GEORGE TOWN: Prominent Sikh activist-lawyer Sukhindarpal Singh Joga Singh died yesterday. He was 69.
He died in his sleep at the Penang Hospital about 6.55pm, two weeks after undergoing a heart procedure at the hospital.
According to his daughter Sukerit Kaur, Sukhindarpal had gone to the hospital with high hopes of recovering, telling the family that he will see them later.
"He was slowly recovering but one week post-op, he had a cardiac arrest. Doctors managed to revive him then.
"However, his condition slowly deteriorated thereafter," she said.
Sukerit remembers her late father as a very jovial man. He was also a very generous man, taking up legal cases free of charge.
"He was very passionate about four things — his profession, his love for motorbikes, Liverpool and his religion.
"He held his religion very close to his heart," she added.
Sukerit, 25, is following in her late father's footsteps, taking up law.
"He is my inspiration," she said.
A friend of over 40 years, Datuk Baljit Singh, said Sukhindarpal took up law later in life and was very passionate in it.
He said Sukhindarpal was known for taking up legal cases pro bono and a Yayasan Bantuan Guaman Kebangsaan (YBGK) lawyer.
"He was also well known as an 'Amicus curiae' (Friend of the court). He will assist the court in matters when no lawyer was present," he said.
Baljit knew Sukhindarpal since his teenage years where they played hockey together in the Khalsa team, Penang.
He said the late lawyer was also a great fan of Liverpool, just like him.
"Every time after a Liverpool game, we would get together to have a detailed analysis of the game.
"Once a week we will talk about something," he added.
Meanwhile, actor, dramatist, poet, journalist and noted civil rights activist, Kee Thuan Chye, took to social media to say that he lost an old friend, who believed in justice and did what he could for it as a lawyer in Penang.
"Sukhindarpal Singh died several hours ago (yesterday). The news that came to me was so sudden, it surprised me.
"I had last communicated with him on WhatsApp only as recently as April 19. And now he's gone.
"I've lost a friend who called me on the phone and talked with me about things that mattered to this nation and to life in general. And also about the days when we were students at Penang Free School where he was a couple of years my junior," he said.
Kee said Sukhindarpal was an impressive person to him throughout his life, beginning from the time he was still a student.
He said Sukhindarpal was also a hockey player for the school and he liked to ride big bikes.
"He cherished excellence and good human values. He championed human rights and did his part to help the oppressed.
"He also had a wonderful sense of humour and a quick wit and love for the English language.
"The last time I saw him was when he attended the launch of Volume Two of my biography of Lim Kit Siang held last November.
"I shall miss you, my friend Sukhindarpal. May you rest in peace," he said.
Lawyer Dr Shamsher Singh Thind said Sukhindarpal was like an older brother.
He said as a person who was younger than Surkhindarpal, he was surprised he was also treated like a friend.
"I witnessed that whenever there is something about me that, in his view, needs to be corrected, than it is his moral duty to correct it by informing me, regardless whether or not I will appreciate his intervention.
"So, to me and others like me, he behaved more like the older brother or even father.
"He was so pleased with me and even hugged me, that one and only time, when I filed the habeas corpus application on the pro bono basis for Loh Siew Hong and managed to secure the release of her three underaged children from an illegal detention," said Shamsher.
Sukhindarpal leaves behind wife Bhupinder Kaur, and daughters Sukerit, Sohayl, and Seffel.
A wake will be held at his residence in Taman Meru Mutiara, Ipoh, this morning, with the cortege departing for Wadda Gurdwara Sahib at 3.30pm.