Jewish museum opens in Waterloo Street

Few know that the Maghain Aboth Synagogue, meaning "Shield of Our Fathers", in Waterloo Street is Asia's second-largest and South-east Asia's oldest synagogue.

Built in 1878, the initially one-storey building has over the years been made bigger and become the unofficial centre of Jewish activity here.

Yesterday, it hosted a ceremony that launched the country's first Jewish museum - the Jews of Singapore Museum, which traces the 200-year history of the Jews here.

Located on the first floor of the synagogue's neighbour, the Jacob Ballas Centre, it covers the community's arrival in Singapore soon after it became a British colony in the early 1800s till March this year, when a 20-year-old man was detained for planning a knife attack at the Maghain Aboth Synagogue.

The narrative it tells pauses at several key Jewish figures in Singapore's history. A panel is dedicated to Mr David Marshall, who was chief minister of pre-independent Singapore from 1955 to 1956, and a room to Mr Jacob Ballas, benefactor of the Jacob Ballas Centre and chairman of the Malaysia and Singapore Stock Exchange from 1964 to 1967. Other notable names include former Supreme Court judge Joseph Grimberg, pioneering surgeon Yahya Cohen and Sir Manasseh Meyer, a prominent businessman whose name adorns one of the buildings at the National University of Singapore's Bukit Timah campus.

"They are a reminder that greatness sometimes comes in small numbers," said Mr Nash Benjamin, president of the Jewish Welfare Board, referring to the modest population of Jews here, who number between 2,000 and 3,000 today.

"Singapore's Jewish community is the oldest continuing Jewish community in South-east Asia, which has unfortunately witnessed the disappearance of various Jewish communities, leaving behind memories of what was," he added.

"In all this, Singapore is a singular exception. We can never take this for granted."

The museum was conceptualised about three years ago and was planned to have been launched with the Singapore Bicentennial in 2019, but was delayed until now.

Mr Benjamin said the community had felt that a museum for the community that is open to all Singaporeans has been long overdue.

There are write-ups about Jewish rites and festivals in the museum so those interested can get a crash course in Jewish culture, which Mr Benjamin said is still little understood by those who are non-Jewish.

Born in 1908, Mr David Saul Marshall was Singapore's first elected chief minister from 1955 to 1956, leading the charge in Singapore's bid for self-government.

He led an all-party delegation to London in 1956 to negotiate with the British, but the failure of talks eventually led to his resignation.

During his short stint as chief minister, many incidents of civil unrest, including student demonstrations and the Hock Lee bus riots and strikes took place, as people here began to strain against the strictures of the colonial social order.

He later founded the Workers' Party in 1957 and served as Singapore's ambassador to France, Spain, Portugal and Switzerland between 1978 and 1993.

Mr Marshall had a strict Orthodox Jewish upbringing and was the first elected president of the Jewish Welfare Board, which continues to provide for the Jewish community.

Mr Jacob Ballas was a pillar of the Jewish community and was the former chairman of the Malaysia and Singapore Stock Exchange from 1964 to 1967.

Born in 1921 in Iraq, his family moved to Singapore after the rubber market crash in the late 1920s. He first sold the bread his mother baked around the neighbourhood, before becoming a car salesman and later a stockbroker.

As chairman of the stock exchange, he introduced strict listing requirements and new rules to control trading. While he was at the helm, the paid-up capital of listed companies rose from $870 million to almost $2 billion, and the number of companies whose shares were traded on the exchanges doubled.

Upon his death in 2000, his estate, which is said to have been worth more than $100 million, was split between charities in Singapore and Israel.

Dr Yahya Cohen was a giant in the medical profession and was a distinguished surgeon, well known internationally.

As the clinical professor of surgery at the then University of Singapore from 1969 to 1977, he was teacher and mentor to hundreds and thousands of medical students in the region.

He was a senior surgeon at the Singapore General Hospital from 1960 to 1972, and was the president of the Singapore Medical Association from 1961 to 1962.

Dr Cohen, who was born in 1920 here, authored many scientific papers in international journals and was a member of many boards of trustees of Jewish charities. He died in 2003.

One interesting tradition cited is the pouring of water on the back of a person's car as he departs for the airport for good luck.

After a boy is circumcised, the mother and child must be on the same floor of the house for 40 days, and the child taken out to cross seven bridges.

Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam, who months before had stood in front of the synagogue in solidarity with the Jewish community after a planned attack on those leaving the synagogue was foiled, was guest of honour at the launch.

"If you look at the roads - Frankel Estate, Meyer Road... Jews have made a tremendous contribution. They've added to the richness of our history and our society today, and I'm very glad that this museum showcases the history for future generations," he told reporters.

He said in his speech to a congregation gathered for the event: "As Minister for Home Affairs, I have said more than once to you: The safety and security of all in Singapore, including the Jewish community, is a key priority. The Jewish community is not just a part of Singapore but it also thrives in Singapore."

He also paid tribute to the seven Israeli advisers who came to train Singapore's first soldiers, narrating a story in which Mr Lee Kuan Yew, then prime minister of a newly independent Singapore, had to be ushered to his office by a Malaysian soldier because the new nation did not have an army then.

"Because of our regional situation, we had to call (the Israeli advisers) Mexicans, we could not call them Israelis. This group was decisive in making contributions, training officers and soldiers, and building up professionalism in our armed forces."

Members of the Jewish community said the community is more integrated with Singapore now than ever before. At a lunch it hosted for reporters, mutton briyani and spaghetti mee goreng were served, with ingredients sourced from a kosher supermarket in the Jacob Ballas Centre that is frequented by Singaporeans of other cultures and foreigners, including Koreans.

Mr Benjamin said: "We are very grateful that we live in a pluralistic society like Singapore where there is no anti-Semitism. We welcome anyone to come visit."

The museum is open free of charge to the public but people must make an appointment to visit. More information can be found at www.singaporejews.com/museum