Earlier this year, Chew Kin Wah took the decision to withdraw from the Five Arts collective after being a member for three decades. To use football metaphors - he is a die-hard Liverpool supporter - Kin Wah has hung up his Five Arts jersey and boots. It's always heartbreaking when a collective member leaves, so we would like to take this opportunity to recognise his enduring contributions to Five Arts Centre.
Hailing originally from Ipoh, Kin Wah's first involvement in theatre was in our production of Kee Thuan Chye's 1984 Here and Now (1985) - at the age of 20. Working with directors such as Krishen Jit and Chin San Sooi, he would go on to perform in some of Five Arts' most ambitious productions of the 1980s and 1990s, including San Sooi's Yap Ah Loy (1985) and Lady White (1989), K.S. Maniam's The Skin Trilogy (1995), Leow Puay Tin's Family (1998), as well as Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter (2001).
Kin Wah's work onstage led to opportunities on the television screen, beginning with City of the Rich (1998), the first English-language soap opera in Malaysia. This was followed by roles in memorable series such as Kopitiam (1998-2003), Astana Idaman (2001-2003), and Homecoming, the long running Cantonese series. His multilinguality and versatility also saw him cast in many mainstream Malay-language movies and drama series - it was a running joke for several years that he monopolised the ‘Chinese Bad Guy’ role on Malaysian screens. Simultaneously, he was a frequent collaborator with indie filmmakers in the burgeoning Malaysian New Wave, appearing in the films of James Lee, Woo Ming Jin, Dain Said and Nam Ron, amongst many others.
Over the past decade, Kin Wah has carved out a name for himself across the Straits of Melaka - in Indonesian cinema. A role in the hit movie My Stupid Boss (2015) led to a part in the popular Cek Toko Sebelah film (2016) and spin-off TV series. Kin Wah received ‘Best Supporting Actor’ at three different Indonesian movie awards for his performance in Cek Toko Sebelah. His strength as a character actor led to prominent roles in the major biopics A Man Called Ahok (2018), Susi Susanti - Love All (2019), Buya Hamka Vol 1 (2023), and the film adaptation of Pramoedya Ananta Toer's epic Bumi Manusia (2019). It should be noted that despite his cult status in Malaysian and Indonesian cinema, Kin Wah continues to work with young, emerging, and student filmmakers to this day - lending his talent and experience to the next generation of artists.
Kin Wah's work as an actor, performer, and production member is imprinted in many of Five Arts' early, iconic works. Fun fact: it was through these projects that he met his wife Suhaila Merican - who remains a Five Arts member. In recent years, in spite of his busy schedule juggling multiple projects across Malaysia and Indonesia, Kin Wah continued to maintain a regular presence at opening nights as well as the collective's performance previews and meetings. All of us deeply appreciate Kin Wah's understated but important role in Five Arts' journey, and we offer the biggest of terima kasihs to him - for the histories, memories and moments created together, and for the incredible, indelible friendship.
You'll Never Walk Alone, Kin Wah!
Anne James, Faiq Syazwan Kuhiri, Ivy N. Josiah, Janet Pillai, June Tan, Kubhaer T. Jethwani, Lee Ren Xin, Mac Chan, Marion D’Cruz, Mark Teh, Ravi Navaratnam, Suhaila Merican, and Syamsul Azhar.
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Chew Kin Wah will next appear onscreen in Tunku Mona Riza's much anticipated feature film 'Rain Town', a poignant family drama set in Taiping, Perak. The film opens in cinemas nationwide on 8 February 2024.