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No Triumph, No Tragedy

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Factual: Life Stories

Factual: Disability

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Peter White talks to disabled people who have bucked the odds and achieved outstanding success in a variety of fields

No Triumph, No Tragedy: 22/08/2011

22/08/2011

BBC Radio 4 - No Triumph, No Tragedy, 22/08/2011

Peter White interviews the Malaysian politician and human rights campaigner, Karpal Singh.

Peter White with the series which is not afraid to pose awkward questions about disability. He interviews Malaysian politician and human rights campaigner, Karpal Singh.

In this programme he interviews the Malaysian politician and human rights campaigner, Karpal Singh, who was left in a wheelchair after a motor accident in 2005. In 1987 Karpal was detained for fifteen months without trial and declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. Just a year earlier he had represented the British born drug smuggler Kevin Barlow who was eventually executed for drug smuggling in Malaysia. Karpal tells Peter about his long career fighting for justice and the obstacles now in his way as he battles the discriminatory stance towards his disability by fellow MPs. 

Known as the Tiger of Jelutong for his astonishing fifth electoral win in the Penang constituency, he is publicly as sharp and formidable as ever although in private he has struggled to regain his health following the accident: "I am fighting an internal battle that people don't see and which I can't express," he says. "Life is so different now. I can't stand to address the court or parliament and I need help to even scratch my forehead. It's a terrible thing when you can't do simple things that were once so normal." 

Producer: Susan Mitchell.

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No Triumph, No Tragedy

22/08/2011

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