The government has approved the sale of the Chinese version of Communist Party Malaya (CPM) secretary-general Chin Peng's biography titled ' Alias Chin Peng: My Side of History '.

Spokesperson for Singapore's Horizon Books John Francis told malaysiakini today that the Chinese edition would be available for sale latest by this Saturday in all major bookshops throughout Malaysia. The book was printed in Singapore.

It was translated from English in verbatim and cross-checked for accuracy by a team of more than 12 bilingual Chinese Malaysian translators, including a lawyer and five former senior editors and lead writers of major Chinese-language newspapers in Malaysia, including malaysiakini columnist and veteran Chinese educationist Lee Ban Chen.

The translation was also pre-read personally by Chin Peng.

When the original 527-page book, co-authored in English with veteran Australian journalists Ian Ward and Norma Miraflor was released in Malaysia last September, it was first ' stolen ' from a transport lorry and also seized by some Malaysian custom and police officials claiming to be acting on orders.

However, the government later clarified that the distribution of the book was legal.

Major impact

It is learned that more than 20,000 copies of the original memoirs have been sold to date. It is on sale in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Britain. It is believed that the Chinese edition would be also be marketed in China, Hong Kong and Macau.

As the result of the impact of the book, Chin Peng was invited to make a historic trip to Singapore for three days in mid-October. He spoke at an academic seminar organised by the Institute of South East Asian Studies (Iseas) headed by former Singapore ambassador to Malaysia, K Kesavapany.

In Singapore, Chin Peng also reportedly visited the memorial dedicated to Force 136 special operations chief in Perak's Kinta Valley, Lim Bo Seng and Queen Street where the former headquarters of the Communist Party of Malaya was once located.

He also met one of his maternal uncles as well as Elizabeth Choy, 94, who was detained and tortured by Japanese military police for 193 days for allegedly supplying Allied prisoners of war with banned radio parts and other secret intelligence during the Occupation.