Sivarasa Rasiah

In thisIndian name,the nameRasiahis apatronymic,and the person should be referred to by thegiven name,Sivarasa.

Sivarasa Rasiah
சிவராசா ராசையா
Deputy Minister of Rural Development
In office 2 July 2018 – 24 February 2020
Monarchs	Muhammad V (2018–2019) Abdullah (2019–2020)
Prime Minister	Mahathir Mohamad
Minister	Rina Harun
Preceded by	Alexander Nanta Linggi (Deputy Minister of Rural and Regional Development I) Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub (Deputy Minister of Rural and Regional Development II)
Succeeded by	Abdul Rahman Mohamad (Deputy Minister of Rural Development I) Henry Sum Agong (Deputy Minister of Rural Development II)
Constituency	Sungai Buloh
Member of theMalaysian Parliament forSungai Buloh
In office 9 May 2018 – 19 November 2022
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Ramanan Ramakrishnan (PH–PKR)
Majority	26,634 (2018)
Member of theMalaysian Parliament forSubang
In office 8 March 2008 – 9 May 2018
Preceded by	K. S. Nijhar (BN–MIC)
Succeeded by	Wong Chen (PH–PKR)
Majority	6,709 (2008) 26,719 (2013)
Personal details
Born	Sivarasaa/lK. Rasiah (1956-12-08)8 December 1956 Selangor,Federation of Malaya(nowMalaysia)
Political party	People's Justice Party(PKR)
Other political affiliations	Pakatan Harapan(PH) Pakatan Rakyat(PR) Barisan Alternatif(BA)
Spouse	Anne James
Alma mater	University of Malaya University of Oxford
Occupation	Politician,lawyer

Sivarasaa/lK. Rasiah(Tamil:சிவராசா ராசையா,romanized:Civarācā rācaiyā;born 8 December 1956), or also known asR. Sivarasais aMalaysianpolitician,lawyerandhuman rightsactivistof Ceylonese and Sri Lankan descent who served as theDeputy Minister of Rural Developmentin thePakatan Harapan(PH) administration under former Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamadand former MinisterRina Harunfrom July 2018 to the collapse of thePHadministration in February 2020 and theMember of Parliament(MP) forSungai Bulohfrom May 2018 to November 2022 as well as forSubangfrom March 2008 to May 2018. He is a member and former Vice-President of thePeople's Justice Party(PKR), a component party of the PH coalition. He is co-founder of theSuara Rakyat Malaysia(SUARAM), a human rightsnon-governmental organisation(NGO).

Early life

Though today he may be one of the top and prominent lawyers inKuala Lumpur,however, his first degree was actually ingenetics.Reminiscing on his early days in an interview with theNew Straits Times,Siva said, "I was trying to get into medicine after high school inVictoria Institutionbut 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 inUniversiti Malayaand 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 aRhodes scholarshipto pursue law atOxford 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 toMalaysiaon his 30th birthday.

Activism and politics

Sivarasa Rasiah Community Service Center at Section 8 ofKota Damansara.

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 the1998 Reformasi periodbut shrugs it off as part and parcel of the job. He later joined PKR.

In the2008 general election,Sivarasa was elected as the Member of Parliament forSubang,defeating his opponent by a 6,000 vote majority;he went on to keep the seat in the2013 general election.

In the2018 general election,Sivarasa was reelected for his parliamentary seat which was renamed as Sungai Buloh in an earlier redelineation exercise.

Sivarasa was appointed Deputy Minister of Rural Development of Malaysia and sworn in on 2 July 2018 in the presence of His Majesty theYang di Pertuan Agongof Malaysia.

Personal life

He is married to Ann James, a personality in the Malaysian theatre scene. He met his wife at a demonstration as well. "It was duringOperasi Lalangand she was there too. We were kind of 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.

Although Sivarasa has had brushes with the police, 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 a cancer survivor who lost his voice for almost a year due tothyroid cancerwhich damaged a nerve on hisvocal cords.He had to speak with a little boom box and a speaker for a while due to this. He has regained his voice but he says, "I can't sing or shout, but at least I still can talk.”

He is also an avid guitar player.

Election results

Parliament of Malaysia

Year	Constituency	Candidate		Votes	Pct	Opponent(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
1999	P092Ampang Jaya,Selangor		Sivarasa K. Rasiah (keADILan)	32,902	44.72%		Ong Tee Keat(MCA)	40,669	55.28%	74,869	7,767	75.98%
2004	P105Petaling Jaya Selatan,Selangor		Sivarasa K. Rasiah (PKR)	13,638	27.42%		Donald Lim Siang Chai(MCA)	35,054	70.48%	49,738	21,416	67.67%
2008	P107Subang,Selangor		Sivarasa K. Rasiah(PKR)	35,024	53.18%		Murugesan Sinnandavar(MIC)	28,315	42.99%	65,861	6,709	78.02%
2013			Sivarasa K. Rasiah(PKR)	66,268	58.65%		Pakas Rao Applanaidoo (MIC)	39,549	35.00%	112,937	26,719	87.86%
							Mohamad Ismail (BERJASA)	4,454	3.94%
							Nazaruddin Mohd Ferdoos (IND)	460	0.41%
							Edros Abdullah (IND)	218	0.19%
2018	P107Sungai Buloh,Selangor		Sivarasa K. Rasiah(PKR)	43,631	55.97%		Pakas Rao Applanaidoo (MIC)	16,681	21.40%	77,951	26,634	85.93%
							Nuridah Mohd Salleh (PAS)	16,997	21.80%
							Zainurizzaman Moharam (PRM)	642	0.82%

See all

• Subang (federal constituency)
• Sungai Buloh (federal constituency)