John Eber (lawyer)

John Eber
Born
John Francis St John Eber

(1916-03-23)23 March 1916
Singapore, Straits Settlements
DiedDecember 1994(1994-12-00) (aged 78)
Occupation

John Francis St John Eber (1916–1994) was a politician and lawyer.

Biography

Eber was born in colonial Singapore the son of Reynold Lionel Eber (1886–1968),[1] a lawyer. He attended Harrow School and later Christ's College, Cambrdige before being called to the bar at Inner Temple in 1939, after which he returned to Singapore.[2][3]

During the Japanese occupation of Singapore, Eber was interned at Changi Prison before being moved to the Sime Road Camp. After the war, he served as the prosecuting counsel against seven Japanese officers over their involvement in the construction of the Burma Railway.[2]

Eber was involved as a founding member and later vice chairman of the Malayan Democratic Union, and participated in the All-Malaya Council of Joint Action to agitate for a new constitution to replace that of the Malayan Union. He was involved in authoring the People's Constitutional Proposals that were rejected by the British government in favour of what eventually became known as the Federation Agreement, which formed the basis of the Federation of Malaya.[4][5]

For alleged membership of and involvement in the Singapore Anti-British League,[6] Eber was arrested by the Singaporean Special Branch on 8 January 1951[7] during the Malayan Emergency and detained at Changi Prison for two years without trial until being released on 23 February 1953.[3]

Eber became disillusioned with the legal practice in Singapore after his detention and left for the United Kingdom with his wife, Wee Swee Lian, after failing to find employment, vowing to return to Malaya in the future.[8] In November 1953, he was elected secretary of the Malayan Forum, an association of Malayan university students. He was removed from this position in February 1956 via a no-confidence vote after he referred to Malayan chief minister Tunku Abdul Rahman as "General Bourne's messenger boy" and the Communist-led Malayan Races Liberation Army as "true nationalists" in the forum's paper.[9]

From March 1959 to December 1965, Eber served as the general secretary of the Movement for Colonial Freedom (today known as Liberation), during which he took measures to limit the influence of the Communist Party of Great Britain within the organisation.[10]

Eber was dogged by accusations of being a communist for much of his life, though he identified himself as a Malayan nationalist and socialist.[11]

References

Citations

  1. ^ "DEATHS". The Straits Times. 16 July 1968. p. 16.
  2. ^ a b "Singapore War Crimes Trials". www.singaporewarcrimestrials.com. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  3. ^ a b "JOHN EBER TOLD: YOU MAY GO". 23 February 1953. p. 1.
  4. ^ Wah, Yeo Kim (1973). "The Anti-Federation Movement in Malaya, 1946-48". Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. 4 (1): 31–51. ISSN 0022-4634.
  5. ^ Wah, Yeo Kim (1969). "A Study of Three Early Political Parties in Singapore, 1945–1955". Journal of Southeast Asian History. 10 (1): 115–141. doi:10.1017/s0217781100004312. ISSN 0217-7811.
  6. ^ "EBER CASE—THE FULL DETAILS". The Straits Times. 19 November 1952. p. 13.
  7. ^ "Mr John Eber (Detention)". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  8. ^ "From Tanglin Club To Changi Prison". The Straits Times. 21 May 1953. p. 6.
  9. ^ "The Defeat Of John Eber". The Straits Times. 16 February 1956. p. 8.
  10. ^ Brownell, Josiah (2007). "The Taint of Communism: The Movement for Colonial Freedom, the Labour Party, and the Communist Party of Great Britain, 1954-70". Canadian Journal of History. 42 (2): 235–258. doi:10.3138/cjh.42.2.235. ISSN 0008-4107.
  11. ^ "JOHN EBER SAYS: I AM A SOCIALIST". The Straits Times. 22 May 1953. p. 3.