KUALA LUMPUR, April 23 — The planned memorial service for Karpal Singh tomorrow night is not a political affair but a national occasion to honour “a great Malaysian patriot”, Lim Kit Siang said, after the event was cancelled by the Education Department for being political in nature.
Lim declared the department’s action “deplorable” and questioned the sincerity of Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who had attended Karpal’s wake last week to pay his final respects to the late DAP veteran.
In a statement here, the Gelang Patah MP recalled that Muhyiddn had, on behalf of the Najib administration and Umno, personally conveyed his condolences to Karpal’s family and acknowledged the leader’s contributions in his eight terms as an MP.
“Was Muhyiddin speaking truthfully and sincerely?” Lim asked. “Or was he setting the worst moral example possible of hypocrisy and dishonesty to a whole generation of young Malaysians under his charge as Education Minister?”
Earlier today, the DAP announced plans to move the planned memorial service for Karpal from SJKC Chung Kwo at Jalan Loke Yew to the Kuala Lumpur Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) after the Education Department rejected its application on Monday.
According to the party, the application was rejected as the event was deemed political in nature.
To prove that the Karpal memorial tomorrow does not involve politics, Lim invited both Muhyiddin, who is also deputy prime minister, and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to speak as “guests of honour” at the 8pm event.
“Both Muhyiddin and Najib can be assured that they would be fully welcomed to the Karpal memorial service tomorrow night, not only be the organisers but also by all the Malaysians at the event,” he said.
On April 17, Karpal was killed on-the-spot together with long-time aide Michael Cornelius at 1.10am, when the MPV in which they were travelling with three others from Kuala Lumpur to Penang collided with a lorry along the North-South Highway near Gopeng, Perak.
