Tiger of Jelutong went down while battling client’s lawsuit

KUALA LUMPUR — Mr Karpal Singh, 73, died early yesterday in a road accident while on the way to Penang to do what he did best: Go to court for a client.

One of his sons said Mr Singh had insisted on travelling to the northern state from Kuala Lumpur at night to give himself time to prepare for a court case scheduled for yesterday morning.

His reputation as a lawyer and politician earned him the nickname the Tiger of Jelutong from the time he started legal practice in 1970 — which was also the year he joined the Democratic Action Party (DAP), now a member of the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat.

Mr Singh had just relinquished the DAP chairmanship as he battled a sedition conviction that risked the four decades of his legal and political career. He was last month found guilty of sedition and fined RM4,000 (S$1,540) for publicly questioning the decision by Perak Sultan Azlan Shah to remove Mr Nizar Jamaluddin as the state’s Mentri Besar in 2009. He was appealing that decision, which could have seen him suspended from Parliament.

“Eliminating me from the political terrain will not be the end of Karpal Singh. It will in fact lead to the rise of many Karpal Singhs!” he said shortly after his conviction.

A staunch opponent of the death penalty, Mr Singh was regarded as the country’s top criminal lawyer. He led the defence in high-profile cases, including what was seen as politically motivated sodomy charges against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and drug trafficking charges involving foreign nationals. Mr Anwar yesterday mourned the passing of “my brother-in-arms for freedom and democracy”.

Mr Singh had also represented a Mongolian interpreter’s family who sued the government in 2007 over claims she was murdered by the police. Then-Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pledged there would be no cover-up in the case, which captured attention as the analyst accused of abetting the murder had worked for then-Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Born on June 28, 1940, in George Town, Penang, Mr Singh started his law firm in 1970 after graduating from the University of Singapore. In the same year, he joined the DAP, which he became chairman of after deadly racial riots in 1970 prompted him to fight for racial unity.

He entered Parliament in 1970 after winning the Jelutong seat in Penang. He lost the seat in 1999 but returned to Parliament after the 2004 general election as the Member of Parliament for Bukit Gelugor, also in Penang.

As a lawyer, Mr Singh defended many people on death row. In 1977, he persuaded the Malaysian King to pardon a 14-year-old sentenced to death for possession of a firearm.

His legal and political colleagues remember him as a fearless and smart lawyer and politician, but to those in his Penang constituency and legal office in Jalan Pudu Lama, Kuala Lumpur, Mr Singh was a friend.

To them, he was a gentle-mannered man with a ready smile, always ready to stop and listen. No question was too trivial or repetitive for him to answer, no hello was too unimportant to stop for.

After his victory in the polls last year, Mr Singh said: “A good lawyer dies in the saddle. The same applies equally to a politician. They should work to the last.” AGENCIES