The tragic death of Bukit Gelugor parliamentarian Karpal Singh has affected PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, and his family personally, he said.

"His death is a personal loss to me, to my wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and to my family," the Permatang Pauh MP said in memory of Karpal at the party's Reformasi 2.0 ceramah in Seberang Jaya last night.

Participants at the event observed a minute's silence for the veteran lawyer after being shown a brief presentation of his contribution to the country.

Karpal, 74, died in a car crash about 1am yesterday, near the Gopeng exit of the North-South Expressway, together with his helper, Michael Cornelius, 39.

The duo were travelling to Penang from Kuala Lumpur with three others, including Karpal's son, Ram Karpal.

Karpal's remains are currently at his family home in Jalan Utama, Penang, until 11 am on Sunday when  the body will be taken to Batu Lanchang for cremation.

During his speech, Anwar recounted the last moments he had with the former DAP national chairperson, who has been his lawyer for the past 15 years, after his  sacking from his deputy prime minister's post in 1998, sparking the Reformasi movement.

Four missed calls from Karpal

Anwar said that at 6.20pm on Tuesday, while on the way to the airport to catch a flight to Alor Setar, Kedah, he received four missed calls from Karpal.

He learnt later that the calls from to inform him that Karpal had obtained all the documents pertaining to the Sodomy II case from the Court of Appeal, Anwar said.

Karpal was working on the notice for Anwar's appeal to the Federal Court to overturn the Court of Appeal decision to jail him, which had to be submitted in 10 days, Anwar said.

"This is because there are efforts by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to appeal for a higher sentence against me," Anwar claimed.

"This is really sial. The five years’ jail sentence is already cruel. Karpal told me, ‘you carry on, Anwar. I will do my best, I will fight them in the Federal Court’," Anwar told the 2,000-odd crowd at the rally.

Now that Karpal is gone, Anwar said, he was uncertain who will replace Karpal as his lawyer, adding that a newly-appointed lawyer "has to read everything all over again".

"It is difficult to find lawyers like Karpal. There are Umno lawyers but many want a contract. It seems we can have the best counsel, but it will be pointless if the decision has already been made in our cases," he said.

"The attorney-general wants to counter-appeal for a higher sentence for me. What kind of human being is this?" Anwar asked.

"We are supposed to be good human beings. How do you want the non Muslims to respect us?

"Karpal is not just a lawyer for me, but a friend and a comrade in our political struggle,. When I was in jail for six years before, he visited me at least once or twice a month."

Karpal refused payment for legal service

Another fond memory he had of Karpal was when Karpal refused to receive any payment for his legal services.

At that time, Anwar was serving his six-year sentence for Sodomy I, from 2001 to 2006, at the Sungai Buloh Prison.

Anwar said his family raised the money to pay the legal fees but Karpal had refused to take the money.

"He chided my brother Rosli, who took the money to him. I didn't know about this," Anwar recalled, until Karpal told me, "Anwar, you better tell your family members not to disturb me."

Anwar said he insisted that Karpal accepts his fees, since he had commitments such as staff salaries and office rental, but Karpal retorted: "You, Anwar, have sacrificed yourself, went to jail, beaten half-dead...  how can I take money from you?"

Karpal then told me, Anwar said to loud clapping from the crowd: "You tell your family, since you sacrificed for the nation, I am only contributing a small part of it to defend you."

He then went on to rap some Umno members who disrespected Karpal's death with their tweets, saying even the Prophet had shown respect to the passing cortege of a Jew, supposedly an enemy of Islam.

Principled stand on issues

"Karpal opposed hudud as he is not Muslim, but what about Muslims like former prime minister Dr Mohamed protesting the law?" Anwar asked.

Karpal is well-known for his principled stand on issues and strong objection to hudud, which he argued was in contravention of the the Federal Constitution.

"Why no one said anything when Mahathir supports the anti-hadith movement? These people are munafik (hypocrites)."

Meanwhile, PAS deputy chief Mohamed Sabu, who also spoke at the event, remembered Karpal as a good lawyer who defended the voiceless, including a purdah-wearing woman who was sacked by her employer.

"Karpal asked me to look for a Muslim scholar who could advised him on women's attire in Islam," Mohamed, who is widely known as Mat Sabu, said.

"Of course, this kind of story will not be told in the press but that is how Karpal was. We were close as we were in Kamunting together, during our Internal Security Act detention during Operasi Lalang from 1987," Mat Sabu said.

Other leaders present with Anwar at the Reformasi 2.0 ceramah included Penang Deputy Chief Minister I Rashid Hasnon, PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and MPs Rafizi Ramli (Pandan), Mansor Othman (Nibong Tebal), Sim Tze Tzin (Bayan Baru) and Johari Abdul (Sungai Petani).

Other than Rashid, the assemblypersons from Penang present included Norlela Ariffin (Penanti), Lee Khai Loon (Machang Bubok) and Ong Chin Wen (Bukit Tengah).

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