Since graduating from the University of Singapore in 1969, Karpal Singh had been a fearless advocate for justice and a defender of human rights in Southeast Asia and had appeared in the Privy Council in London on a number of occasions before such appeals were abandoned by Malaysia in 1985. He gained an international reputation for his defence of hundreds of people who faced the death penalty under Malaysia's Dangerous Drugs Act, among them Australian Kevin Barlow.
One of Karpal Singh's biggest achievements in recent years had been his successful defence of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on two charges of sodomy. Indeed, without his steely involvement at the head of Anwar's defence, it is difficult to imagine the opposition coalition being in the position it is today of realistically challenging the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) for power in the forthcoming 2018 election.
Karpal Singh had been involved in state and federal politics in Malaysia since 1974. He was chairman of the Chinese-dominated Democratic Action Party (DAP) and retained his Bukit Gelugor, Penang electorate seat in the 5 May 2013 national elections with a staggering 41 778 majority vote.
Karpal was a controversial figure, and was labelled along with fellow DAP politician Lim Kit Siang as a racial provocateur. He was dubbed the "Tiger of Jelutong" by admirers having served as Jelutong MP for five terms. Karpal attributed the nickname to a confrontation with former Malaysian Indian Congress President Samy Vellu, when he told Samy, "He could be the lion, and I could be the tiger, because there are no lions in Malaysia!"
During his lifetime, he remained a perennial thorn in the side of the political establishment and as this book went to press, he was facing a second round of sedition charges. Sadly, Karpal Singh died on 17 April 2014 after being involved in a motor vehicle accident. It was believed that the 73-year-old Bukit Gelugor MP was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Penang to attend a court hearing when the accident occurred.
The term "karpalism" is coined to honour the late Karpal Singh who fought fearlessly to uphold justice in both his legal and political careers. Karpalism is the spirit of courage to speak and fight for the underdogs and "victims".
About the author: Tim Donoghue is a general newspaper reporter employed by the Dominion Post in Wellington, New Zealand. He first met Karpal Singh in Penang in early 1987, soon after the execution of Australians Kevin Barlow (Karpal's client) and Geoffrey Chambers on the gallows of Pudu Jail in Kuala Lumpur. At the time, Donoghue was working as the Hong Kong-based New Zealand Press Association's Asia Correspondent.
From 1986 to 1990, he was a frequent visitor to Malaysia while covering the drug trafficking trial of New Zealand mother and son Lorraine and Aaron Cohen in Penang. Lorraine Cohen was sentenced to death but, with Karpal defending her, escaped the gallows, as did her son Aaron.
Donoghue first discussed the possibility of writing this book with Karpal during a number of visits when the latter was imprisoned - twice - at Kamunting in 1988 under the draconian Internal Security Act. As a frequent visitor to Malaysia since 1986, he has quietly worked away behind the scenes on this book project. As a journalist, his many international assignments have seen him make more than twenty trips to China. He also covered the first Gulf War from Saudi Arabia and travelled throughout the middle-eastern countries affected by the war zone.
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