Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Tiger of Jelutong Dies

     Chairman of the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP), Karpal Singh died on April 17th this year in a car crash in Malaya, while travelling from the federal capital Kuala Lumpur to his home state of Penang.

      Karpal Singh joined the DAP in 1970 and had served as state assemblyman and member of parliament until his death.

       Karpal  was cremated according to Sikh rites. His son Ramkarpal Singh succeeded him as member of parliament after winning the by-election following his father's death.

        Karpal was popularly known as the Tiger of Jelutong during his lifetime. Among his struggles were fighting against the death penalty in the Malaysian legal system, fighting abuses by the Malay monarchy, fighting against Islamicization of the federation and fighting against persecution of members of the opposition including the current opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

         Karpal had during his lifetime been imprisoned many times by the authorities for his struggles. His death is definitely a loss for Malaysians.