Tan Chay Wa

Who was Tan Chay Wa?

Tan Chay Wa was a political dissident and a senior official of the MNLF. Chay Wa was a bus driver and a married man living in Singapore. On 2 June 1979, Chay Wa was arrested at a vegetable farm in Johor together with a .32 Llama semi-automatic pistol and seven bullets in his possession. He was duly convicted under Malaysia's Essential Security Cases (Amendment) Regulations (ESCAR) by Johor Bahru's High Court, which provides for a mandatory death penalty. During his detention, there was an offer by the Government of Belgium to grant him political asylum should he be allowed to leave Malaysia. Despite the discrepancy between the gun he was alleged to have possessed at the time of his arrest and the number presented as evidence at his trial, he was hanged on 18 January 1983 in Kuala Lumpur's Pudu Prison.