Thousands bid Karpal Singh farewell

PENANG — Thousands bade an emotional final farewell to the late opposition veteran Karpal Singh in Penang before the body of the widely-respected lawyer and politician, known as the Tiger of Jelutong, was cremated at a state-honoured funeral yesterday.

Mr Singh, who used a wheelchair after he was paralysed in a car accident in 2005, died in a road accident near Gopeng, Perak, on Thursday morning. He was 73.

A massive crowd trailed the funeral procession, with mourners chanting his name and trying to catch a glimpse of the hearse carrying the casket draped with the Penang flag, as the funeral cortege left the Dewan Sri Pinang multi-purpose hall where members of the public had paid their respects. The funeral had fallen behind schedule as the crowd paying respects to the Bukit Jelutong Member of Parliament and former Democratic Action Party (DAP) Chairman had been too overwhelming.

Many mourners offered prayers and touched the hearse as the procession involving bike riders bearing DAP flags and volunteer firefighters passed. The procession made four “significant stops” — including at the Penang High Court complex, where Mr Singh had practised law and the Penang State Legislative Assembly Hall, where he began his political career — on its way to the crematorium.

From the young to the elderly and dressed mostly in black and white, many mourners sported a small sticker of Mr Singh pasted on the top part of their attire for the solemn affair.

Mr Hayashi Choong, 45, from Petaling Jaya, Selangor, said he made the journey to Penang just to pay respects. “I made the journey up north from my home in Petaling Jaya to pay my respects to someone whom I admire enormously,” he said.

Earlier, Penang Governor Abdul Rahman Abbas and his wife also paid their last respects to Mr Singh. DAP leader Lim Kit Siang, and his son, DAP Secretary-General and Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, were seen thanking mourners as they walked around the coffin.

In an eulogy, the younger Lim praised Mr Singh for never wavering in the face of adversity. “He stuck to his principles and his fighting spirit was always evident,” he said. He said Mr Singh’s fighting spirit stood out starkly when they were cell mates at the Kamunting detention centre in 1988. He and Mr Singh were among dozens of opposition leaders who had been arrested under the Internal Security Act in 1987.

Other DAP central executive committee members, Pakatan Rakyat top leaders including Anwar Ibrahim — whom Mr Singh represented in his sodomy cases — as well as fellow lawyers also paid their respects.

Mr Singh’s body was cremated in the afternoon. His son, Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo, thanked the public for being there. At one point, however, eldest son Jagdeep Singh Deo had to ask the crowd who were photographing the funeral rites to give the family some privacy. Later, Mr Singh’s tearful widow Gurmit Kaur was seen held by her daughter-in-laws as the family left the crematorium.

Mr Singh’s ashes will be scattered into the sea later this week, although the details of the rites have not been made public. Agencies