by Lee Shi-Ian
The Malaysian Insider
April 19, 2014

The late Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh was given a moving tribute and farewell by his grandchildren tonight, who vowed to take up the mantle of Tiger of Jelutong.

The 11 grandchildren, aged between 1½ years and 11, showed the media a poster which they had made together.

“Singh is King. We love you, Tiger of Jelutong. We will miss you. Jangan main-main. My defender of the defenceless. We will all be tigers like you,” the grandchildren said.

Karpal’s eldest son, Jagdeep Singh Deo, told the media that his son had a dream about Karpal on the night the accident occurred.

The Datuk Keramat assemblyman said Aakshay Singh Deo, 11, had the dream prior to discovering that Karpal had died in the accident.

“I had a wonderful dream that night, as me and Karpal were walking along a beach,” Aakshay said in a clear voice.

“He was hugging me a lot as we walked on the beach. I felt that he had gotten his legs back,” he said.

“After a while, he walked off into the sunset,” said Aakshay.

Jagdeep said when he reached home and his son told him about the dream, he asked his wife whether the children knew Karpal had died.

“My wife told me that she had not broken the news to the children yet,” Jagdeep said, adding that he left for Kampar at 2.30am on Thursday.

It had been a hectic day at Karpal’s house in Jalan Utama with hundreds of well-wishers queuing up to pay their respects.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and his father, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, were at the house for most of the day.

PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail also paid her respects and recalled how Karpal had defended her husband, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“In both the sodomy cases, Karpal represented Anwar as his legal counsel,” Wan Azizah said.

“What is more saddening is that when the accident occurred on Thursday, Anwar’s documents and case files were with Karpal.”

She said despite defending Anwar on two occasions, Karpal had never taken a single sen from her family for his services.

“The country has lost one of its favourite sons who had contributed immensely to Malaysia throughout his life.”

She said Karpal was never afraid to stand up against cruelty and injustice, giving hope when all was lost.

Karpal had been detained under the Internal Security Act 1960 in 1987 when opposition figures were arrested during Ops Lalang.

“He was very good to our family, he could be very fierce but he was always soft and polite to us.”

In the 1.10am accident on Thursday, Karpal, 73, and his personal assistant Michael Cornelius, 39, died after their Toyota Alphard was involved in a collision with a lorry.

The accident occurred along KM306.1 of the North-South Expressway. – April 19, 2014.