The late Karpal Singh was sorely missed at Penang DAP's Impian Malaysian fund raising dinner for East Malaysia last night, at which he was supposed to be one of the guest speakers.

It was an emotional moment when the organisers blacked out the entire dinner hall and set the spotlight on the stage, revealing only a wheelchair, Karpal's travel mode since he met with a serious accident in 2005.

"Karpal was supposed to be the next speaker but he is no more here with us," one of the emcees Chris Lee said solemnly.

He then invited all the DAP leaders, including Penang Chief Minister and secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and the party's senior leader and Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang to go on stage to honour the memory of Karpal.

As they stood silently behind the empty wheelchair, Lee read out a heartfelt poem by poet Mary Elizabeth Frye:

"Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there; I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints on the snow,

I am the sunlight on ripened grain, I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush, I am the swift uplifting rush, of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there; I did not die.”

The dinner, attended by 3,000 people, also observed a one-minute silence for the famous lawyer who died in a tragic car crash on the North-South highway at Guar Tempurung, Perak, along with his helper Michael Cornelius on Apr 17.

This was followed by a four minute video clip highlighting Karpal’s phenomenal 40 year career in law and politics, and events surrounding the three day funeral wake in his family home along Jalan Utama, right up to the state-honoured funeral in Dewan Sri Pinang and the last leg of his journey to the cremation centre in Batu Gantung.

Borneo project Karpal's dream

Kit Siang said the Impian Malaysia or Malaysia Dream project which was launched in Sept last year to raise funds for Sabah and Sarawak natives was also Karpal's dream, as DAP has worked of a Malaysian Malaysia since the party was launched on March 18, 1966.

"We miss him tonight and we will miss him in the coming years as what we went through together. What Karpal stood and fought for was phenomenal," Kit Siang said.

"Even those who lived beyond the shores of Penang felt a great loss because for 40 years. Karpal was the voice of the voiceless, the oppressed and he was the indefatigable fighter for all," he added.

"He died on the 41st day the Malaysian Airlines 370 went missing, but the grief over his death was greater than anything.

"Even though to the government, he was a non-person and not granted a national funeral, he had more, as he has received a Malaysian people's funeral," Kit Siang said.

The DAP and Pakatan Rakyat continue to focus on the two East Malaysian states, considered BN's "safe deposit" as the latter has managed to win 47 out of 56 parliamentary seats there, while the former managed only nine (four in Sabah and five in Sarawak).

As part of its contribution, the Penang DAP handed over two cheques of RM200,000 each to its comrades in Sabah and Sarawak to carry out several infrastructure projects in the interiors of the two states.

This is to win the hearts and minds of the locals and natives in view of the coming state elections in Sarawak slated for 2016, and the 14th parliamentary polls that must be called by 2018, June.

'Sandakan roads like safari'

During the three-hour dinner, Penangites were told of the daily woes of East Malaysians who continue to suffer as they are deprived of their basic rights although the states have been under BN’s rule for over five decades.

For example, folks in Sandakan, Sabah, suffer power outages of 462 hours a year compared to 60 hours for those who live in Peninsula Malaysia, said Sandakan MP Stephen Wong during his speech.

“If you come to Sandakan and there is no blackout, then it is not Sandakan!” he told the crowd who attended the dinner at the Subterranean Penang International Convention and Exhibition Centre (Spice) in Bayan Baru.

“Only 38 percent of our roads are tarred compared to 89 percent in the Peninsula, we have no highways to link the three major towns, we have safari-like roads and when emergencies happen, it takes us about 45 minutes to get to the hospitals or clinics because we have to travel by river, as there are no proper bridges,” he lamented.

Sarawak DAP chief and Kucing MP Chong Chieng Jen presented a power-point presentation to show that the funds collected from donors in the Peninsula  helped to complete 11 infrastructure projects in the interiors of the state.

These projects, carried out by about 100 volunteers from the Peninsula include setting up pipe water, building jetties and bridges, and refurbishing a home for a single mother, in Limbang, Serian, Bintulu, Sibu, Betong, Semantan, Bau and Ulu Bengoh, Chong said.

During the event, six Impian Malaysia volunteers, from Penang, who went to Sarawak to help complete the projects, shared their experiences.

Currently, the project has signed up 567 volunteers, between ages 18 to 67, where 117 have gone to the interiors to help out in the projects.