The late Karpal was given a Public Service Award by the Gandhi Memorial Trust of Malaysia (GMT) in a ceremony yesterday evening. The event was held to commemorate the late lawyer for his services to the public, following in the footsteps of the late Mahatma Gandhi.

The award – a pewter tiger – was given by S. Radhakrishnan, Chairman of the Gandhi Memorial Trust and accepted by Karpal’s widow Gurmit Kaur.

The event in the Royal Selangor Club was attended by over 300 people comprising judges, lawyers, and politicians, as well as immediate family members of the late Karpal.

Also present were Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang, President of the Malaysian Bar Council Christopher Leong, Social activist Haris Ibrahim, Co-Chairperson of the Human Rights and Trade in Legal Services Committee  Andrew Khoo.

The event saw four speakers with legal background pay tribute to the late Karpal.

Karpal chose to live simply and dedicated his life to pursue his ideals, said one of the speakers, ex-Court of Appeal Judge Mahadev Shanker in his tribute to the late lawyer.

“He lived plainly but was lofty in thought,” said the ex-Judge, who added that Karpal Singh, in pursuing his duties, had to live a simple life but worked hard in the pursuit of justice.

Mahadev Shanker compared Karpal Singh to Gandhi, saying that both were selfless in their dedication to the public.

Another speaker, Dato Ambiga Sreenevasan, ex-Chair of Bersih who was also the former head of the Bar Council, said that Malaysia needed more statesmen like Karpal, and not just politicians.

“We all miss Karpal Singh, not just Karpal Singh the person, but Karpal Singh the warrior and voice of the people, Karpal Singh the statesman and most importantly for us today, Karpal Singh the defender of our Federal Constitution,” said Ambiga.

She also reminded that the late Karpal took a principled stance on any issue and usually voiced out his opinions with brutal honesty, which did not sit well with his detractors. Ambiga, who herself has opposed the Sedition Act as a tool by the government to silence the opposition, said that Karpal was wrongfully punished for expressing his opinion on the Perak Sultan’s role in the 2009 constitutional crisis.

All the speakers agreed that the Sedition Act charges against the late lawyer was an unjust attempt by the powers that be to silence dissent.

Lawyer Jagjit Singh who also spoke at the event, while praising Karpal for his exploits in the judiciary also reminisced about studying together with him in the University of Singapore.

Karpal was a famous “ragger” , he said, rehashing memories of Jagjit’s orientation in the University of Singapore where they first met.

He added that Karpal was a brave leader, from his memories of Karpal leading a student protest there, and that the late lawyer and himself graduated together.

“We both proudly graduated with 3rd class honours,” he said, much to the amusement of the attendees.

Another speaker, former Minister Zaid Ibrahim said that Karpal always spoke his piece in Parliament, even if it displeased the government.

“All he did was to speak according to his conscience,” Zaid said, adding that they were on opposing sides during Parliamentary debates.

The last to speak at the ceremony was Karpal Singh’s daughter, Sangeet Kaur who in a emotional delivery said,

“He was my pillar of strength, he was my best friend. To say I miss him wouldn’t come close to describe how I feel.”

Sangeet also said that she had questioned her father’s insistence on carrying on with the struggle for democracy, frustrated by difficult times endured by the family; to which Karpal would calmly reply,

“Be patient, these things take time, change doesn’t happen overnight, we must fight on.”