'Batu MP passes time behind bars sketching prison life'

The Batu MP Chua Tian Chang had put his "artistic talents" to use when his lawyers visited him on Monday to ask about his condition, said the lawyer Latheefa Koya.

Showing her notebook to the crowd that had gathered outside Chua’s office to show solidarity last night, Latheefa said Chua had even included the dimensions of his prison cell and the thickness of his mattress when asked what the cell was like and what amenities it contained.

“We know Tian Chua as a politician. We know Tian Chua as an activist and so on. But many don’t know Tian Chua is an artist, in the sense that he could draw,” she said. 

“When I met him on Monday,” she continued, “he sketched his room – what his room looked like, and you could see a mattress one-and-half inches thick with a small pillow, and that the room is very small.

He even wrote that it measured 15 feet in length and was nine feet in height and wrote in all the details.

“This is Tian Chua. His methods are very detailed. The pictures show how Tian Chua is willing to sacrifice his freedom by living in his cell,” she said.

The drawings also showed that the cell was eight feet wide.

Chua was convicted by the Sessions Court in January 2014 under the Protected Areas and Places Act 1959 and was sentenced to one-month imprisonment and a RM1,000 fine.

He was accused of refusing an order to leave the Pulapol complex along Jalan Semarak on April 29, 2012, after being brought there a day earlier during the Bersih 3 rally.

When the case came up to the Court of Appeal on Friday last week, Chua (photo) abruptly withdrew his appeal but said this does not amount to an admission of guilt.

“My lords, in my opinion, it is an absurdity to penalise me for my being in the compound of Pulapol, in a situation which I was brought in by force and against my will.

“My participation in Bersih had been part of a very long journey of the struggle for a fairer and better Malaysia.

“If the price for changing this repressive and corrupt system is to go to prison, I shall say I am more than ready to accept,” he said in his address to the court.

Last night, some 200 supporters gathered outside Chua’s service centre along Jalan Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, to show solidarity for Chua, who will be serving his sentence in Kajang Prison until Oct 27.

According to the event’s emcee Rozan Azen Mat Rasip, a collection that went around the crowd managed to garner RM740 in donations.

A large banner was hung from Chua’s first-floor office and was long enough to hang just above the ground. Many supporters wrote well-wishes with markers on the banner, which featured a caricature of Chua posed as though he was addressing a crowd.

Beneath the banner, tealight candles were lit and were arranged to spell out that words “Solidarity Tian Chua”.

A pickup truck was used as an impromptu stage at the event, which started at about 8.30pm and went on until 11.30pm.

Flipping to another page in her notebook, Latheefa said Chua also drew the items provided to him for his imprisonment when asked about it. These include a scoop, a cup, a toothbrush, a bar of bath soap, a bar of laundry soap, and two sets prison uniforms.

“But strangely, he said there were no towels. After bathing, they are asked to dry themselves just like that. Maybe he felt that this is okay; since there is no fan, it is cooler this way,” she said.

She said when Tian Chua was asked what he ate, the took to the pen again and drew a tray with a “very sparse; very, very simple” meal.

However, she said Chua did not appear to mind because he was already modest in his meal choices before going to prison.

The drawing sighted by Malaysiakini included rice, fish, carrots and vegetables, and soup or sauce for lunch.

Latheefa said Chua appears to be in good health, high spirits and is taking prison life in his stride although he is slightly fatigued.

“But for us, this is a manifestation of Tian Chua’s sacrifice and I hope it would give courage to us all. If we face imprisonment, we know what to expect.

“So, do not be afraid. BN could not break Tian Chua’s spirit; BN cannot break the people’s desire for change,” she said.

Latheefa said although Chua is treated well in his captivity, he has to spend 23 hours and 30 minutes each day in his cell. He is only allowed to leave his cell for 30 minutes for recreational activities.

She said Chua had also developed withdrawal symptoms from his phone, and could still “feel” his phone ring two days into his captivity.

“That’s Tian Chua, a person who works up to 24 hours (a day) as a political activist,” she said.

Latheefa also said Chua had asked to pass on a message dismissing claims that the withdrawal of his appeal was merely a political charade.

"This is a message to BN that we are not afraid of imprisonment. That was his message," he said.

Other speakers include prominent opposition politicians and activists. These include Pakatan Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad, PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah, and her predecessor the co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan.

The Batu PAS division also had a representative on stage. The division’s information chief Nurul Islam Mohamed Yusoff said the division had maintained good ties with the Batu PKR division regardless of the political climate at the national level, and
expressed hope that imprisonment would only steel Chua’s resolve to save the country.- Mkini