Karpal Singh

Karpal Singh was a Malaysian lawyer and opposition politician of Punjabi Sikh background, known as the "Tiger of Jelutong". Wikipedia gives his birth as 28 June 1940 in George Town, Penang. He studied law at the National University of Singapore and was called to the Bar in 1969, Asia Samachar reports. A Malaysiakini columnist writes that he wore a turban until 1970. He joined the Democratic Action Party (DAP) in 1970, and Biharprabha News says he became its national chairman in 2004.

Key moments

• 1978 to 1999: Member of Parliament for Jelutong, Penang. He lost the seat in 1999 (Biharprabha News).
• October 1987: detained without trial under the Internal Security Act during Operation Lalang. Wikipedia says he was held until January 1989, with a brief release in March 1988. The Malaysiakini columnist says the detention deeply affected him.
• 2004 to 2014: Member of Parliament for Bukit Gelugor and chairman of the DAP. Biharprabha News says he led the party to its strongest performance in the 2008 elections.
• 2005: a car accident left him in a wheelchair, but he kept up his legal and political work (Asia Samachar).
• 17 April 2014: he died in a road accident on the North-South Expressway near Gua Tempurung, Perak. His personal assistant was also killed (Biharprabha News). He was cremated at Batu Gantong Crematorium in George Town on 20 April, after thousands came to say farewell (The Star).

As a lawyer he defended foreign nationals on drug trafficking charges, opposed the death penalty, especially for drug offences, and defended Anwar Ibrahim in many court battles, Asia Samachar reports. He was suspended from Parliament more than once and was charged under the Sedition Act, and Asia Samachar says he was later acquitted after his death. The Malaysiakini columnist recalls him as firm on a multiracial, secular Malaysia.

Remembered for: a career spent in opposition and in the courtroom, from a Sikh minority in Malaysia. His name appears in the site's timeline of Sikhs in Malaya and Singapore.