A child watched as the father of three of his playmates spun a short length of guava wood, shaping it into four tops.

He gratefully accepted the last, imperfect top while his friends took the other three.

His own father had promised to make tops for his brother and him, but one fateful afternoon six gunmen put paid to those hopes.

A gunman pointed his weapon at the child, saying, "This is the son. Let's finish him". The other refused, telling him to leave the child alone.

Gunshots were heard, a pause, then more gunshots.

A neighbour came running and shouted that her husband has been murdered. He was the child's father.

What had his father done to lose his life? He was a community leader, in fact, only a committee member, interested in getting the small Chinese settlement to survive together after the Japanese occupation.

Most of these people were sympathetic toward Sun Yat Sun and subsequently Chiang Kai Shek. They had no firearms, not even spears. They were neither soldiers nor the local militia. They were in fact very sympathetic to those fighting the Japanese, often sheltering or feeding them.

He struggled through life, often being teased for being a fatherless child. Now that child is a senior citizen.

I was that child.

Thousands of wives and children of civilians were made widows and orphans by Chin Peng and his Communist Party of Malaya (CPM).

Community leaders, headmasters, teachers, small-time businessmen, shop assistants, tin mine workers, rubber planters and tappers or paddy farmers trying to make ends meet. They were mercilessly murdered by Chin Peng and his men of CPM.

They were not members of the armed forces. They had in fact nothing to do with the government, which did not even recognise their existence! No local council, no police station, no post office. No road lights, no water, no electricity, also no income tax.

In his old age, Chin Peng's request to pay his respects to his ancestors should be seriously considered. Take it at its face value; this is a sign of some good upbringing. No matter what the circumstances, respect for your elders must be exercised - that is only a human, decent thing to do.

Let bygones be bygones. I am in favour of him coming back to pay respects to his ancestors if he apologises.

Let him come back, but I suggest we make it conditional.

Have him burn joss sticks or bring flowers to the graves of all his victims. Had they not been murdered and robbed of their youth, they might now be Chin Peng's age.

Thus, I say, if he is prepared to visit their graves and pay his respects to them, let him come home.

May I also ask if a leopard changes its spots? It has been reported that he is even prepared to sneak home, illegally. Illegal entry is of course a minor crime compared with murder but a crime is still a crime.

Besides admitting that the murder of the Penang headmaster was a mistake, he has not admitted to any of the other merciless murders of the other civilians.

These murders cannot be considered collateral damage, as they were targeted murders, objectives of specific missions of Chin Peng and his men.