Edmund William Barker (b. 1 December 1920, Singapore - d. 12 April 2001, Singapore) was a prominent local politician.
Educational Background:
Edmund (Eddie) William Barker was born on the 1st of December, 1920. He was educated at Serangoon English School and Raffles Institution. There, he contributed much. School captain, head prefect, and champion athlete in 1938. He represented the school in cricket, hockey, athletics and badminton, and later in Raffles College, he added rugby to the collection. Outside school, E.W. Barker played sports like cricket and hockey for the Singapore Recreation Club (SRC) between 1934 to 1941, when the SRC was almost the strongest team in Singapore. As a hockey player, young Edmund Barker, along with Reggie Thoy, were one of the first schoolboys to be chosen to play on a national level.
Achievements: Not only establishing himself as both sportsman and leader in his schooling days, but also much of scholar. Being awarded the prestigious Queen's Scholarship in 1946 a testament to his skill. Two years later, he graduated with honours in law at St. Catherine's College, Cambridge University. And if the demanding law degree was not enough, Edmund Barker still played sport at the university, winning the badminton blue at Cambridge.
Mr Barker returned to Singapore and practiced law from 1952 to 1964. He was elected as the MP for Tanglin in 1963– a post he held firmly until 1988, returning without opposition in recurring general elections. That same year, he was also serving as the speaker of the Singapore Legislative Assembly. Being a politician, he was committed wholly to the people of Singapore and its progress, being a notable leader of the House for around 15 years. His political portfolios include being Minister for Labour, National Development, Science and Technology, and Law. He was one of the longest serving of the Law Ministers in the Commonwealth.
After separation, he took on the additional portfolio consisting of National Development. He is considered as one of the Old Guard leaders, and left office in 1988, after 25 years of service.
In between the years of 1970 to 1990, he held other positions, like the first President of the Singapore National Olympic Council, President of the South-East Asia Peninsular Games Federation Council, Chairman of Bukit Turf Club, and Chairman of the Singapore Stock Exchange.
His appointments in Parliament consist of: Speaker, Minister for Law, Minister for Law and National Development, Minister for Law, Home Affairs and National Development, Minister for Law and National Development, Minister for Law and Environment, Minister for Law, the Environment and Science and Technology, Minister for Law and Science and Technology, Minister for Law,
Minister for Law and Labour, Minister for Law.
Continued Service:
After retiring himself from the world of politics, Mr Baker remained an active citizen, serving on boards of several public and private corporations.
But sports were still very much the first love of his, and rightfully so, the sporting fraternity fondly remembers him. Being a dedicated team player in his competitive days, he was a sport administrator and leader. He also served as the president of the Singapore National Olympic Council for two decades since 1970, and being active in the organizing committee in Singapore's successful hosting of the 12th and 17th South East Asia Games.
Mr Barker was an honorary member of the SEA Games Federation. He was also responsible for the building of the National Stadium in Kallang, seeing as he persuaded the government to allocate the land and financial resources for it. In respect to his contributions to the development of sport in Singapore, Mr Barker was presented the Olympic Order (Silver) by the International Olympic Committee in 1985, and the Distinguished Service Award of the USA Sports Academy in 1983.
Family:
Barker was the son of Clarence Barker and Dorothy Evelyne Paterson. He was married to Gloria Hyacinth Quintal and had four children. He was in good health until April 2000 when he was hit by a series of medical problems. He died on 12 April 2001 at 12:40 pm at the National University Hospital, after two months of intensive care following an emergency colon surgery in February 2001.
Legacies:Mr E W Barker, former Minister for Law and President of the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC), was awarded the Olympic Order (Silver) for his outstanding merit in the cause of world sport and faithfulness to the Olympic ideal in 1986. His was the first award given to a Singaporean.
In honour of E. W Barker, Ken Jalleh the sports writer wrote these words:
"These are Singaporeans content to play, happy to be good enough to be selected for a Raffles side, a SRC team, and better still, the state eleven. To this army of sportsmen, the satisfaction comes in the playing or in the service they can give to club, association or country.
If in playing their best, the applause came, they took it like bonuses freely given. The bonuses were many for young Eddie in the days of his prime."
In remembrance of Mr E. W Barker, and his contributions as statesman, scholar, sportsman and supporter of sports, it was proposed that a professorship and scholarship be named in his honour. The professorship and scholarship seeks to continue Mr. Barker's legacy and involvement in sport and physical activity.
Mr Barker was, and had always been, in the driving seat promoting and nurturing the sport scene in Singapore. In the several reports on sports in Singapore that were made, including the CoSS report, recommendations for the need to nurture effective sporting bodies, building a sports industry, promoting sport for all, and developing sporting excellence have been made. Much needs to be done in each of these areas, and research, understanding and development of best-practices in these areas are clearly essential.
David Saul Marshall (b. 12 March 1908, Singapore - d. 12 December 1995, Singapore) Singapore's first elected Chief Minister from 6 April 1955 to 7 June 1956, a diplomat, a top-notch criminal lawyer, head of the Labour party and founder of Workers' Party. The bushy eye-browed politician with his trademark pipe, was well-known for his great oratorical skill and stirring speeches made under the "apple tree" in Fullerton Square as well as clashes with the ruling party, PAP, and Lee Kuan Yew on the political arena. He also served as Singapore's first Ambassador to France, Spain, Portugal and Switzerland between 1978 to 1993 on the invitation of former Foreign Minister S Rajaratnam.
Early life
Marshall was the eldest son of seven children of Saul Nassim Mashal, whose name was anglicised in 1920 to Marshall. Marshall had a strict Jewish orthodox upbringing observing all Jewish ceremonies and rituals since his childhood.
He studied in prestigious schools in Singapore such as in Raffles Institution where his circle of friends included Singapore's second President, Sir Benjamin Sheares and Sir George Oehlers. Marshall was always afflicted with poor health since young and suffered from malaria and later tuberculosis. His dream of obtaining a Queens' scholarship to pursue a medical degree was thwarted when he collapsed on the eve of his examination. He went instead to Belgium to study textile manufacturing. Upon his return, he joined a Straits company as a textile representative and later worked as salesman and a language teacher before deciding to pursue a law career in London whilst in his late twenties.
Education
Kindergarten of the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus in Victoria Street
St. Joseph's Institution
1919 - 1921 : St. Andrew's School, Singapore
1922 - 1924 : Raffles Institution.
1937 : LLB (University of London) and Barrister-at-Law (Middle Temple in Britain)
Prisoner of War
With the impending Japanese invasion of Asia, Marshall's family members had left Singapore but Marshall refused to leave. Instead he joined the Singapore Volunteers Corps (SVC) "B" company. During the war, he was stationed at the southern area under the command of Major-General Keith Simmons. He was captured in February 1942, interned in Changi Prison and later sent to a forced labour camp to Hokkaido, Japan. He was moved to 26 different prisoner of war camps where he gained popularity as a chief spokesperson for his fellow prisoners.
After the Japanese surrender, he chose to go to Australia. In 1946, he returned to Singapore and rejoined the law firm of Allen and Gledhill.
His legal career
Marshall served forty-one long years as a successful and a sensational criminal lawyer known for getting acquittal for most of his cases.
On his return from London, completing his law degree, he joined Aitken and Ong Siang, and later Allen and Gledhill. He resigned from Allen and Gledhill on January 1950 to pursue his dream to study medicine. But abandoned the idea later and joined Battenberg and Talma law firm. His involvement in politics left him no time to practice law. When he retired as an ambassador in 1992, he joined Drew & Napier as its consultant.
He was passionate about law and spoke openly on various legal issues. He vehemently opposed the abolition of trial by jury and opposed capital punishment. Incidentally, he was the defence counsel in the first no-jury trial case in Singapore. In April 1970, he was appointed as a permanent member in the Presidential Council but resigned on 23 November 1970.
The only incident that tarnished his legal career was his six-month suspension in October 1972, for being accused of circulating affidavits. He was then representing the Nanyang Siau Pau executives on trial under the Internal Security Act.
Political career
Before Marshall became a household name in Singapore politics, he was actively involved in the founding and running of many societies and organizations fighting for one cause or another. He became the first elected President of the Jewish Welfare Board on 27 June 1946 and remained its President for the next six years. He formed the Singapore War Prisoners' Association, becoming its honorary secretary, which fought for better compensation for the former Prisoners of War. He was a member of the Singapore Rate Payers Association, debating issues like rent control and tenancies. To find an avenue to raise municipal matters, he joined the Singapore Association in 1947.
David Marshall joined the Singapore Progressive Party in 1949 but left it in 1952 due to differences of opinion with President C. C. Tan. In 1954, he led the Singapore Socialist Party which later merged with Singapore Labour Party to form the Labour Front with Lim Yew Hock and Francis Thomas as his party colleagues. Marshall became the first Chief Minister of Singapore when the Labour Front formed the coalition government after the first Legislative Assembly election in 1955.
During his short tenure of 14 months as Chief Minister, Marshall had to deal with riots such as the Hock Lee Bus riot, strikes and communist threats. The mass rally he organised to welcome the British Parliamentary delegation in March 1956 was used by Communist members to stage a riot and created a doubt on the ability of the Marshall government to rule an independent Singapore. But he continued his efforts to win self-government for Singapore and led an all-party delegation to London from 23 April to 15 May 1956. Disunity among the political parties and Marshall's emotional fury and lack of diplomacy led to the breakdown of the talks. Marshall resigned and stepped down from the post of Chief Minister on 7 June 1956, failing to obtain self-government for Singapore.
He continued to be active in politics as a backbencher. After failing to get the expected support from the left-wing in the April 1957 by-election against Lee Kuan Yew, he resigned from the Legislative Assembly and from the Labour Front. He founded the Worker's Party on 7 November 1957 and won the Anson by-election on 15 July 1961. Played out by his own party members, Marshall resigned from Workers Party on 19 January 1963. The disappointed Marshall withdrew from politics after losing the September 1963 election where he stood as an independent in Anson. He later even refused J. B. Jeyaratnam's request in 1968 to rejoin the Worker's party.
His contributions
The policies and ideas that Marshall introduced before and during his short tenure as Chief minister was later expanded and implemented by the Lim Yew Hock government and the PAP government. He inspired the meet-the-people sessions. During his tenure as the Chief Minister, the All-party Report on Education Policy and a white paper on education policy were published. They proposed many revolutionary ideas such as multilingualism and emphasis on learning English, which formed the basis for Singapore's present educational system.
Marshall also advocated use of multilingualism in the Legislative Council to get all citizens to participate in the affairs of the country. In 1958, it was implemented by the Lim Yew Hock government. Marshall proposed a scheme to resolve citizenship issue for the 220,000 China-born Chinese, which set the tone for future Singapore citizenship schemes. He appointed B. R. Sreenivasan to head the Malayanization Commission committee to look into appointing locals in the Civil Service. Sreenivasan's recommendations were included in the White Paper on Malaynization passed by the assembly later in 1956.
Marshall was instrumental in passing the Labour Ordinance towards the end of 1955 which brought an end to long work shifts. When he was in the Progressive Party, Marshall was interested in the idea of Provident Fund and in fact paid a lawyer to get some advice on this. When he came into office, the Central Provident Fund Ordinance of 1953 was amended exempting employees earning less than $200. He established an elected City Council which replaced the Rural Board. In this, he saw the opportunity to train and educate the populace on democracy and, later, self government.
Marshall spent two months in China in June 1956 as a guest of the Foreign Relations Institute of China, also to lead a trade mission. The letters he wrote to his brother during that period was later published by the Singapore Heritage Society as Letters from Mao's China. They give valuable insights on Communist China.
Death
Marshall, at 87, passed way on 12 December 1995 after a year-long battle with lung cancer. In recognition of his exemplary service as a lawyer, he was appointed as the Honorary Member and Fellow of the Academy of Law in 1992 and the David Marshall Professorship in Law was set up in 1995. In 2007, the Singapore Management University (SMU)'s School of Law established the David Marshall Prize for the top student in criminal law. The prize was established in perpetuity with a S$50,000 endowed donation by several members of the Jewish community in Singapore.
Early life
Marshall was the eldest son of seven children of Saul Nassim Mashal, whose name was anglicised in 1920 to Marshall. Marshall had a strict Jewish orthodox upbringing observing all Jewish ceremonies and rituals since his childhood.
He studied in prestigious schools in Singapore such as in Raffles Institution where his circle of friends included Singapore's second President, Sir Benjamin Sheares and Sir George Oehlers. Marshall was always afflicted with poor health since young and suffered from malaria and later tuberculosis. His dream of obtaining a Queens' scholarship to pursue a medical degree was thwarted when he collapsed on the eve of his examination. He went instead to Belgium to study textile manufacturing. Upon his return, he joined a Straits company as a textile representative and later worked as salesman and a language teacher before deciding to pursue a law career in London whilst in his late twenties.
Education
Kindergarten of the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus in Victoria Street
St. Joseph's Institution
1919 - 1921 : St. Andrew's School, Singapore
1922 - 1924 : Raffles Institution.
1937 : LLB (University of London) and Barrister-at-Law (Middle Temple in Britain)
Prisoner of War
With the impending Japanese invasion of Asia, Marshall's family members had left Singapore but Marshall refused to leave. Instead he joined the Singapore Volunteers Corps (SVC) "B" company. During the war, he was stationed at the southern area under the command of Major-General Keith Simmons. He was captured in February 1942, interned in Changi Prison and later sent to a forced labour camp to Hokkaido, Japan. He was moved to 26 different prisoner of war camps where he gained popularity as a chief spokesperson for his fellow prisoners.
After the Japanese surrender, he chose to go to Australia. In 1946, he returned to Singapore and rejoined the law firm of Allen and Gledhill.
His legal career
Marshall served forty-one long years as a successful and a sensational criminal lawyer known for getting acquittal for most of his cases.
On his return from London, completing his law degree, he joined Aitken and Ong Siang, and later Allen and Gledhill. He resigned from Allen and Gledhill on January 1950 to pursue his dream to study medicine. But abandoned the idea later and joined Battenberg and Talma law firm. His involvement in politics left him no time to practice law. When he retired as an ambassador in 1992, he joined Drew & Napier as its consultant.
He was passionate about law and spoke openly on various legal issues. He vehemently opposed the abolition of trial by jury and opposed capital punishment. Incidentally, he was the defence counsel in the first no-jury trial case in Singapore. In April 1970, he was appointed as a permanent member in the Presidential Council but resigned on 23 November 1970.
The only incident that tarnished his legal career was his six-month suspension in October 1972, for being accused of circulating affidavits. He was then representing the Nanyang Siau Pau executives on trial under the Internal Security Act.
Political career
Before Marshall became a household name in Singapore politics, he was actively involved in the founding and running of many societies and organizations fighting for one cause or another. He became the first elected President of the Jewish Welfare Board on 27 June 1946 and remained its President for the next six years. He formed the Singapore War Prisoners' Association, becoming its honorary secretary, which fought for better compensation for the former Prisoners of War. He was a member of the Singapore Rate Payers Association, debating issues like rent control and tenancies. To find an avenue to raise municipal matters, he joined the Singapore Association in 1947.
David Marshall joined the Singapore Progressive Party in 1949 but left it in 1952 due to differences of opinion with President C. C. Tan. In 1954, he led the Singapore Socialist Party which later merged with Singapore Labour Party to form the Labour Front with Lim Yew Hock and Francis Thomas as his party colleagues. Marshall became the first Chief Minister of Singapore when the Labour Front formed the coalition government after the first Legislative Assembly election in 1955.
During his short tenure of 14 months as Chief Minister, Marshall had to deal with riots such as the Hock Lee Bus riot, strikes and communist threats. The mass rally he organised to welcome the British Parliamentary delegation in March 1956 was used by Communist members to stage a riot and created a doubt on the ability of the Marshall government to rule an independent Singapore. But he continued his efforts to win self-government for Singapore and led an all-party delegation to London from 23 April to 15 May 1956. Disunity among the political parties and Marshall's emotional fury and lack of diplomacy led to the breakdown of the talks. Marshall resigned and stepped down from the post of Chief Minister on 7 June 1956, failing to obtain self-government for Singapore.
He continued to be active in politics as a backbencher. After failing to get the expected support from the left-wing in the April 1957 by-election against Lee Kuan Yew, he resigned from the Legislative Assembly and from the Labour Front. He founded the Worker's Party on 7 November 1957 and won the Anson by-election on 15 July 1961. Played out by his own party members, Marshall resigned from Workers Party on 19 January 1963. The disappointed Marshall withdrew from politics after losing the September 1963 election where he stood as an independent in Anson. He later even refused J. B. Jeyaratnam's request in 1968 to rejoin the Worker's party.
His contributions
The policies and ideas that Marshall introduced before and during his short tenure as Chief minister was later expanded and implemented by the Lim Yew Hock government and the PAP government. He inspired the meet-the-people sessions. During his tenure as the Chief Minister, the All-party Report on Education Policy and a white paper on education policy were published. They proposed many revolutionary ideas such as multilingualism and emphasis on learning English, which formed the basis for Singapore's present educational system.
Marshall also advocated use of multilingualism in the Legislative Council to get all citizens to participate in the affairs of the country. In 1958, it was implemented by the Lim Yew Hock government. Marshall proposed a scheme to resolve citizenship issue for the 220,000 China-born Chinese, which set the tone for future Singapore citizenship schemes. He appointed B. R. Sreenivasan to head the Malayanization Commission committee to look into appointing locals in the Civil Service. Sreenivasan's recommendations were included in the White Paper on Malaynization passed by the assembly later in 1956.
Marshall was instrumental in passing the Labour Ordinance towards the end of 1955 which brought an end to long work shifts. When he was in the Progressive Party, Marshall was interested in the idea of Provident Fund and in fact paid a lawyer to get some advice on this. When he came into office, the Central Provident Fund Ordinance of 1953 was amended exempting employees earning less than $200. He established an elected City Council which replaced the Rural Board. In this, he saw the opportunity to train and educate the populace on democracy and, later, self government.
Marshall spent two months in China in June 1956 as a guest of the Foreign Relations Institute of China, also to lead a trade mission. The letters he wrote to his brother during that period was later published by the Singapore Heritage Society as Letters from Mao's China. They give valuable insights on Communist China.
Death
Marshall, at 87, passed way on 12 December 1995 after a year-long battle with lung cancer. In recognition of his exemplary service as a lawyer, he was appointed as the Honorary Member and Fellow of the Academy of Law in 1992 and the David Marshall Professorship in Law was set up in 1995. In 2007, the Singapore Management University (SMU)'s School of Law established the David Marshall Prize for the top student in criminal law. The prize was established in perpetuity with a S$50,000 endowed donation by several members of the Jewish community in Singapore.
My Reflections:
I feel that Mr Marshall contributed more to Singapore as from what i have found out i realise that he was one of the most important person for the education of English we have now. He wanted Singaporeans to be polygots which is a multilingualism person that way Singaporeans can better communicate with each other although they are of different races and religions. He also helped the China borned chinese to resolve their citizenship issues which shows that he cares about fellow Singaporeans. He also suggested a providant fund which helped Singaporeans to get a sense of security when they retire as they have fundings to help them get past likewise for those low-wage workers. For Mr Barker i find that though i tried it was pretty difficult to get much information about him. He contributed lots to the sporting developments of Singapore and inspire alot of people to take on more challenges as like he did in university , even under the stress of university he continued doing sports , winning the badminton blue in Cambridge . He persuaded the government to fund the building and resources for building the Kallang stadium for that and the rest of the achievements he have done , he was presented the Olympic Order (Silver) by the International Olympic Committee in 1985, and the Distinguished Service Award of the USA Sports Academy in 1983 . That was the first award given to a Singaporean .
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