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I first met David Marshall when I was a student at the Law Faculty at the National University of Singapore at Kent Ridge on 10 September 1984. He was back from France on a holiday and had been invited to address the Law Club of which all law students were automatically members. Of course, we had all heard of David Marshall long before. For myself, I first learnt his name when I was about 10 or 11 years old when I was given an assignment to find out about Singapore's political history for my Scout Civics Proficiency badge test.
That afternoon, some 200 of us packed the Moot Court to hear this legal legend. Those of us who were there never forgot the occasion. He started out by attacking women, chiding them for their temerity in not speaking out more forcefully against the Graduate Mothers' Scheme. He thought it was barbaric. Where is “the chilli padi in your veins?” he challenged. He then spoke to us about how honourable the law is as a profession, how we should not grow up with “gold dust coursing through” our veins. The women were furious and politely told him that he was wrong, that they were up in arms but that the government was not listening. And then he turned on his charm. “Don't be mistaken,” he told us, “I don't have anything against women. I love women.” The crowd roared and his point was made. Like so many of the others, I fell under the spell of David Marshall. I felt like I was hit by a cyclone while the volcano I stood on erupted beneath me. Many of my classmates still talk about that memorable occasion. David Marshall so inspired us that we all wanted to go out there and change the world!
While Marshall made a tremendous impact on us that afternoon, I fear we made little impact on him. Indeed, we succeeded in sending him into a temporary state of depression! That night, he wrote in his diary:
To Legal Club of NUS [sic]. Some 200. Addressed them … impression of measure of fear … depression … Unable to sleep for a long time. Decided to close the book on “political” activities. No more public expression on political issues.
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