Chong Ton Sin
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Chong Ton Sin is a Malaysian activist and publisher. A former political detainee who spent eight years in detention without trial, he was vice-president of the leftist Parti Rakyat Malaysia in the 1990s and founder of progressive bookstore Gerakbudaya Enterprise in 2000. [1]
Chong was born in Senai, Johor on 22 March 1948. A month after he was born, his family moved to Kluang, Johor. [2] Chong's family had moved around after leaving their ancestral home in Guangdong province in south China. His eldest sister was born in China, while the next four siblings were born on the Indonesian island of Riau. Chong and his two younger brothers were born in Johor.[1]
An early student activist, he was detained under the Internal Security Act from 1968 to 1976. He was detained firstly in Muar, then Kamunting and finally in Batu Gajah.[1]
Upon his release, he did odd jobs in construction and gardening before meeting academic Jomo Kwame Sundaram and getting into the business of selling books.[1] Chong was briefly detained at a protest during Ops Lalang, for one or two nights, in 1987.[1]