DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, famed for his iron will, feared that he might not have made it the day he went into surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from his kidney.

"Before the operation, I thought that this is the end of the story, the end of your life," he told the media in Johor Bahru.

The thoughts of the 77-year-old, who was diagnosed with stage 1 cancer and underwent surgery in December last year, nevertheless remained fixed on the political movement and the country in the event of his passing.

"And I thought, if this is the end of the story, where do we (Malaysia) go from here?" 

Lim was coy, however, when asked whether he gave any last words to his party, only saying "I'll keep that part for my biography."

On Dec 18, Lim had to remove 30 percent of his left kidney, before going on what he claims was his longest break in his 50-year political career. 

Besides reading, the Gelang Patah MP also spent his time in recovery playing "Pokémon" on his mobile phone, even reaching the 37th level of the game. 

When asked what it was about the game that he loved so much, he merely said that it was his pastime. 

"It's nothing, just a pastime. Why should I choose one game over another?" he said. 

People around the veteran leader often saw Lim playing the game and sharing his experiences with party members. 

During a ceramah last night, Bersatu Youth leader Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman also dispelled the "anti-Malay" image often associated to Lim, by calling him a "cute uncle who played Pokémon during meetings."