Inspirational Leader of All Times
Referring to a Straits Times report that a member of the British parliament had called Singapore "a pestilential and immoral cesspool", he knotted his dark bushy brows and, fixing his audience with a baleful stare, thundered: "Who is responsible for making this cesspool?"
Soon after, the Department of Education issued a circular banning the man responsible for the above bold statement, from ever speaking in the colony's schools.
Who is this man?
He is none other than Mr. David Saul Marshall, Singapore's first Chief Minister in 1955.
The late Mr Marshall was a flamboyant, irascible man who leapt onto the Singapore political stage at a simpler time when charisma, pure human energy, passion and perhaps romantic idealism mattered more than organisation in the political scheme of things.
Mr. Marshall, born March 12, 1908, was the son of Baghdadi Jewish immigrants who moved to the polyglot and multiracial city-state of Singapore. He enjoyed a highly successful career at the bar as a criminal lawyer before entering Singapore politics in the early 1950s, during the struggle for independence from Great Britain. He organized the socialist Labour Front party and was elected to the Legislative Assembly in April 1955 under Singapore's new constitution. He formed a centre-left coalition government composed of the Labour Front and several other parties and thus became the state's first elected chief minister.
He was one of the founding fathers of the city-state of Singapore and, after the People's Action Party (PAP) took over in 1959, consistently and unequivocally spoke out against what he thought was the government's repressive policies. Though he was quick to praise the economic progress achieved by the PAP, he condemned what he saw as the resultant loss of a sense of humanity.
Marshall earned a law degree in Britain and was called to the bar in 1937. After service in the colonial army in World War II, during which he was captured (1942) by the Japanese and forced to work in the coal mines in Hokkaido, Japan, he became a successful criminal defense lawyer. He had the reputation of never losing, and his courtroom effectiveness was cited as a reason the PAP abolished the jury system.
In the early 1950s during Singapore's struggle for independence, Marshall entered politics and cofounded the Labour Front. He was elected (1955) to the Legislative Assembly and, after forming a coalition government, became Singapore's first Chief Minister.
Following the failure of two missions to London for independence talks, Marshall resigned in 1956. He remained active in politics until 1972 and practiced law until 1978. For the next 15 years, he served as ambassador to France, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland. Upon his return to Singapore, Marshall resumed his law practice - and his outspoken criticism of the government. In 1994, he was one of the very few citizens publicly to oppose the caning of the U.S. teenager Michael Fay as punishment for vandalism.
Despite his differences with the PAP government, he always defended Singapore's interests abroad and played the role of ambassador with great aplomb, even when his eyesight failed. He wore an orchid at every official function, and became widely-known as the "Ambassadeur a orchidee" (the Ambassador with an orchid).
Such was his zest for life that when he retired to Singapore in 1993, his restlessness was almost palpable. He railed at the press for its servile attitude towards the ruling government, and yet in private moments, gave credit where it was due.
A legend in his own lifetime, he enjoyed the respect even of those he lashed at in his more flamboyant moods. Above all, he was a great friend to all who knew and loved him.
References:
-"Marshall, David Saul." Britannica Book of the Year, 1996. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Library Edition. 5 Mar. 2008
-http://ourstory.asia1.com.sg/independence/ref/david.html