Cheng Lei & Meryl McCulloch

Class Acts: Episode 07

Australian business journalist and news anchor Cheng Lei spent over three harrowing years in a Beijing prison after being falsely accused of espionage. During her imprisonment, Lei was known by her fellow inmates as “teacher”. In those dark days, she drew on the inspiration of her Year 12  teachers at Indooroopilly State High School in Brisbane, John Brew (English) and Meryl McCulloch (Art).

For Class Acts, Lei returns to Indooroopilly High after 35 years, and sees both John and Meryl again for the first time. 

While in prison, Lei received a letter of support from another famous Australian political prisoner, Peter Greste. In December 2018, Greste spent 400 days in an Egyptian prison after he and two other Al Jazeera journalists were arrested on bogus charges. After Lei’s release, she and Peter became friends.  

Both journalists. Both victims of wrongful and arbitrary detention.

Through Class Acts Lei and Peter discovered they have something else in common: because Peter went to Indooroopilly High too.