 May 1954 Penang, Federation of Malaya
Occupation	Journalist, editor, author, playwright, actor, and civil liberty advocate
Spouse(s)	Lim Choy Wan
Children	Soraya Sunitra Kee Xiang Yin (daughter), and Jebat Arjuna Kee Jia Liang (son)
Awards 34th Most Trusted Malaysian in 2010 poll conducted by Reader's Digest The Annexe Heroes Freedom of Expression Awards 2008

Kee Thuan Chye (born 25 May 1954; aged 70) is a Malaysian actor, dramatist, poet and journalist. Acting in theatre, films, and on television for more than 30 years, he continues to do so. In 1981, Kee co-founded the theatre group, KAMI, in Kuala Lumpur. A noted civil rights activist, he would express in his plays whatever he could not express through the newspapers under Malaysia's repressive Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA). For speaking out without fear or favour, Kee was among the first recipients of The Annexe Heroes Freedom of Expression Awards when it was launched in 2008. In 2010, he was also voted the 34th Most Trusted Malaysian in a poll conducted by Reader's Digest.

Although social reengineering under the New Economic Policy had already begun after the 13 May Incident of 1969, it became more pronounced after Mahathir bin Mohamad became Prime Minister in 1981. At the New Straits Times, Kee Thuan Chye received numerous memos from his editor-in-chief for trying to push the parameters and opening up public discourse on what was deemed 'sensitive' issues. Firmly believing that the responsibility of a journalist to the public is to inform them of the truth, he had to battle with his superiors and as a consequence, he was often punished, marginalised, and shut out. In 1988, Kee received his master's degree in drama from the University of Essex, after being awarded a British Council Fellowship for postgraduate studies in England.

In 2001, Kee Thuan Chye became the Associate Editor of The Star in Kuala Lumpur, creating and editing the English column, Mind Our English, until retirement in May 2009. His Sunday Star column, Playing The Fool, which he began in April 2001, ran for only two instalments before it was cancelled. In his inaugural article, Kee had written that he would be speaking out frankly on social and political issues, without fear or favour. His second article, hitting out at racial discrimination in Malaysia, was published but when it came to his third article, the editors got jittery and suppressed it. The Star finally decided to terminate the column after Kee submitted his fourth article.

Civil rights advocacy

Kee Thuan Chye's political awakening began when he could not afford to pursue his master's 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 politicised to divide the people. Mahathir 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 institutionalised racial discrimination, played to full houses in 1985, followed, amongst others, by The Big Purge which brazenly satirises Mahathir and Operation Lalang.

In the aftermath of the 2008 general elections, Kee Thuan Chye rushed out his book 8 March: The Day Malaysia Woke Up in a record three months, due to the topicality of the subject matter. This was followed by 8 March: Time for Real Change in 2010. For speaking out without fear or favour, 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 recognise 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.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Remarks
2015	Foundation	Father	Short film made for Cine 65 Singapore competition
2008	Sell Out!	CEO 1	Directed by Yeo Joon Han (Amok Films)
2007	1957 Hati Malaya	Tan Cheng Lock	Directed by Shuhaimi Baba (Pesona Pictures)
2004	Ah Lok Kafe: The Movie	Char Koay Teow	Directed by Anwardi Jamil
2001	Snipers	Mr. Tan	Written and directed by James Lee
2000	Lips to Lips	Scrabble Man	Written and directed by Amir Muhammad
1999	Anna and the King	Second Judge	Directed by Andy Tennant, starring Jodie Foster (Twentieth Century Fox)
	Entrapment	Trader #1	Directed by Jon Amiel, starring Sean Connery (Twentieth Century Fox)

Television

Kee Thuan Chye has appeared in more than 20 television dramas, including but not limited to:

Year	Title	Role	Remarks
2015	Code of Law (Season 3)	Justice Peter Loh	Singapore TV series
	The Circle House	Tan Hock Chuan	Singapore TV-movie
2014	Mata Mata (Season 2)	Tan Eng Chye	Singapore TV series
2013	Code of Law (Season 2)	Justice Peter Loh	Singapore TV series
2012	Code of Law (Season 1)	Justice Peter Loh	Singapore TV series
2011	The Pupil (Season 2)	Justice Peter Loh	Singapore TV series
2009	10 (Sepuluh)	Liew	8-episode TV drama series
	Mr Siao's Mandarin Class	Robert Toh	TV sitcom
2008	Sense of Home: Kampung Kid	Marcus Owyang	Lead role in the TV-movie, shot in Siem Reap, Cambodia
	Secrets of the Forbidden City	Xia Yuanji	Playing the role of Minister of Revenue to the Yongle Emperor in the dramatised documentary for the BBC and the History Channel
2007	Marco Polo: Discovery of the World	Chief Map Maker	Hallmark TV-movie
2006	Realiti	David Yeoh	A TV series
2004	Singapore Shakes!	David Setoh	'Seventh Month' episode of the Singapore series
	Perceptions	Victor Wong	Main-cast member in the 13-episode Singapore series
2003	Each Other	Ronnie Ng	Semi-regular role in the 13-episode drama series
2002	Kopitiam	Kok Hui	Guest role in one episode of the 3rd season
	Love Matters: The Marriage Factor	Daddy	A Singapore telemovie
2001	Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd	Lim Pek Kong	Guest role of one episode of the Singapore sitcom
2000	Teh Tarik Dot Com	Vince	Main cast member of the 13-episode sitcom
1999	Kopitiam	Major Lim	Guest role of in one episode of sitcom (2nd season)
1996-1997	City of the Rich	Han Lee	Main cast member in the 200-episode series
1984	Maria	Peter	A Malay TV drama
1977	Bailey's Bird	Ming Ho	Guest role in German-Australian TV series

Plays

Kee Thuan Chye has written, directed, and acted in numerous plays, including but not limited to:

Year	Title	Role	Remarks
2015	Public Enemy	Actor (as Martin Kwek)	Directed by Glen Goei, W!ld Rice Productions, Singapore
2014	2 Houses	Actor (as Heah)	Directed by Lim Yubeng, premiered at George Town Festival
2012	The Flight of the Jade Bird	Actor (as The Narrator)	Directed by Mark Chan, premiered at the Singapore Arts Festival 2012
2011	Swordfish + Concubine: The Fall of Singapura	Writer	Directed by Jonathan Lim, Young 'n' Wild, Singapore
	The Baling Talks	Actor (as Chin Peng)	Played at the Singapore Arts Festival for Five Arts Centre
2008	The Swordfish, Then the Concubine	Writer	Directed by Ivan Heng, premiered as the opening play of the Singapore Theatre Festival 2008, organised by Wild Rice Productions.
2006	The Swordfish, Then the Concubine	Writer	The play made it to the Top 5 out of over 600 entries to the International Playwriting Festival, organised by the Warehouse Theatre in Croydon, United Kingdom, with excerpts presented at the festival in November 2006
2005	The Big Purge	Writer	Selected for Typhoon 4, a playreading festival organised by the Yellow Earth Theatre, held in Soho Theatre, London
2002	Beautifully Read	Actor	A performance sponsored by the US Embassy, directed by Karin delaPena, Artistic Director of Speaking of Stories, based in Santa Barbara, California
1994	We Could **** You Mr. Birch	Writer-cum-director	Performed for two seasons in June and December 1994. The play was invited to the Festival of Asian Performing Arts in Singapore in 1995 (performances on 5–6 June at the World Trade Centre Auditorium).
1993	The Birch and the Rod	Director	A play written by K.S. Maniam, premiering at the Australasian Drama Studies Association Conference in Perth, Western Australia
1992	Macbeth	Director	A Shakespearean play
1990	Gulls	Lead actor	Directed by Robert Hewett
	The Proposal	Actor (as Chubukhov)	Play written by Anton Chekhov
1989	Death of a Salesman	Actor (as Willy Loman)	Play written by American playwright Arthur Miller
1988	The Big Purge	Writer	Selected for Typhoon 4, a playreading festival organised by Yellow Earth Theatre and held in Soho Theatre, London
1987	Anak Tanjung	Actor (as Ah Heng)	A Malay play written by Noordin Hassan
1986	The Coffin Is Too Big for the Hole	Actor (one-man performance)	Play written by Kuo Pao Kun
1985	1984 Here and Now	Writer	Staged in 1985 by Five Arts Centre, directed by Krishen Jit
	Yap Ah Loy - The Play	Actor (various roles)	Play written by Chin San Sooi
1984	Long Day's Journey Into Night	Actor (as Jamie Tyrone)	Play written by Eugene O'Neill
1981	Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead	Actor (as Claudius)	Play written by Tom Stoppard
1977	Eyeballs, Leper, and a Very Dead Spider	Writer-cum-director	-
	Antigone	Actor (as Creon)	Play written by Jean Anouilh
1974	Oh, But I Don't Want To Go, Oh, But I Have To...	Writer-cum-director	-
	The Situation of the Man who Stabbed a Dummy or a Woman and was Disarmed by the Members of the Club for a Reason Yet Obscure, If There Was One	Writer-cum-director	-
1973	An Old Man Died Today	Writer-cum-director	-

Scriptwriting for television

• 2009: Writing storylines for Auntie English, produced by Astro
• 2004: Co-writing the script for one episode of Singapore Shakes! with Remesh Panicker, followed by another episode, singly
• 1998–1999: Writing storylines for the 150-episode Idaman II
• 1997-1998: Writing storylines for the 150-episode Idaman

Major book publications

Apart from publishing numerous articles, Kee Thuan Chye has authored several books, including:

• Unbelievably Stupid Too! (Gerakbudaya, 2015)
• Unbelievably Stupid! (Gerakbudaya, 2015)
• Can We Save Malaysia, Please! (Marshall Cavendish, 2014)
• The Elections Bullshit (SIRD, 2013)
• Ask for No Bullshit, Get Some More! (SIRD, 2013)
• No More Bullshit, Please, We're All Malaysians (Marshall Cavendish, 2012)
• 8 March: Time for Real Change (Marshall Cavendish, 2010)
• 8 March: The Day Malaysia Woke Up (Marshall Cavendish, 2008)
• 1984 Here and Now (Marshall Cavendish, 2004)
• The Big Purge (Marshall Cavendish, 2004)
• We Could **** You, Mr Birch (Marshall Cavendish, 2004)
• Old Doctors Never Fade Away, a biography (Teks Publishing, 1988)
• Just In So Many Words, a collection of selected writings in the press (Heinemann, 1992, reprinted 1993)
• Haunting the Tiger and Other Stories, edited (Berita Publishing, 1991)