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'A Malaysian epic', starring Karpal Singh
GEORGE TOWN, April 16, 2015:
The past one year has not been easy for Bukit Gelugor Member of Parliament Ramkarpal Singh Deo, but the few hours to come leading to 12.45am April 17 will be even harder.
The same few hours last year had led to a tragedy that would forever change his life and the lives of many.
At 12.45am on April 17 last year, Ramkarpal lost his father, the late Karpal Singh, in a horrific highway accident in Kampar, Perak, in a Toyota Alphard in which Ramkarpal was also travelling in.
They were on their way to Penang from Kuala Lumpur for a court case in which Karpal was the lawyer.
Recalling the few hours leading to his father’s sudden demise, Ramkarpal said he could still remember him in the office with his father in Kuala Lumpur before they went home and pushed off for Penang.
“I don’t know whether I will be able to sleep tonight.. It has been a hectic few days but I think tonight will not be easy for me when everything comes flooding right back,” he said when met at his late father’s legal firm in Green Hall here.
He never thought that his father’s wish to go around the garden in their Kuala Lumpur home in Bukit Ledang was actually Karpal’s way of saying goodbye to his favourite spot in the house.
“It was dark at about 11pm and I remember him asking to be taken around by Michael (Cornelius), his assistant who also perished with him in the accident.
“He normally didn’t do that.. but, of course, at that point of time, I did not find it peculiar but now that I think of it, it is like his way of bidding his garden and the home farewell,” said Ramkarpal.
On the eve of Karpal’s death anniversary, the same case is being handled by Ramkarpal.
“Until today I still feel my father’s presence everywhere I go, especially when in court or in Parliament,” he said.
After his father’s passing, Ramkarpal was nominated as the Bukit Gelugor candidate to succeed his father, dubbed as the Tiger of Jelutong, and won the by-election in May last year.
Meanwhile, for Batu Kawan Member of Parliament Kasthuri Patto, who sat next to Karpal in Parliament, his sudden passing was a major blow and loss to her.
“He was like a father to me when I lost my father in 1995, and hearing the disastrous news on April 17, 2014 was like losing my father all over again.
“It’s always bittersweet when anyone asks me what it was like sitting next to a legal giant like Uncle Karpal.
“When I stepped foot in Parliament for the third sitting in Oct 2014, I saw that the table next to me had been removed and it felt like a kick in the stomach,” she said.
“The emptiness was not physical. It was emotional and I felt tears well up in my eyes. I saw the depressions in the carpet where once the table stood, on which laid the weathered Parliamentary Standing Orders thumbed through hundreds of times by the hands of the defender of justice Karpal Singh in his many fiery and yet animated debates in the August House.
“As soon as he came in, I would switch on his computer and put on all the online news portals for him to pick. With limited movement, he would scroll down, line by line to read any news that caught his eye. But he was also interested to read all the comments that other readers left as well. And he would read them intently,” she said.
Kasthuri recalled how they would share hilarious moments in Parliament when Karpal would sometimes share with her stories of his term under the Internal Security Act (ISA), the DP Vijendran scandal and how he hit a policeman after being manhandled by them in Kedah.
“He was witty, sharp and had an insane sense of humour!! You would die laughing if you were next to him.
“He came to Parliament paperless, which means, no prepared speeches, notes or scribbles, except for articles printed for citation purposes, his copy of the Federal Constitution and his Standing Order, and would unleash hell on the powers that be with precise facts and figures at the tip of his tongue in debating amendments and legislatures — in Bahasa Malaysia.
“And that is something many MPs still fall short of doing. He would poke fun at MPs from the other side, and with that twinkle in his eye and his hearty laugh you could see he was enjoying it as well,” she recalled.
For Belinda Bhar, the late Karpal’s daughter in-law who is married to Karpal’s eldest son Jagdeep Singh Deo, Karpal was the best father in-law anyone could wish for.
“I miss him terribly. I’m still in shock and I don’t think I will ever recover. My father-in-law was one in a million. He loves his grandchildren and spending time with them.”
Recalling the fond memories she had of her father-in-law, Belinda said the first was during the birth of her eldest son, Aakshay, Karpal’s eldest grandson.
“I remember when he came to the hospital to visit. When he held Aakshay, the look of pride n joy. I’ll never forget it.
“The following year my second son Rohith was born, just 4 days before the 11th GE (General Election). My father-in-law came to visit in his trademark red jeep with the DAP flags flying. Rohith brought him luck for the election,” she said.
However, she expressed sorrow that Karpal never had the chance to meet his youngest grandson, Sherr Karpal, as she was still carrying him when he passed away.
Padang Serai MP N. Surendran told The Rakyat Post that what stood out with Karpal was his fighting qualities and his refusal to give up.
“Both politically and personally, Karpal simply would not give up. Politically he never gave up despite all the odds stacked up against him, against an all powerful government which includes his detention without trial.
“Personally, after that terrible accident that left him paralysed for life and the consequences of it, he never gave up,” he said.
He summed up Karpal as a “Malaysian epic”.
“His life story is a Malaysian epic. He is truly a Malaysian hero. There was no denying he was a heroic figure. We do not have too many heroes in Malaysia,” Surendran said.
He added that Karpal fought hard and long for the civil liberty of every Malaysian since the 1970s until the day of his death.
“That fight is not over. I hope all Malaysians come together to realise his vision of a country that respects the rights of its people and freedom of the press and where the people are free to speak without fear of being persecuted.”
While the Tiger of Jelutong is no longer around, Surendran said Karpal’s name still comes up in conversations.
“Even last week in Parliament we were talking about him simply for the reason that he was a rara avis (latin for a rare bird). He was one in a million.”
