KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 -- At 82, Ipoh-born Datuk Paul Kiong still prides himself as a sharp judge of character, a trait that served him well when leading a high-stakes double life amid communist fighters back in the 1960s.

The gritty Kiong always longed for adventure and even applied to become a game ranger in Kenya after finishing school.

He did eventually traverse the wilderness - but closer to home.

Kiong enlisted as a police constable in 1964 and served in Singapore for three years before the second wave of communist insurgency hit Malaysia in 1968.

At that time, the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) dispatched the Fifth Assault Unit to Perak, the Sixth Assault Unit to Pahang and the Seventh Assault Unit to Kelantan.

The deadly atta...