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“I have no other wish apart from returning to my country,” said the 85-year-old former rebel leader.
The government is adamant on not allowing Chin Peng, who resides in Thailand, to set foot on Malaysian soil, citing the atrocities committed by the armed insurgents.Speaking to the media in Hatyai, Chin Peng, whose real name is Ong Boon Hua, said he wants to visit the graves of his parents and pay his respects as well as to meet his family members again.
Chin Peng is in the southern Thai city to attend the 20th anniversary celebration of the Hatyai Peace Accord, which ended the armed revolt of CPM.
The treaty was signed by Chin Peng and Rashid Maidin representing CPM and Abdul Rahim Noor and Megat Junid Megat Ayub represented Malaysian government in Hatyai on Dec 2, 1989.
The urge to return home burns with such intensity that the former CPM leader is even considering taking the risk of coming back 'secretly' and let the government deal with him.
"I have no other wish. I hope to return to the country to pray for my dead parents and brother. That is the only wish I have in whatever time I have left,” he said.
Chin Peng said he was willing to meet Najib Abdul Razak on the matter when the prime minister visits southern Thailand next month.
Apology not an option
However, Chin Peng, who hails from Sitiawan, stop short of offering an apology for waging an armed struggle.
Asked if he would consider doing so in exchange for a ticket home, the frail-looking octogenarian paused for a moment to reflect on the question and then answered with a firm “No”.
His lawyer Leong Cheok Keng, who accompanied Chin Peng during the interview, criticised an English daily over the 'apology' issue.
During an exclusive interview with the Star last week, Chin Peng was reported to have apologised to the victims and families who suffered CPM's acts of violence.
He was quoted as saying that while CPM did not subscribe to the killing of innocent civilians, he however conceded that “we might have made mistakes in some cases.”
According to Leong, who brought along a recording of the Star interview, Chin Peng had said that he was willing to apologise if there is evidence to prove that CPM members had deliberately slain innocent civilians.
It was unfair of the newspaper to play up the 'apology' in that manner because it gave the impression that Chin Peng was regretful or even admitted to have killed innocent people, he added.
Citing the saying that 'all is fair in love and war', the lawyer argued that armed personnel who perished during the conflict should not be categorised as civilian casualties.
Chin Peng also denied the allegation that he had failed to turn up for the interview session arranged by the government after he submitted his application to return to Malaysia a year after
inking the peace accord in 1989.
He claimed that it was the government officials who gave him the run around by failing to show up for the interview on several occasions.
"I felt that I was fooled," he added.
'Selamat Tinggal'
Asked if he regretted signing the peace accord since the government failed to honour its promise in allowing CPM members to return, he said the peace accord was a product of circumstances, brought about by the end of the Cold War.
Chin Peng also stressed that his faith in communism has not changed but added that his political ideology does not come in the way of his wish to return home.
"I want to go back, no matter if it is a capitalist Malaysia or communist Malaysia, because it is my home," he said.
Asked if he could turn back time, would he walk down the same road, Chin Peng said he would choose the same path if no other alternative was available in addressing the conditions of that era.
He reiterated that he joined CPM willingly.
“If I judge myself, it would be an arrogant act. It is better to let the people of Malaysia judge if I had done good or bad things to the country. Let the people make their own evaluation,” he said.
When requested to say something in Bahasa Malaysia, Chin Peng took journalists by surprise when he uttered 'Selamat Tinggal'.
The former CPM leader said he chose these words for two reasons. The first, “selamat means peace and tinggal means live” and so he hopes all Malaysians would enjoy peace and happiness.
Second, he said it means 'goodbye', hinting that if the government does not grant his wish to return, then this could very well be his final interview.
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