‘Singaporeans owe a profound debt of gratitude to E W Barker’

SINGAPORE — By combining legal know-how with political instincts and a human touch, Mr Edmund William Barker came up with practical solutions and contributed to creating and building a prosperous Singapore, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday.

Paying tribute to independent Singapore’s first and longest-serving law minister, Mr Lee traced the Old Guard Cabinet member’s lasting contributions, citing his part in negotiations on the separation from Malaysia, the development of the Constitution, and other key pieces of legislation, such as the Land Acquisition Act.

Mr Barker died in 2001 at the age of 80. He had served as Law Minister from 1964 to 1988, double hatting as National Development Minister between 1965 and 1975. He studied law at Cambridge University on a Queen’s Scholarship together with late founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and his wife Kwa Geok Choo.

He drafted the Separation Agreement, the Amendment Bill for the Constitution of Malaysia, and the Proclamation of Singapore — foundation documents for Singapore’s independence.

“Fifty years later, none of the provisions in the documents have ever been disputed or challenged, not even fundamental provisions such as the guarantees of the Water Agreements,” said Mr Lee at the launch of the E W Barker Centre for Law and Business and a bursary named after the former Law Minister.

“Singaporeans owe a profound debt of gratitude to the draughtsman of their independence, Mr Barker,” Mr Lee added.

During his tenure, Mr Barker had negotiated the Separation with then-Finance Minister Goh Keng Swee and then-Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Razak.

Mr Barker had been schoolmates with Mr Razak in Raffles College, and this friendship allowed both sides to work out an amicable solution in a “bloodless legal coup”, said Mr Lee. “They didn’t talk about EQ (emotional quotient) then, but Mr Barker possessed not only a very able legal mind, but also a first-class personality,” he added.

Mr Barker also oversaw the formation and development of the Constitution, and during his term, key safeguards were introduced to protect minority rights, including the Presidential Council for Minority Rights.

“Mr Barker was not just a legal eagle. He had a keen practical and political sense,” said Mr Lee.

For instance, some ministers suggested legislating the “Stop at Two” policy in the 1960s, but he suggested incentivising families instead.

Other achievements included resettling displaced squatters into new public housing, and building hawker centres for peddlers and hawkers relocated after the cleaning up of the Singapore River.

“Therefore, today Singaporeans and tourists enjoy our chicken rice and bak chor mee at affordable prices and in orderly and hygienic conditions. Our hawker stalls sometimes even receive Michelin Stars,” said Mr Lee. VALERIE KOH