People
The Tiger of Jelutong:
Karpal Singh [1940 - 2014]
DIN MERICAN
“Who is left in the ghetto is the one man in a thousand in any age, in any culture, who through some mysterious workings of force within his soul will stand in defiance against any master. He is that one human in a thousand whose indomitable spirit will not bow. He is the one man in a thousand whose indomitable spirit cannot bow. He is the one man in a thousand who will not walk quietly to Umschlagplatz. Watch out for him, Alfred Funk, we have pushed him to the wall.” [Leon Uris]
Veteran Malaysian opposition MP and lawyer Karpal Singh was killed in an accident near Kampar in Perak on the morning of Thursday, April 17, 2014.
His long-time personal assistant Michael Cornelius Selvam Vellu, 39, was also killed.
Karpal’s son Ram Karpal Singh and the driver were believed to be injured in the accident which occurred at 1.10 am near 301.6 km northbound marker along the the North-South Highway.
Karpal Singh and his son, who is also a lawyer, were heading north for a court case later today.
Contacted later, an Ipoh police spokesperson said that it is believed the MPV collided with a lorry which switched lanes without indication.
Karpal’s other son and Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo said that his father had died on the spot.
“My brother Ram is slightly injured but we are trying to get through to him,” he added when the daily contacted him at 3.30 am.
According to a police statement later, Ram and driver of the ill-fated car, C Selvam, were not injured. However, Karpal’s Indonesian maid suffered severe injuries and she is warded at Ipoh’s Hospital Permaisuri Bainun.
The driver of the lorry, which was hit behind by Karpal’s car, and its three passengers escaped without injury. The police said the MPV carrying Karpal and four others hit the slow moving lorry at a hilly stretch of the highway. The five-tonne lorry was carrying a load of cement, steel and mosaic tiles.
Karpal Singh, 74, was involved in a previous car accident in 2005 where he was paralysed and wheelchair-bound.
The vocal politician graduated from University of Singapore and started his law practice before running for Parliament in 1978.
His long tenure as Jelutong MP and fiery speeches in the Dewan Rakyat earned him the moniker “Tiger of Jelutong”. Karpal had recently relinquished his post as DAP chairperson pending the disposal of his appeal against a sedition charge.
Last month, the High Court found him guilty of uttering seditious words against the Sultan of Perak at the height of the constitutional crisis in 2009.
The bodies of the two deceased, Karpal and Michael, arrived at the Ipoh general hospital at 7.20 am. Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and his deputy Mohd Rashid Hasnon, and former Perak menteri besar Nizar Jamaluddin were there.
The cremation will be held at the Sikh Cremation Hall at 11 am on Sunday, April 20, 2014.
April 17, 2014