IN BANGKOK

THE big old man in a wheelchair did not look like someone whose name once inspired loyalty, fear, or hatred depending on whose side you were on.

Those were the days of World War II and the Cold War. At the time, Chin Peng as he is widely known, was the head of the Malayan Communist Party.

Chin Peng is the former head of the Malayan Communist Party.
PHOTO: Nirmal Ghosh

I was at the hotel in Bangkok to join The Straits Times' Senior Regional Correspondent Leslie Lopez, who had flown down from Kuala Lumpur to interview him. It was an occasion, perhaps even a historic one.

Chin Peng, who will be 85 this month, is locked in a legal battle for the right to return to Malaysia to die in his homeland. He has been living in Thailand for decades now and has not given a media interview in years.

Almost always, he paused to think before answering a question.

Chin Peng was a legend while in the jungle. Tales about him included his supposed mystical powers which it was said enabled him to avoid capture by the police and armed forces of three countries - Britain, Japan, and finally his own Malaysia.

But the man himself dismissed the tales.

There was nothing mystical about it, he told us with a laugh.

Referring to one incident in which he managed to escape being captured, he simply said he left the place by a different route. "We knew the area well," he said with a smile.

He expressed no regret for his beliefs or his decision to wage an armed struggle.

When asked which world leaders he admired most, he paused for a long time - perhaps up to three minutes - and then broke into a sheepish grin and said, "Mao Tse Tung."

But he hastily added a caveat: "But, but - for many, he was not a perfect leader."

We spent a few hours with him, and after Leslie was through I popped in a last question of my own.

Is the world a better place now, is there less or more injustice in the world? I asked.

He thought for a while, as we sat patiently, surrounded by the leafy trees and the sound of water in the landscaped garden, by then in the half light of the gathering evening.

Then he smiled and said the answer was too complicated for him to venture a short reply. It seemed a fitting comment nevertheless.

Chin Peng being interviewed by The Straits Times' Senior Regional Correspondent Leslie Lopez. PHOTO: Nirmal Ghosh

Read Leslie Lopez's interview with Chin Peng in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.