PASSING THE BATON

Gobind, make your father proud. Show us that your father moulded you and brought you up in the proper way. Show the nation that you have what it takes to walk in those large shoes of the late Karpal Singh. That would be the greatest tribute you can give your father.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

It was about 7.45pm last night. That would make it about 2.45am Malaysian time this morning. My wife, Marina, was at the kopitiam helping my sons cook so I was all alone at home sitting in front of the TV waiting for the 8.00pm news. That was when the first message came in regarding the passing of Yang Berhormat Karpal Singh, the Tiger of Jelutong.

No, I do not wish to sing the late Karpal Singh’s praises. I do not wish to write a long flowery obituary about a man whose portrait deserves to don the walls alongside the likes of the Tunku, Darma Raja Seenivasagam, Dr Tan Chee Khoon, and many, many more of the true sons and daughters of Malaysia.

Seldom do we know or remember the person who planted the tree of the fruit we are savouring. We never stop to ponder that what we are enjoying is the fruit of another person’s effort. And there are many such people whom Malaysians owe a great debt to, Malaysians who lived and died for the country that they loved.

The list would be endless. Many Malaysians cannot even name 1% of these sons and daughters of Malaysia. Some were in politics. Many were not. A mere handful of these people are known. Most are unknown, unsung heroes and heroines who sacrificed their whole life and at times their very lives itself to make Malaya and then Malaysia a better place for all of you who are alive today.

No words that I can think of would do justice to the man who was larger than life, YB Karpal Singh. Hence I had better avoid saying anything lest my inadequate words appear as an insult to the great man. What I would like to say, instead, is about the man who can and must continue the late Karpal Singh’s legacy, his son, Godind Singh Deo.

I personally know Gobind. He is not only one of my lawyers but a friend as well. In fact, he was a friend long before he was my lawyer. I see Gobind as a horse that cannot be broken. Nevertheless, he always gave the impression that he was a tame horse that could be ridden so as not to ‘crowd the field’ that was dominated by his late father, the Tiger of Jelutong.

Gobind did not always agree with some of the things his father said or did. But he was too loyal and respectful a son to openly say so. In the meetings I had with him, and when the subject of his late father was raised, the smile and the few polite words that came out from his mouth gave me the distinct impression that his father is ‘old school’ while he is ‘new school’, but it is not yet time for the ‘new school’ to take the mantle.

The nation mourns the passing of Karpal Singh. I would not want to do the same. I do not want to mourn Karpal Singh’s death. I want to celebrate his life. Karpal Singh left us many things. And one of those things he left us were his sons, one of those being Gobind Singh Deo, who will now take the baton and continue the legacy and tradition of his father.

While I sadly offer my condolences to the family of the late Karpal Singh, I also gladly look forward to the legacy that Karpal Singh left us. And I believe that what Karpal Singh planted in the sons he has left behind is going to see Malaysia enter the next phase of its political development.

Malaysians from the first phase of the fight for Merdeka have mostly all left us. Very few remain. Malaysians from the second phase of the post-Merdeka era are leaving us one by one. It is now time for Malaysians of this new millennium to continue the third phase of the country’s development as envisaged by the founding fathers of our nation.

And that is what we need to look forward to.

Gobind, make your father proud. Show us that your father moulded you and brought you up in the proper way. Show the nation that you have what it takes to walk in those large shoes of the late Karpal Singh. That would be the greatest tribute you can give your father.