Edmund William Barker (1 December 1920 – 12 April 2001) was a Singaporean politician and lawyer who authored the

Proclamation of Singapore The Proclamation of Singapore; ; formally declared that Singapore was no longer a part of Malaysia but an independent, sovereign state. The document was drafted by E. W. Barker, the Minister for Law of Singapore, and signed by Lee Kuan Yew, t ...

. A member of the governing

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major Conservatism, conservative political party in Singapore and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the Parliament of Singapore, followed by the opposition Workers' Party of Singap ...

(PAP), he served in the Cabinet between 1964 and 1988. Barker also served as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Singapore between 1963 and 1964, and Leader of the House between 1968 and 1985.

Early life and education

Born in Singapore on 1 December 1920, he was a

Eurasian Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents dates back to antiq ...

Singaporean, Barker was the son of Clarence Barker and Dorothy Evaline Paterson. Barker was of Portuguese, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Scottish and Irish descent and was third in a family of five children. His great-great-grandfather was Thomas Owen Crane (1799–1869), an Irishman and one of the first ten Europeans to settle in Singapore and his great-great-great-grandfather was Sir (Dr) Jose D Almeida (1784–1850), a Portuguese doctor and well-known businessman in early Singapore. Barker was educated at Serangoon English School and

Raffles Institution Raffles Institution (RI) is an independent educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1823, it is the oldest school in the country. It provides secondary education for boys only from Year 1 to Year 4, and pre-university education for both b ...

, before enrolling into Raffles College (now the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

) in 1940. Barker was a top athlete in his school and university days. He represented Raffles College in cricket, soccer, rugby, athletics and hockey. A talented sportsperson, Barker was selected to represent Singapore as a member of the national

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

team while he was still a schoolboy. He is also known as a guitar player. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Barker travelled to

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

as part of a medical health unit which was sent to look after Allied

POW POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...

s working on the

Death Railway The Burma Railway, also known as the Siam–Burma Railway, Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a railway between Ban Pong, Thailand, and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). It was built from 1940 to 1943 b ...

. After the war, Barker was awarded the Queen's Scholarship in 1946 to study at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, where he read law at St Catharine's College in 1948. He graduated with honours in 1951. He was then

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and returned to Singapore to practise law from 1952 to 1964.

Career

Barker practised law in Singapore from 1956 to 1964 at the law firms Braddell Brothers and Lee & Lee. He was persuaded to enter politics in 1963 by

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...

. Barker was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in 1963, representing

Tanglin Tanglin ( or ) is a planning area located within the Central Region of Singapore. Tanglin is located west of Newton, Orchard, River Valley and Singapore River, south of Novena, east of Bukit Timah, northeast of Queenstown and north of Bu ...

. He continued to represent Tanglin in the

Parliament of Singapore The Parliament of Singapore is the unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Singapore, Republic of Singapore, which governs the country alongside the President of Singapore. Largely based upon the Westminster system, the Parliament is made ...

until 1988, being re-elected six times by uncontested walkovers. He also held several ministerial positions during his period of service. Barker served as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 1963 to 1964. In 1964, he was appointed as Minister for Law, and continued to hold that post until 1988. As Minister for Law, he drafted the

in 1965, announcing Singapore's separation from

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. During his 25 years in Parliament, Barker also served as Minister for National Development from 1965 to 1975,

Minister for Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

in 1972, Minister for the Environment from 1975 to 1979, Minister for Science and Technology from 1977 to 1981, and Minister for Labour in 1983. Barker retired from politics in 1988 after 25 years of service. Other roles Barker held included being the first President of the

Singapore National Olympic Council The Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) is the National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee for the Republic of Singapore. It was founded in 1947 as the Singapore Olympic and Sports Council (SOSC) before renaming to its cur ...

from 1970 to 1990, President of the South-East Asia Peninsular Games Federation Council in 1973, Chairman of the Bukit Turf Club from 1989 to 1994, and Chairman of the

Singapore Exchange Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX Group) is a Singapore-based exchange conglomerate, operating Equity (finance), equity, fixed income, currency and commodity markets. It provides a range of listing, trading, clearing, settlement, depository and ...

from 1989 to 1993.

Death

Barker died on 12 April 2001 at 12:40 pm at the

National University Hospital The National University Hospital (NUH) is a tertiary referral hospital and academic medical centre in Singapore, located in Kent Ridge. It is a 1,160-bed tertiary hospital serving more than 670,000 outpatients and 49,000 inpatients and serves ...

, after two months of intensive care following an emergency colon surgery in February 2001. He left behind his wife Gloria Hyacinth Quintal and four children. The E W Barker Institute of Sports (EWBIS) at

is named after him. During his time at RI, he was a school captain, head prefect and champion athlete in 1938.

References

*Lam, Peng Er & Tan, Kevin Y.L. (1999). ''Lee's Lieutenants''. South Wind Production. . *"Old guard Stalwart Eddie Barker dies", ''The Straits Times'', (2001, April 13), p1 *"The reluctant politician", ''The Straits Times'', Home, (2001, April 13), p2 *"Breadwinner", (1970, May 8), ''The Straits Times'', p6

External links

Edmund Barker Singapore.zip
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Edmund W 1920 births 2001 deaths People's Action Party politicians Queen's Scholars (British Malaya and Singapore) Singaporean Anglicans Raffles Institution alumni Singaporean people of German descent Singaporean people of Irish descent Singaporean politicians of Japanese descent Singaporean people of Portuguese descent Singaporean people of Scottish descent Speakers of the Parliament of Singapore Members of the Dewan Rakyat Members of the Legislative Assembly of Singapore Burma Railway prisoners Ministers for law of Singapore Environment ministers of Singapore Ministers for home affairs of Singapore Ministers for labour of Singapore Members of the Parliament of Singapore