Press Statement By Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng In Komtar, George Town On 21.4.2014.
The Penang state government wishes to thank the 25,000 Malaysians and Penangites who turned up to pay their last respects during the public funeral of DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Glugor Karpal Singh organized by the state government at Dewan Sri Pinang yesterday. The mammoth crowd was unexpected. We wish to apologise to all who came from far and near but did not have the opportunity to pay their last respects to Karpal Singh at Dewan Sri Pinang.
We hope that the public can forgive and overlook any shortcomings during the public funeral. The police did not turn up as planned to conduct crowd control outside Dewan Sri Pinang. The state government would conduct a post-mortem to determine the reasons behind the police not turning up as planned and work towards overcoming the weaknesses that may have caused any inconvenience to the public.
We also wish to thank the 3,000 motorcyclists who came on their own accord without any prior arrangement to accompany the hearse to the crematorium in Batu Gantong. This spontaneous send-off by the 3,000 motorcyclists, mostly from the working class, would be most meaningful to Karpal as it showed the affection for Karpal that ordinary Malaysians held in their hearts.
This public funeral by the Penang state government is probably the largest in Penang’s history because the people of Penang and Malaysia made it so. Your presence yesterday has shown that there is a “tiger” like Karpal lurking in each and every one of us.
Let us fearlessly follow Karpal in fighting for justice and rule of law as the bedrock of prosperity of our nation and economy. Lest we forget, upholding the rule of law in Penang is one of the principal reasons that has gained foreign investor’s confidence, as evidenced by Penang recording the highest foreign direct investment in Malaysia from 2010 to August 2013.
Let us show the same courage as Karpal in not only doing the right thing but doing it right. Whether young or old, we best remember Karpal by moving forward to ensure that no one can steal our children’s future.
LIM GUAN ENG
—–Mandarin Version —
槟州首席部长林冠英于2014年4月21日在光大乔治市发表声明：
槟州政府向2万5000名出席民主行动党全国主席兼武吉牛汝莪区国会议员卡巴星荣誉丧礼的马来西亚人及槟城人致以万二分谢意，上述丧礼由槟州
政府假槟州大会堂举行。出席人数之多出乎意料。我们向那些远道而来、却没有办法瞻仰卡巴星遗容致最后敬意的人士道歉。
我们希望公众可以原谅丧礼的不足之处。警方没有按原订计划前来协助维持槟州大会堂外的秩序。州政府将会检讨警方没有执行任务的原因，并且努力改善引起众人不便的缺点。
我们也会感谢3000辆电单车自愿组织前来送卡巴最后一程直至峇都眼东火化场。这3000辆送行的电单车大多数来自劳动阶级，对卡巴而言意义非凡，这代表卡巴深受普通老百姓的爱戴。
这场由槟州政府举办的荣誉丧礼或许是槟州历上最大型的，这要归功于槟城及马来西亚人民。你们的出席，意味着我们每个人心目中都隐藏着一只像卡巴那样“老虎”。
让我们无畏无惧地跟随卡巴的步伐，为公义及法治斗争，让公义及法治成为国家及经济昌盛的基石。我们不要忘记，槟城维护法治是恢复投资者信心的主要原因之一，从槟州在2010年至2013年八月间外国投资额为全国第一可以看出。
让我们展现像卡巴一样的勇气，不只做对的事，而且要以对的方式来做。不论男女老幼，记住卡巴的最好方式，就是以大步迈进、保护我们孩子的未来，以慰卡巴在天之灵。
林冠英