Gone is the expensive suit, business shirt, matching tie and pocket square he wore in court every day during the hearing of his civil and criminal suits in Singapore.

At the interview with The Straits Times yesterday at Hong Kong's Lai Chi Kok recepiton Centre, where he is being held, Yong, 65, was clad in a crisp white short-sleeved shirt and trousers, the standard garb for inmates of this detention centre.

Since July 5, he has been sharing a cell with several inmates in this prison, where he will remain for a few more weeks until his extradition to Singapore.

This is his first taste of being in a jail, even though he lost his case in the two suits earlier this year.

'It's all a misunderstanding. It's never been about running away. I never wanted to run,' he told The Straits Times reporter.

He was arrested last week by Hong Kong police after he slipped out of Singapore illegally, with his wife On Shu Kio, 64, on May 17, hours after he was declared a bankrupt on May 16. On June 13, he became a wanted man.

The man who has been in the finance industry for more than 20 years claimed he did not know that bankrupts must get permission from the Official Assignee (OA) to leave the country, for which he could be fined and jailed.

Yong insisted that he is no fugitive.

'The OA never sent me any letter. No one told me I needed permission. It's really unfortunate," he said during the 15-minute interview with The Straits Times.

Yong was also not able to say why no one in Singapore knew of his whereabouts - not his lawyers nor even the family's maid, who was abandoned in the Yongs' Cavenagh Gardens apartment with their pet dog.

He insisted: "'I was going to return. So I was very surprised to learn that the maid had left and the dog was taken by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals."

All he would say was that he wanted to "take a break".

He was weary from battling one court case after another since the NKF scandal broke two years ago when evidence of financial mismanagement surfaced.

'I was depressed and am still under psychiatric treatment,' he said, without elaborating.

If he had wanted to remain in hiding, he reasoned with a smile, he would not have left a paper trail.

Yong was fined $5,000 for failing in his duties as the charity's director, and made a bankrupt when he was unable to pay the NKF $11 million in damages from the civil suit.

'I hope this will all be over soon. It's been a long time, more than two years,' he said, referring to the time since the NKF scandal broke.

His mind has been very much on his wife, who was brought to court in Hong Kong for allegedly helping him to launder the money from the sale of their three Singapore apartments.

'She is also depressed and under stress because of what had happened,' he said softly.

On is out on bail of HK$100,000 (S$19,400), with an added surety of HK$500,000 put up by her 52-year-old Hong Kong- based sister, whose home they were in when the police came by.

She is due back in court on Aug 31, when investigations are wrapped up.

Yong said he was certain he would see her on his return to Singapore to 'clarify matters'.

Besides explaining his flight from Singapore, he will also have to answer accusations that he sold off his properties to avoid paying NKF damages.

For the full report, read The Straits Times today.