Sivarasa Rasiah
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Yang Berhormat Tuan Sivarasa Rasiah சிவராசா ராசையா MP |
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|---|---|
| Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Subang |
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Assumed office 8 March 2008 |
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| Preceded by | K. S. Nijhar |
| Majority | 6,000 |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
8 December 1956 Selangor, Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia) |
| Political party | PKR |
| Other political affiliations |
Pakatan Harapan |
| Spouse(s) | Ann James |
| Alma mater |
University of Malaya University of Oxford |
| Occupation | Politician, lawyer |
Sivarasa Rasiah (Tamil: சிவராசா ராசையா; born 8 December 1956), or also known as R.Sivarasa is a prominent Malaysian politician, lawyer and human rights activist of Ceylonese/Sri Lankan descent. He is co-founder of Suara Rakyat Malaysia or SUARAM, a human rights NGO and former vice-president of the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) or People's Justice Party. Sivarasa is the incumbent Member of Parliament for Subang, Selangor.
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.
It was while he was in the United Kingdom 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. He later joined PKR.
In the 2008 general election, Sivarasa was elected as the Member of Parliament for Subang, defeating his opponent by a 6,000 vote majority. and he maintain the seat in the 2013 general election.
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