COMMENT Karpal Singh going in and out of courtrooms was a regular sight for me as a reporter covering court proceedings over the last 10 years.

 

The courtrooms of Kuala Lumpur, Shah Alam, Malacca and the Federal Court and Court of Appeal in Putrajaya still feel empty without him, exactly a year today since he died in a car crash in Perak.

 

In those days, the late Karpal was certainly a welcome sight to any reporter covering the courts.

 

As a journalist, covering his cases or meeting him were always moments to be cherished.

 

Despite being wheelchair-bound since a road accident in 2005, Karpal was always willing to reply to reporters’ queries.

 

If the reporter did not understand, he would take pains to explain things point by point and show his notes or submissions to facilitate understanding.

 

He once personally called me on my mobile phone to inform me when the full written judgment for the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case at the Shah Alam High Court was made available. As a result, Malaysiakini was the first to report the full judgment.

 

Karpal and his law firm were holding a watching brief for the Shaariibuu family, and he provided me a copy of the judgment at his Pudu office.

 

I remember him as the only lawyer generous enough to give a copy of his submission to reporters covering cases in which he appears. He is as generous as a lawmaker.

 

One only had to leave a message with his trusted assistant, the late Michael Cornelius, who perished with him in the Perak accident, and Karpal would certainly return the call, despite his busy schedule, and answer any queries.

 

That was how Karpal was as a person.

 

A real gentleman

 

As a well-known lawyer, Karpal would not mind being photographed, obliging press photographers to take their best shots.

 

I have seen law students or even those in secondary school uniforms approach Karpal outside the courts, and despite his disability, he would oblige them and pose for photographs with them.

 

I have never seen any other lawyer garnering the same kind of attention and respect - the students flocked to him for photographs.

 

As a young lawyer who graduated from Universiti Malaya, Singapore, Karpal used to travel from Penang to Kuala Lumpur on his motorcycle. He has a photo of this to prove this feat.

 

Entering his Pudu office, one could see the image of a tiger, a nod to his nickname the 'Tiger of Jelutong'. He earned it when he was Jelutong MP before he became Bukit Gelugor MP.

 

After Karpal’s shocking death, I made the trip from Kuala Lumpur to Penang with another reporter friend to pay my last respects.

 

Breaking the journey at the Sungai Perak rest area, I saw many familiar faces - activists, journalists - who were all heading to his home to say goodbye.

 

On arriving at Karpal's house, I first noticed a senior deputy public prosecutor paying his last respects. There was a long line of those who had come to the house on Jalan Utama for the same reason.

 

I gave Gobind Singh Deo, Karpal’s son and Puchong MP, a hug and expressed my condolences to the family.

 

Coping still hard

 

A year has passed since the sudden and shocking death, in the early morning of April 17, 2014, while Karpal was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Penang, as always, criss-crossing around the country to attend to a case.

 

Karpal's only daughter, Sangeet Kaur Deo, commenting on the sudden loss, admitted that although it has been a year, the family is still finding it hard to come to terms with his sudden departure.

 

"It’s been a trying year, to say the least. Losing him is something I probably will never get over.

 

"But continuing his work in terms of his firm has given me a lot of comfort. So I intend to focus on that and do the best I can," said Sangeet, also a lawyer.

 

Till today, the loss of the tiger is still felt by the legal community and journalists, especially court reporters or those covering Parliament.

 

Karpal was a giant of a man and a towering Malaysian, inside and outside the courtroom.

 

HAFIZ YATIM is a member of Team Malaysiakini.