What a lucky Mr Karpal

[My Malaysiana]

Thanks God, you still alive.
From The Star

Karpal Singh injured in crash

By K. KASTURI DEWI

PENANG: DAP national chairman Karpal Singh usually sits in the front passenger seat of taxis to chat with cabbies whenever he moves around.

On Friday, he made a switch and sat in the backseat. That probably saved his life, said his wife Gurmit Kaur.

Karpal Singh, 65, had taken the taxi from the Penang International Airport to his house in Jalan Utama when a car rammed into it at midnight.

Gurmit Kaur said she was surprised to find that he was seated behind.

“It must have been God’s way of saving his life because had he been seated in front, he would have been thrown towards the windscreen,” she said outside the Gleneagles Medical Centre’s intensive care unit where her husband was warded.

The car rammed into the taxi which was waiting to turn right into Karpal Singh’s house.

Gurmit Kaur said the 42-year-old car driver looked hysterical after the accident.

“He kept saying ‘What have I done? What have I done? This is the Tiger of Jelutong,’” she said.

She also said the taxi’s rear left door was jammed and Karpal Singh could only be brought out from the other side.

Gurmit Kaur said that her husband, received an endless stream of visitors, was advised by the doctors to have complete rest.

Doctors said Karpal Singh suffered neck injuries.

“He is much better today and was able to speak to me.

“Doctors said there is no need for surgery and neither is there any injury to the head,” Gurmit Kaur said.

Among those who visited Karpal Singh at the hospital yesterday were state MCA chairman Datuk Wong Kam Hoong, Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, state DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow, Sungai Puyu assemblyman Phee Boon Poh and Bukit Mertajam MP Chong Eng.

Taxi driver Soid Abdul Ghani, 48, said he picked up Karpal Singh at the airport at 11.30pm.

“He would usually be chatting away. Yesterday, however, he was rather quiet and wanted to sit behind. I thought he was tired after his flight,” he said.

Soid said he had put on the indicator to turn right into the house when suddenly, a car rammed into the taxi.

“Karpal Singh moaned in pain and I immediately got out of the car to check on his condition. He just told me to get his wife before he passed out,” he said.

“I called her and then walked towards the car which had rammed into the taxi and the driver was still seated inside. He seemed to be crying,” he said.

Soid lodged a police report at the George Town police district headquarters at 2.07am yesterday.

He said passers-by had stopped to help and the ambulance arrived about 15 minutes later.

Karpal Singh’s eldest son, Jagdeep Singh Deo, said the car driver handed his identity card to him after the accident.

“He made a few phone calls on his handphone and a few minutes later, he was driven off by his friends,” he said.