Personal Eulogy To Karpal Singh By Penang Chief Minister and DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng In Penang On 18.4.2014.
Karpal Singh – For True Believers
As I sit here at my home in Penang at 4 am in the morning of 17 April 2014, waiting for my driver to come and pick me up to go to Ipoh Hospital, I felt numbed by the shocking news relayed to my wife Betty through my sister Hui Ying an hour earlier. I had gone to bed early as I was unwell and was still groggy when the import of her words sunk in.
DAP National Chairman Karpal, who meant so much to us, was gone. A man filled with such vitality, brilliance and energy was no more. A leader who gave forth so much strength, vision and guidance had left. A true friend in our darkest days whether in the depths of prison cells or the abyss of electoral defeat had departed. A loving father and an even more loving husband had suddenly passed away on the early hours of this terrible rainy 17th April 2014.
As the messages and tweets on the handphone flashed back and forth scattering my thoughts everywhere, I could not find the words to describe my acute sense of loss. DAP leaders are shaken because it was so sudden and unexpected. Karpal left before his time when he still had so much to contribute.
I will miss hearing the cheer in Karpal’s voice, the optimism that comes from doing the right thing and the fighting spirit no matter highly impossible the odds. But I can still hear Karpal’s voice – undaunted and forthright with a deep sense of humanity.
Karpal was one of those rare voices who spoke his mind, respected by friend and foe alike and completely fearless. Even Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyidin Yassin had personally told Mrs Karpal when he paid his last respects that “politics aside, Karpal was a great man and very bold”. Indeed Karpal was not afraid to offend anyone no matter how high and mighty, how wealthy or powerful if he felt he was right. And he forgave easily those who could not live up to his exacting standards but he never forgot.
He was a lawyer’s lawyer upholding the basic tenet that everyone had a right to a fair trial and counsel. That was why he was more than willing to defend former foes who were victims of injustice. Truly there are no permanent friends nor enemies in politics, only permanent principles.
He reminded me from the time we shared our dormitory in the detention camps in Kamunting in 1987-88 when we were both detained under the Internal Security Act(ISA) or in his visits to my dingy Kajang Prison in 1998-99 when I was serving time under the Sedition Act of the importance of distinguishing the true believers from the unreliable ones.
The true believers were the ones who anchored their beliefs simply in terms of right and wrong. The true believers were incorruptible and fought on even when all was lost because it was the right thing to do. They continued the struggle because they had to as a human being, for simply to live and permit such injustice and corruption, was unacceptable.
He never feared defeat. He told me to lose occasionally is good for you as it puts iron in your soul, where you learn to climb back up quickly. “After all he lost electoral battles, Kit Siang had lost too and both of us are still here”, her reminded me with a twinkle in his eye. He said defeat is merely a test of your mettle to see how quickly you bounce back.
Even when his body failed him after the 2005 traffic accident outside his house in Penang, he refused to bow out. He did not allow his wheelchair bound body to still his voice but focused his brilliant legal mind totally on improving the law and righting wrongs.
We had bonded in Kamunting Detention Camp and the years after as only comrades in adversity could. I learnt from him, was guided by his wisdom and refreshed by his iron will and spirit. We shared the same travails, whether persecuted or prosecuted under the ISA detention without trial or Sedition Act. And indeed it only made us stronger and more determined.
He shared his passion for DAP and his open brotherhood with my father Kit Siang as well as his comradeship with Sdr Dr Chen Man Hin, the late Sdr P.Patto and Dato Chian Heng Kai. His belief and trust in Kit Siang and faith with Sdr Dr Chen was the bedrock which the party pulled itself up and built upon the ashes of defeat.
This trinity of Kit, Karpal and Chen in the DAP would never yield and submit to a corrupt and authoritarian regime. They were all prepared to be broken as men with honour, who preferred to live by dying on their feet rather than survive on bended knees.
I will miss you Karpal. I am honoured to be your associate. Malaysians will miss Karpal too and salutes a towering Malaysian patriot who made every citizen proud of his country and gave hope to the dispossessed, weak, defenceless, poor and voiceless.
Your greatest legacy is not the honours bestowed by leaders or tributes by famous personalities overseas or locally. What moves us are the tears shed by the many ordinary Malaysian who do not know you and whom you never met but yet are touched by the sacrifices you have made.
Rest In Peace – you deserve to after all you have done for the party, nation and people.
—–Mandarin Version —
槟州首席部长兼民主行动党秘书长林冠英于2014年4月18日对于卡巴星逝世发表的悼文：
卡巴星- 真正有信仰的人
当我于2014年4月17日凌晨四点坐在家门前，等待司机前来载我到怡保医院，我感到震惊及木然。一小时前，妹妹慧英告知我太太玉清关于卡巴星逝世的噩耗，我之前因身体不适而提早休息，因此当太太转告噩耗时，我还昏昏沉沉没回过神来。
我们亲爱的行动党全国主席卡巴星已经走了。一个生命力如此强韧、聪明及有活力的强人走了。一个给予我们力量、视野及指导的领袖走了。在我们遭受牢狱之灾、竞选受挫时不离不弃的朋友走了。一个和蔼的父亲、尽责的丈夫突然在2014年4月17日下大雨的清晨，走了。
手机短讯及推文不断响起，我的思绪几近崩溃，我找不到任何字眼可以形容这种突然失去的痛苦。行动党领袖都很震惊，因为它来得太突然、太无预警了。卡巴还有很多事没来得及贡献，就走了。
我将会怀念卡巴爽朗的声音，他的乐观源自于做对的事、无论胜算多么低他都保持斗争精神。我还是可以听见卡巴的声音，无畏正直、突显深沉的人性。
卡巴是少数勇于直言、受朋友、敌人尊敬、无畏无惧的人。就连副首相丹斯里慕尤丁在致最后敬意时也私底下告诉卡巴的妻子“撇开政治不谈，卡巴星是一个非常伟大、非常有胆量的人”。的确，只要卡巴认为是对的，他都不怕得罪那些权贵。他原谅那些没法达到他的要求的人士，但是他不会忘记。
他是律师中的佼佼者，他捍卫每个人都有权利获得公平审判及辩护的原则。这也是为什么他在之前敌人受在不正义对待时，他也愿意挺身而出。的确，没有永远的朋友，也没有永远的敌人，只有永远的原则。
1987年及88年我们被当局援引内安法令扣留在甘文丁扣留营，当时我们共处一室，以及我在1998年至99年在昏暗的加影监狱服刑时，他前来探望我，他提醒我分辩真正有信仰和信仰不牢靠者的差别。
真正有信仰的人，会明确地依据自己的信仰，明辩是非。真正有信仰的人不会腐败，甚至在一无所有的时候还会斗争，因为那是为对的事而做的。他们继续斗争，因为这是他们做为人必须做的事，苟且偷生，纵容不公义及贪污是不能被接受的。
他从不害怕被打败，他说过，偶而失败是好事，这犹如在你的灵魂加入钢铁，让你越战越勇，让你在跌倒后懂得马上爬起来。“再说，我输了选举、吉祥也输了，但是我们还在。”他眼神炯炯地提醒我。他说，失败只是考验你的勇气，看看你要花多少的时间振作起来。
当他遭遇2005年家门前的车祸而导致半身瘫痪后，他拒绝低头。他不让身体受限于轮椅、继续发出声音，他继续使用他聪明的法律脑袋来改善司法及纠正错误。
我们从甘文丁扣留营开始结缘，并共同经历了党同志间独有的同甘共苦。从他身上我学习了很多，他的智慧、不屈不挠的意志及精神一直在引导着我。我们共患难，不论是面对无审讯扣留或煽动法令的迫害。的确，这些经历让我们更加强韧及意志更加坚定。
他把热忱倾注于行动党，他与我父亲林吉祥之前的兄弟情谊，以及与曾敏兴医生、P.巴都、拿督陈庆佳之前的同志情谊。他对林吉祥及曾敏兴的信任，是让行动党重振旗鼓、走出失败底谷的基石。
行动党的“三人行”：吉祥、卡巴星及曾敏兴从不屈服、从不向贪污及专制的政权低头。他们随时准备带着荣耀牺牲，他们宁可站着死，也不愿跪着求生。
我会想念你，卡巴。我很庆幸，能成为你的伙伴。马来西亚人民也会想念卡巴，并向这个伟大的马来西亚爱国者致敬，他让每一个国民为这个国家感到骄傲，也曾为那些权利被剥夺、弱势、无力自保、贫穷及无力发言的群体带来希望。
你最大的遗产不是国内外领袖或著名人士所献上的赞誉。最令我们感动的是，许多不认识你、你没见过但被你贡献而感动的普通马来西亚人为你的牺牲，流下不舍的眼泪。
你已经为党、为国及为人民付出那么多，安息吧！