David Marshall is one of the most famous sons of Singapore. To those who have known him or of him as a politician and as a lawyer during the turbulent period just before Singapore attained internal self-government and up to the period when Singapore became a state of Malaysia, Marshall needs no introduction.

However, that was half a century ago, and the younger generation of Singaporeans today may not appreciate or remember the significant role he played in Singapore politics during this period, even though he might have failed to achieve his goals. To the present generation of lawyers, however, he remains a legend, as accounts of his impressive forensic feats at the criminal bar continue to be passed on by generations of lawyers.

Marshall was a member of one of the smallest communities in Singapore and yet managed to be chosen in 1955 as the first Chief Minister of Singapore. That office came with the responsibility of advancing the cause of self-rule for the people of Singapore. He has been described as an accidental Chief Minister, as he had not set out to hold that office whose powers were framed within a constitutional structure (the Rendel Constitution) that provided only for a gradual constitutional evolution from colony to internal self-government, and then self-government for Singapore. Independence was not then on the cards. However, Marshall was temperamentally unsuited to accept limitations of this power structure, and by persisting to pursue an unwinnable fight for what the British were not then prepared to concede, had to resign fourteen months later in June 1956. That was the height of his political career. With the expansion in 1959 of the electorate, the political environment changed irrevocably and made it impossible for him to make a comeback as a contender for political power. However, he was a spent force politically, but he continued to air his political views vociferously from the sidelines but was unable to influence or make a serious mark on the political development of Singapore.

Marshall was endowed with many natural gifts, a great intelligence, eloquence and flair for dramatic actions and gestures. However, these gifts were neutralized by a temperament that did not permit him to wait and see, a seeming lack of political craftiness or guile and, most importantly, an absence of political realism in dealing with his political adversaries.