'Tiger of Jelutong' leaves behind a lasting legacy

For his five decades of following his strongest convictions in Parliament and in the courts, Mr Karpal Singh became known as the "Tiger of Jelutong", his long-time parliamentary seat in Penang.

The nickname stuck even after he lost the seat in the 1999 election, so much so that a bank manager who crashed into the taxi Mr Singh was taking in 2005 had reportedly exclaimed that he had hit the "Tiger of Jelutong".

The accident left him paralysed, which he described as being "like a prisoner within yourself". But he also said at the time that he kept looking ahead as he did not want to sink into depression.

His zeal in living up to his legal and political principles did not waver.

Known for his fierce integrity and loyalty to principles, Mr Singh played no small role in shaping Malaysia's robust democracy.

The 73-year-old politician did not flinch when it came to putting his Democratic Action Party (DAP) at loggerheads with the other two parties in the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition. He spoke out repeatedly against creeping Islamisation and, most recently, he opposed its ally Parti Islam SeMalaysia's plans to enforce the Islamic penal code, hudud, in Kelantan.

His forthright positions sometimes put the PR in an awkward position, but it was never Mr Singh's manner to stay silent on matters of principle.

He left a legacy so respected that tributes poured in when news of his sudden death broke. Mr Singh died in a road accident on his way to Penang to attend a court hearing yesterday.

As a lawyer, his legal colleagues recall, Mr Singh often took unpopular cases, including defending those on capital punishment charges, as he believed everyone was entitled to legal help.

"He taught me to be absolutely forthright to the court," said prominent Penang lawyer V. Sithambaram, who assisted Mr Singh in many criminal cases.

He recalled the two of them once splitting RM2,000 (S$770) between them as their fee for appearing in Malaysia's highest court, the Federal Court, on a capital punishment case. "He reminded me that the case was more important than the fee. He was a man of compassion," he said.

Mr Singh also took on politically risky cases, including defending opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on his sodomy charges. In 1986, he filed a lawsuit against the then King, Sultan Iskandar of Johor, for allegedly assaulting a man. He lost the case.

Despite his tenacity in pursuing these cases, a judge of the High Court said Mr Singh was never less than principled in his arguments.

Outside court, he earned the same reputation, at great personal cost, as he was charged with sedition several times. He was detained without trial for 15 months in 1987 under the Internal Security Act, leading the Amnesty International human rights group to consider him a prisoner of conscience.

Last month, he was convicted of sedition for commenting on the legality of the Sultan of Perak's role in recognising a new Barisan Nasional government after the PR state government was toppled in 2009.

This had put at risk his Bukit Gelugor parliamentary seat in Penang, and also cost him the chairmanship of the DAP.

While he lived up to his name as a roaring tiger in Parliament and court, Mr Singh's humility and friendliness were legendary.

Lawyer Alan Ling, now the DAP MP for Miri in Sarawak, wrote about his pupillage in Mr Singh's law firm in 2009. He recalled how the veteran MP appeared to be fierce but was actually very soft spoken and gentle.

He also had a quick sense of self-deprecating humour. In an interview with The Star newspaper in 2010, he joked about how he took seven years to complete his law degree at the University of Singapore.

"During my final year, I was the only one to fail and the dean, Tommy Koh, who later became Singapore's ambassador to the United Nations, took me aside and said, 'From now on, you're going to sit at the front of the class with me!' So I couldn't play the fool any more and I passed my exams accordingly!"

He returned to Malaysia in 1969, and swiftly made a name for himself in politics and law. Three of his sons and a daughter are lawyers, while the fourth son works in a bank.

Mr Karpal leaves behind wife Gurmit Kaur, daughter Sangeet, sons Jagdeep, Gobind, Ramkarpal and Mankarpal, and four grandchildren.

carolynh@sph.com.sg

This article was published on April 18 in The Straits Times.

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