Former Singapore law minister dies

Sat, 14 Apr 2001, 00:00 WIB | Source: AFP

SINGAPORE (AFP): Former Singaporean law minister Edmund
William Barker, one of the key architects of the island-state's
independence, has died aged 80, local reports said.

E.W. Barker, as he was more commonly known, never fully
recovered from an emergency colon operation in February and died
on Thursday aged 80, the Business Times quoted an unnamed close
friend as saying.

Barker, one of the old guard from the ruling People's Action
Party, drafted the separation papers that paved the way for
Singapore's independence after the tiny island-state was ejected
from the Federation of Malaysia in 1965.

Barker was the island-state's first law minister and held that
post until he stepped down in 1988. Barker is survived by his
wife, Gloria, and four children.

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