A warm, caring, but sometimes searing light went out last month. Increasingly affluent and confident Asia didn’t notice, but the many millions left behind or exploited by the region’s boom probably knew or would eventually feel the resulting pall.

Karpal Singh, a Malaysian lawyer, politician and stalwart defender of the common man, was tragically killed in an April 17 car accident at age 73. Although many outside Malaysia had not heard of him, the Penang-born opposition leader and longtime member of parliament, was a mountain of a man, who never compromised his principles and who put many more famous figures to shame.

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