Maharaja Lela is acclaimed a hero today because he attempted to overthrow the British in 1875 but Chin Peng who waged a spirited guerilla war against both the British and the Japanese several generations later cannot even return to his homeland just as Sybil Karthigesu and her husband could not find honour in their own country although they were tortured by Japanese soldiers during World War Two.

But ardent communists Shamsiah Fakir and Musa Ahmad who might have carried out many 'terror' assassinations during the Emergency have come home without any questions being asked. Yes, they were welcomed back like pop culture heroes.

History is bunk, so said Henry Ford