KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 — The late Karpal Singh today posthumously received the public service award from the Gandhi Memorial Trust (GMT) of Malaysia in a form of a tiger made of pewter, in honour of his moniker, the Tiger of Jelutong.
His only daughter, Sangeet Kaur, the last to give her speech, reminisced of how he never wavered even during difficult times and how he had fiercely protected the notion of equality, non-discrimination, democracy, and human rights.
“His sincere love for this country was apparent in almost everything he did.
“There were times when I asked him, ‘Pa, how do you do this? Nothing is achieved over and over again. It’s like banging your head on the wall. Nothing comes of it’.
“And he would calmly tell me, ‘Be patient, these things take time, change doesn’t happen overnight, we must fight on’,” she said.
Sangeet also went on to describe her relationship with her father.
“He was my pillar of strength, he was my best friend. To say I miss him wouldn’t come close to describe how I feel.
“Deep inside my heart he will always be with me. Till we meet again, papa,” she ended her speech, in a trembling voice.
Veteran lawyer Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan also paid tribute and spoke of how he had defended the Federal Constitution against those who attempt to rewrite it.
“I miss Karpal Singh, we all miss Karpal Singh, not just Karpal Singh the person, but Karpal Singh the warrior and voice of the people, Karpal Singh the statesman and most importantly for us today, Karpal Singh the defender of our Federal Constitution.
Ambiga, the former chairman of the Coalition of Free and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) also brought up his tough stance against the controversial hudud laws.
“We need his voice today, to defend this constitution of ours that we have all accepted for more than 50 years as secular, as upholding fundamental rights, as giving precedence of the civil courts over the Syariah courts and as respecting all religions.
“When he opposed the Islamic state and hudud, he did it as a lawyer and as a man who understood our Federal Constitution,” she said.
“Now we hear arguments that suggest it’s not secular. There is in my view an attempt to rewrite our constitution through the back door,” she said.
Former Court of Appeal judge Datuk Mahadev Shanker who is also the former GMT chairman, said Karpal was the embodiment of the philosophy and principles of Mahatma Gandhi.
“In many ways, Karpal Singh lived plainly but his thoughts were lofty,” he said.
Former law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim also paid homage and said even he was not spared by his sharp tongue.
“But all he did was to speak according to his conscience,” he said.
About 400 people, mostly retired judges, lawyers, and politicians attended the event in honour of Karpal, who died on April 17 in a car accident, along with his long-time aide, Michael Cornelius.
