PETALING JAYA: Dr Syed Husin Ali has revealed that when he was doing post-graduate studies in the UK during the late 1960s he came into contact with members of a Maoist sect who have now gained notoriety after being implicated in a modern slavery case in Lambeth.
Syed Husin, a senator for Parti Keadilan Rakyat was then secretary-general of the Parti Rakyat Malaysia when he travelled to the UK to pursue his doctorate at the London School of Economics.
During that time he met Comrade Bala, Siti Aishah Abdul Wahab and two other Malaysians who were also part of Comrade Bala's group.
"When I arrived in London, there were a number of friends who introduced me to Comrade Bala, or Ara as he was known then. I was under the impression he was a Singaporean actually, although I can't speak for his nationality now." Dr Syed told The Star Online.
"Members of his group told me that he had almost full control of them. They were very disciplined, very centralised."
"I was in my hostel, whereas they had their own place. I went to their place only once. It was a very small group, with maybe only a dozen people."
Dr Syed recalled Aishah as being "young, pretty, intelligent and loyal to the group."
The two other Malaysian women who joined Comrade Bala eventually quit the group and returned to Malaysia. One become involved in religious missions, while Dr Syed is not too sure what happened to the other.
"During that time in the late 1960s, there were all sorts of volatile situations in Vietnam, China, France, the US, and students became radicalized. But very few became Maoists, and even those that did eventually left the cause."
Dr Syed lost track of the group after he returned to Malaysia.
“I was a bit surprised to hear what happened because I had lost contact with them so long ago. But once I knew that Ara and his wife were detained, I immediately thought the person who was supposed to be enslaved could be Aishah,” said Syed Husin.