I have been following the debate on Chin Peng in the malaysiakini letters forum over the past few weeks. I write to clarify some confusion on the arms struggle waged by the communists.

Chin Peng and his communist supporters would have opted for non-violence if given the chance. Indeed, at the Baling peace talks in 1955, he had offered to lay down arms in return for the legalisation of the Communist Party of Malaya. The CPM could then take part in electoral politics.

But this offer was rejected outright by Tunku Abdul Rahman and his British minders. One reason was because CPM, being the oldest political party in Malaya, could post a formidable challenge to Tunku's Alliance.

History would have been different had the CPM been given the option to freely contest in elections, just like the communist parties in independent India. They may well be rejected by the voters and disappeared into oblivion like most communist parties, or they could have become a permanent feature in Malaysian politics.

Now we will never know.