Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad appears to be rebuilding the bridges he razed before.

Tomorrow, at the plush Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Mahathir will launch a book sponsored by a person he once called a "communist and extremist".

Prominent businessman and Chinese community leader Ngan Ching Wen, 74, had incurred Mahathir's wrath when he headed the Malaysian Chinese Election Appeals Committee (Suqiu) in 1999.

The lobby group had called for a non-discriminative affirmative action policy. The next year, Mahathir, in his national day speech, flayed those involved.

Apart from calling Suqiu 'extremist', he also likened it to the notorious Islamic deviant sect al-Ma'unah'

Ngan has always been known for being outspoken on issues related to the community. From 1991 to 1994, he was president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

Following this, he was president of the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (SCAH) - an umbrella body to 362 Chinese guilds and associations in the state - from 1998 to 2002.

He was declared bankrupt by the Federal Court in 2004 but the order has since been lifted after he filed an appeal.

Enemy of BN

In an interview with malaysiakini two years ago, Ngan said he was once labelled as anti-Barisan Nasional (BN) and seen as an 'enemy' by its leaders.

However, all these appears to be in the past, at least as far as Mahathir is concerned. The book that will be launched is ironically called the Chinese Malaysian Contribution .

The 343-page book is written by former journalists Tan Joo Lan, Tan Teong Jon and Ho Wah Foon.

It tells the story of the hardships endured by the Chinese community when they emigrated from China to Malaya.

It also gives an interesting account of the wide-ranging contributions of the Chinese towards the successful development and growth of Malaya/Malaysia.