KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 23): Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the government had twice offered citizenship to Chin Peng, but he did not  return the application form.

“We offered twice to Chin Peng but he didn’t return his application form meaning he rejected the offer by the Malaysian government,” Ahmad Zahid told reporters at Parliament lobby today.

The minister was asked to comment on the remarks by Chin Peng’s comrades that the late Malayan Communist Party secretary-general was among the first batch of people who had applied to become citizens of Malaysia.

Ahmad Zahid  said  the offers were made in the spirit of the 1989 Hadyai Peace Accord, but Chin Peng did not bother to submit the form.

He also stressed that according to a check done by the director of the National Registration Department, there was no records showing that  Chin Peng was a Malaysian citizen, unless he applied using a name other than Ong Boon Wah.

Chin Peng’s actual name is Ong Boon Wah. He was given the name of Chin Peng after he joined the communist party.

On whether the government feared that allowing  Chin Peng’s ashes to be brought back to the country will result in a revival of   the communism ideology, Ahmad Zahid said: “It’s not so much about the ashes, some group of people will be constructing a memorial to give them  a form of  recognition.”

He said the government had to take care of the feelings of the family membersof some 6,000 soldiers who were killed during the communist insurgency when Chin Peng wasthe leader of the communist party.

“Not so much about the effort to revive communism, if they create something, (It is) like giving him a recognition, this can’t be accepted by the army veterans,” he said.

When asked what law would be used by the government to stop Chin Peng’s ashes from being brought back, Ahmad Zahid again said that is not about the law but about  humanity and the hurt feelings of the slain soldiers’ family members.

Meanwhile, MCA Youth Chief Datuk Wee Ka Siong said he will only  state whether he supports allowing  Chin Peng’s ashes to be brought into the country when there is such a request from the late communist leader’s family.

Wee said it was the wishes of the family members on the matter that was important, not the views of outsiders.

“First of all, is there a request made by the family?” Wee said when posed the question at Parliament lobby.

“Unless there’s such a request made by the family, I don’t want to speculate,” he added.

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