KUALA LUMPUR, April 17 — Malaysia lost one of its most dedicated, selfless and valiant servants with the passing of Karpal Singh this morning, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today as he expressed shock over the death of a man he labelled “our hero”.

The Opposition Leader said news of the Bukit Gelugor MP’s death hit him like a lightning bolt this morning, adding that he held a lengthy conversation with his “brother-in-arms” just hours before the tragedy.

“Indeed, words cannot express enough my profound sadness of the passing away of my brother-in-arms for freedom and democracy, an inspiring symbol for the struggle against oppression and injustice and a man of unimpeachable moral integrity,” Anwar said in a statement here.

Describing Karpal as a “selfless, courageous and noble defender” of fundamental liberties, Anwar said with the latter’s death meant the legal fraternity has lost one of its sharpest minds.

On his part, Anwar said he had lost a true friend.

“Kind in words, noble in deed,” he wrote.

He quoted from William Shakespeare to describe Karpal’s relentless pursuit of justice in his colourful career as a politician and lawyer, saying: “Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.”

“And so it was with our hero Karpal Singh for there is none more valiant in life than this great mortal whose body may have perished but his spirit shall live on with us,” Anwar said.

Karpal was among Anwar's harsher critics when the latter was still a member of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) in the late 1990s.

But when Anwar, a former deputy prime minister, was unceremoniously toppled from his perch in Putrajaya over charges of corruption and sodomy in 1998, it was the “Tiger of Jelutong” who took on his case as lead counsel.

Karpal stayed on as Anwar’s lawyer even during the latter’s second sodomy case, which saw the Opposition Leader sentenced to a five-year jail term in March this year.

Karpal, 74, was killed after the Toyota Alphard MPV he was travelling in crashed following a collision with a lorry along the North-South Highway near Gopeng, Perak at about 1.10am this morning.

He was believed to be travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Penang for a court hearing this morning.

Karpal, who was seated in the front passenger seat, was killed on the spot together with his long-time assistant, Michael Cornelius.