Day: April 22, 2014

Nur Jazlan
The Malaysian Insider
April 22, 2014

Pertama sekali saya ingin mengucapkan takziah kepada keluarga mendiang bekas Pengerusi DAP, Ahli Parlimen Bukit Gelugor dan peguam terkenal, mendiang Karpal Singh terutamanya anak mendiang, Gobind Singh Deo yang juga Ahli Parlimen Puchong, atas kematian bapanya dalam kemalangan tragis pada awal pagi Jumaat lalu.

Sesungguhnya, mungkin ini kali pertama majlis pengebumian seorang tokoh pembangkang menerima penghormatan tertinggi daripada sebuah negeri dan kematian mendiang Karpal Singh diratapi bukan sahaja ahli keluarganya, rakan-rakan atau ahli DAP tetapi juga seluruh rakyat Malaysia.
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Walaupun tidak mengenali mendiang Karpal Singh yang turut dikenali dengan gelaran ‘Tiger of Jelutong’ secara peribadi, tetapi saya amat kagum dengan kesungguhan serta perjuangan beliau yang tidak berbelah bahagi dalam sistem perundangan negara serta kancah politik negara.

Secara tidak langsung, perjuangan politik mendiang Karpal Singh selama 40 tahun lebih kurang sama dengan arwah ayahanda saya, Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat atau Tok Mat dan mereka juga adalah rakan ketika sama-sama menjadi Ahli Dewan Rakyat bermula sekitar tahun 70-an.

Jika ada yang beranggapan bahawa dengan pemergian mendiang Karpal Singh buat selama-lamanya akan mengubah hala tuju perjuangan parti DAP, saya tidak yakin ia akan berlaku memandangkan parti itu berada dalam ‘kelasnya’ tersendiri dalam kancah politik negara yang begitu mencabar. Continue reading “Perjuangan mendiang Karpal Singh vs perjuangan Umno dan BN”

– Robert Chaen
The Malaysian Insider
April 22, 2014

Karpal Singh was Malaysia’s Gandhi. He was killed in a car accident on April 17 at 1.10am.

Karpal once said that even if he is gone there would be 100 Karpals to take his place.

My name is Robert Chaen, the creator of this cause.

As a tribute to the legacy of the Malaysian icon Karpal Singh and the principles he stood for, we request social media users to change your Facebook and other profile pictures to a Karpal picture, and to share this post on their FB timeline.

We want to inspire netizens to have the courage to stand up for your human rights and principles. We want to send a powerful message to the authorities in Malaysia and any nation in the world to uphold the rule of law, that they can’t silence us through tyranny, and they can’t jail us all.

Take a stand for the rule of law today. Sitting on the fence, constantly complaining about what’s wrong with Malaysia, and doing nothing will not change Malaysia.

Gandhi said “Let me be the change I want to see in the world”. Continue reading “Let 100 Karpals take his place”

BY AMIN ISKANDAR, NEWS EDITOR
The Malaysian Insider
April 22, 2014

The deputy president of PAS has come to the defence of the late Karpal Singh amid accusations of insulting Islam hurled at the veteran lawyer following his death in a car accident last week.

Instead, Mohamad Sabu reminded that it was former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who had insulted the religion by belittling hudud, or the Shariah punishment for serious crimes, adding that Karpal had never insulted the Islamic laws but merely defended the Federal Constitution.

“I am perplexed why Muslims react this way when it was Muslims themselves who insulted hudud, such as the statement by the former prime minister that if hudud was implemented in Kelantan, many Muslims would lose their limbs,” Mohamad, better known as Mat Sabu, told The Malaysian Insider in a recent interview.

“Karpal had never insulted (hudud). He had only said that it was against the Constitution,” said Mat Sabu. Mat Sabu was referring to comments last week by Dr Mahathir on the plan by PAS to table the Private Members’ Bill on hudud in the Dewan Rakyat.

Dr Mahathir had said Islamic laws should ensure justice and not be geared towards punishing offenders.

“There are Muslims and non-Muslims in our country. If a Muslim steals, his hand will be chopped off but when a non-Muslim steals, he goes to jail. Is that justice or not?” he asked, adding that “Soon, Muslims will have no hands”.

Mat Sabu said he could not understand why Umno leaders who had come out strongly in opposition to PAS’s plan to implement hudud in Kelantan had kept silent over Dr Mahathir’s remarks. Continue reading “It’s Dr Mahathir, not Karpal, who belittled hudud, says Mat Sabu”

– K.K. Wong
The Malaysian Insider
April 21, 2014

Karpal Singh’s sudden and tragic death is still sinking into the minds of many.

I had the honour of bumping into this great man many years ago in a Bangsar mini market. I remember recognizing him straightaway, but it was he who introduced himself to me. It was this gesture of humility which struck me. He did not take it for granted that everyone should know him.

Karpal Singh has many creditable attributes. To many it was his integrity, his courage, his immense and formidable legal skills which stood him out in the crowd.

There are few who would dare to fight from a position of nothing and yet Karpal Singh did it knowing that he had all the odds stacked against him. He stood firmly for justice and the truth. He was prepared to speak out for what he believed in against a greater authority in many instances of legal confrontations in his career.

He was armed not with power for which he had none, but only with his tremendous and deep legal knowledge, his integrity, his principle for justice and his wit. Continue reading “A tribute to Karpal Singh”