One of Malaya’s original independence fighters… was a Jewish lawyer

David Marshall

Malaysia’s relationship with the international Jewish community is a tricky one to say the least. Despite the fact that we seem to have a ‘booming, but very discreet trade relationship’ with our enemies-on-paper Israel, we’re actually ranked as the number 1 most anti-Semitic Asian country outside the Middle East!

And this reputation probably isn’t helped with our leaders making comments such as these:

“… the Jews are not merely hook-nosed, but understand money instinctively…” – Dr Mahathir, in his book The Malay Dilemma, as quoted by Free Malaysia Today

But that doesn’t mean Malaysia has never had Jewish people on our lands. For instance, did you guys know that Penang was once home to a small Jewish community? In fact, Jalan Zainal Abidin in George Town was once called Jalan Yahudi, and is the site of a Jewish cemetery which stands to this day! Furthermore, did you guys also know that there was a Jew who fought for Malayan and Singaporean independence as both a soldier and as a politician?

His name was David Saul Marshall, an Orthodox Jew of Iraqi descent

Born in Singapore (then still part of British Malaya) in 1908, Marshall was the eldest son of  Saul Nassim Mashal (later anglicised to ‘Marshall’), a Sephardi Jew who had migrated to the island nation from Baghdad. Marshall’s mother Flora was very religious, and so brought him up in Singapore under strict Jewish traditions.  Read it all here....................