The body of late Karpal Singh brought to Penang for burial

His body was brought from the Raja Perempuan Bainun Hospital in a van escorted by the police around 1.30pm.

Karpal’s eldest son, Gobind Singh Deo said burial details will be shared later once other matters have been settled.

“We plan to have in either Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning to allow family and friends to pay their last respects,” he told reporters.

He also asked the public to accord the family some space during the difficult time.

Meanwhile, Democratic Action Party (DAP) today instructed all its branches to fly the party flag at half-mast as a mark of respect for Karpal.

The party also said that it had postponed all party annual general meetings scheduled from tomorrow until the funeral.

“DAP lost a brave and an extraordinary leader. The nation lost a great lawyer and the rakyat lost a courageous ‘tiger’ who fights for the poor, the less fortunate and the marginalized,” DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng said in a press statement.

Karpal is a renowned lawyer and member of parliament for Bukit Gelugor.

He was formerly parliamentarian for Jelutong for more than twenty years during which he earned the moniker "Tiger of Jelutong" for his fiery speeches in court and in the Dewan Rakyat.

Karpal recently relinquished his post as DAP chairman after a High Court judge found him guilty of sedition for questioning the Perak ruler on his decision to remove former Perak mentri besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin from his post in February 2009.

The outspoken lawyer was left wheelchair-bound following a 2005 road accident. However, that did not stop him from continuing his legal and political career.

“The accident caused him to be paralysed from waist down. However, he never gave in and continued fighting the DAP struggle to make Malaysia a better country. He was the first disabled person to win a parliamentary seat twice with a huge majority,” Lim added.

Karpal remains was brought to his house at Jalan Utama, Penang at about 4pm today.

The funeral will take place at 11am, Sunday at the Batu Gantong Crematorium.