David Saul Marshall DKJP, was a Singaporean politician and lawyer who served as Singapore's first Chief Minister from 1955 to 1956. As the founder and president of the Labour Front and subsequently the Workers' Party, Marshall was instrumental in the negotiations that led to the home rule and eventual independence of Singapore from the United Kingdom.
After graduating from the University of London, Marshall was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple, London in 1937 and returned to Singapore to commence a legal career. In 1938, following the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Marshall volunteered for military service with a British reserve unit, the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force. He was assigned to "B" Company, 1st Battalion – a company composed mostly of continental European expatriates. He was detained briefly by military police after objecting to the fact that he and other volunteers classified as "Asian" were paid at half the rate received by "European" members of the SSVF. In February 1942, he saw action against the Imperial Japanese Army, in the Holland Road area, during the last few days of the Battle of Singapore. Marshall became a prisoner-of-war following the British surrender. He was initially interned in Changi Prison before being sent to a forced labour camp in Japan. Reflecting later on his experience as a POW, Marshall commented: Most of Marshall's immediate family had emigrated to Australia before the war began. After the war ended Marshall spent time with his family in Australia, before returning to Singapore in 1946. He became a successful and prominent criminal lawyer. Known for his sharp eloquence and imposing stance, Marshall claimed that he had secured 99 acquittals out of 100 cases he defended for murder during Singapore's period of having trial by jury. When Lee Kuan Yew later abolished Singapore's jury system, he cited Marshall's record as an illustration of its "inadequacy".
Political career
In April 1955, Marshall led the left-wing Labour Front to a narrow victory in Singapore's first Legislative Assemblyelections. He formed a minority government and became Chief Minister. He resigned in April 1956 after a failed delegation to London to negotiate for complete self-rule. Replacing him as Chief Minister was Lim Yew Hock. After resigning, Marshall visited China for two months at the invitation of Zhou Enlai, the Chinese Premier. Contacted by a representative of a group of over 400 Russian Jews who were being refused exit from Shanghai by the Chinese authorities, Marshall spoke with Zhou and managed to have them released. After returning from China, Marshall stayed on the backbenches before quitting the Labour Front and as a member of the Legislative Assembly in 1957. On 7 November 1957, he founded the Workers' Party of Singapore. He won a by-election in Anson on 15 July 1961. Marshall lost his seat in Cairnhill Single Member Constituency to Lim Yew Hock, the Chief Minister, in the 1959 general election as a WP candidate, but won in Anson Single Member Constituency in the 1961 by-election. He resigned from the Workers' Party in January 1963 after a spat with the party. After losing his seat again in the 1963 general election as an independent candidate, he returned to practice law and remained active in politics even after J. B. Jeyaretnam became the leader of the WP in 1972. Although Marshall consistently praised Lee Kuan Yew and People's Action Party for their economic successes, he also condemned repression of freedom of speech and public freedoms. "We should keep in mind the horrors of Cultural Revolution, brought about by the cult of subservience to authority and primacy of society over the individual, before we point the accusing finger at those who believe that respect for the individual is the basis of human civilisation", he said. From 1978 to 1993, Marshall served as Singapore's Ambassador to France, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland. As an ambassador, Marshall always defended Singapore's interests, despite his differences with Lee Kuan Yew's government. He retired from the diplomatic corps in 1993.
Personal life
Marshall married Jean Mary Marshall in 1961. They had four children, Ruth, Sara, Joanna and Jonathan and six grandchildren. Jean originally came to Malaysia from her home in Kent in 1953 to take up a post with the Red Cross as a medical social worker and still lives in Singapore.
Death and memorials
Marshall died in 1995 of lung cancer. In 2011, the Marshall estate donated a bust of Marshall created by Hungarian sculptor Peter Lambda to the Singapore Management University School of Law's moot court, which is named after Marshall. Marshall's widow, Jean Mary Gray, expressed the hope that the tribute would inspire all law students at SMU to pursue the qualities of passion, diligence, courage and integrity that had distinguished her late husband's remarkable achievements.
