Permit me to comment on Chin Peng's recent application to return to Malaysia. I must confess that I am not from his era, ie, the Emergency from 1948 to 1960. During that period 2,478 civilians died and 810 were listed as 'missing'.

But I have read Chin Peng's autobiography My Side of History and various books on Chinese history, especially those on the Communist Party of China (CCP). I was born around the time when Chin Peng claimed that he was still operating from Hunan, China. The 'de facto' CPM leader then was Siao Chang.

I understand the plight of those affected by the atrocities committed by CPM during the Emergency. At this point, I am reminded of Jung Chang's latest book Mao - The Unknown Story, in which she said:

'Mao Zedong, who for decades held absolute power over the lives of one quarter of the world's population, was responsible for well over 70 million deaths in peacetime, more than any other 20th century leader.'

I cried whenever I read about the injustices and atrocities during China's Cultural Revolution. Yet, then Malaysian prime minister Abdul Razak visited Mao on Dec 31, 1974 and established diplomatic relations with China.

Mao was the very person who devised a plan to conquer the world by supporting communist groups in different parts of Southeast Asia and one of them was Chin Peng's group. His government is still in power now albeit a toned-down one. We accepted the father of all communists but not Chin Peng.

I am also reminded of the US. During the Vietnam War (which was part of the Cold War between US and China) from 1957 to 1975, more than four million Vietnamese civilians died. During the Gulf War (USA's liberation of Kuwait against Iraq) from 1990 until 1991, about 2,300 civilians died.

During the Afghanistan War (the US' effort to smoke out Osama bin Laden in the aftermath of the Sept 11 disaster) in 2001, about 1,200 civilians died. And during the current Iraq War (the US' occupation of Iraq in search of the elusive weapons of mass destruction) which began in 2003, more 25,000 civilians have died and more are going to be killed in days to come.

Our country is still having diplomatic relations with the US and China. Why? Because it is recognised that in times of war, casualties are bound to occur.

Let us examine the possible motives for Chin Peng's application to come back to Malaysia. He is definitely not going to start another armed struggle as communism is no longer popular among the masses. Even communist countries like China and Vietnam are communist in name only but capitalist in nature.

Here is an old man of 81 years of age who wants to come back and die in his hometown. Please don't deprive him. Let bygones be bygones.