Sivarasa Rasiah (better known as Siva) is a prominent Malaysian lawyer and human rights activist. He is co-founder of Suara Rakyat Malaysia or Suaram (a human rights NGO) and vice-president of Parti KeADILan Rakyat.

Early Life

Though today he may be one of the top lawyers in Kuala Lumpur, Siva’s first degree was actually in genetics.

Reminiscing on his early days in an interview with the New Straits Times, Siva said, “I was trying to get into medicine after high school in Victoria Institution but didn’t make the grade. Form Five was great but I guess in Form Six, there were many distractions. So instead I went into genetics in Universiti Malaya and graduated with first class honours. Six months into my Master’s I realised that this was not my cup of tea and was already looking at other options.”

He then applied for a Rhodes scholarship to pursue law at Oxford University. After completing his law degree and the Bar in Britain, Siva took a year off and went to Germany where he spent most of his time in libraries there reading. He worked for a bit after that in London before returning to Malaysia on his 30th birthday.

Human Rights Involvement

It was while he was in UK that he got interested in human rights and “became involved with union workers and stuff like that there”.

His first involvement with an NGO was in 1997 when he got involved with a women’s group called Citizens Against Rape. Siva got arrested twice during the 1998 Reformasi period but shrugs it off as part and parcel of the job.

Cancer Survivor

This lawyer-cum-politician is a cancer survivor who lost his voice for almost a year due to thyroid cancer which damaged a nerve on his vocal cords. He had to speak with a little boom box and a speaker for a while due to this. Currently he has regained his voice but he says, “I can’t sing or shout, but at least I still can talk.”

Family life

He is married to Ann James, a prominent personality in the Malaysian theatre scene. Incidentally, he met his wife at a demonstration as well. “It was during Operasi Lalang and she was there too. We were kind off thrown together and that’s when it all happened. After a long courtship, we finally got married in 1993,” he revealed in the NST interview.

For someone who’s had a brush with the police, ironically both his father and his older brother were members of the force. His father was the registrar of the police force and his older brother was a senior police officer.

He is also an avid guitar player.

Bio-Data

• Graduated First Class in Genetics from University of Malaya.
• Read Law in Oxford University under the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.
• Senior Lawyer and former EXCO member of the Malaysian Bar Council.
• Founding member of the National Human Rights Society which was initiated by former PMs Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Hussein Onn; Founding member and director of Suaram and the Institute for Democracy and Reform.
• Married to Anne James, teacher, education advocate and renowned theatre actress. His siblings and their spouses - comprising all ethnic groups - reflect the ideal multicultural Malaysia.
• Vice-President of Parti KeADILan Rakyat.

Track Record

• A leading lawyer in Malaysia on public interest court cases.
• Involvement in landmark constitutional court cases on civil liberties and social justice.
• Legal representative and adviser on rights of citizens, consumers, women and workers.
  
• Involvement in the arts, diversity and pluralism, youth, community, healthcare, education and environmental issues.
• Speaker at the UN Human Rights Commission and the UN World Conference on Human Rights.
• Involvement in the exposé of corruption by ministers, including the former Prime Minister’s family members and cronies, to the ACA.