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David Elias Building, Singapore, Singapore

Description

A Brief History of Jews in Singapore

The first Jews arrived in Singapore, a British colony and free port since 1819, in the early 1800s via Calcutta.[3] They were part of the Baghdadi Trade Diaspora, a group consisting mainly of  Baghdadi Jewish merchants who migrated from Ottoman Iraq eastward toward British Colonial India and beyond to escape Ottoman persecution and pursue economic opportunities.[4] Although they stood out in Singapore in their Iraqi garb and spoke Judeo-Arabic, they became very successful, trading freely with the Malay and Chinese majorities and other groups.[5]

Following the Suez Canal’s opening in 1869, Jews from various communities worldwide moved to Singapore, diversifying the community.[6] The majority were poor Baghdadi Jews, but wealthy Baghdadi Jews, Egyptian Jews, Ashkenazi businessmen working for European companies importing luxury goods, and Russian and Eastern European Jewish refugees fleeing antisemitism also arrived.[7] Singapore’s Jews became stratified along class lines, with the majority, poor Baghdadi Jews, living in a tightly knit community they called the mahallah, or enclave, around Middle Road in south central Singapore.[8] Rich Jews lived in mansions around the island and distanced themselves from their indigent brethren.[9] While Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews prayed together at the Maghain Aboth synagogue, they tended not to socialize with each other.[10]

The rifts in the Jewish community continued to grow until shattered by World War II.[11] Singaporeans initially felt the British would protect them, but Japan conquered the island on February 15, 1942.[12] Many Jewish women and children left right before the Japanese occupied, and those who stayed spent the war under Japanese occupation.[13] However, Jews were allowed to practice their faith, and Jewish residents in Singapore were declared “neutral,” meaning they were neither considered enemies nor allies of Japan.[14] Then, in April 1943, one hundred Jewish men were declared “enemy subjects” and interned, and the rest of the  Jewish community- an additional 472 people - was interned with them from March 1945 until the end of the war in Singapore in August 1945.[15] However, although several Jews were randomly arrested, tortured, and killed during the occupation, they were not murdered en masse like their Chinese neighbors.[16] 

Life in Changi prison, where a hundred Jewish men were interned along with many other Singaporeans, broke down social barriers as all Singaporeans waited out the war together in captivity.[17] The Japanese surrendered to the Allies on August 15, 1945, and the British reoccupation began on September 5, 1945.[18] The British colonial government was unable to house Singaporean residents or provide medical supplies after the war, and overcrowding, homelessness, and disease were prevalent.[19] Many middle class Jewish families who had left during the war chose not to return, and the Jewish population continued to decline over the next forty years.[20]

In the aftermath of the war, poverty and destruction were rampant.[21] The Jewish Welfare Association (later Jewish Welfare Board (JWB)) was founded by about half a dozen community members on June 27, 1946 to help the poor, and also aided those who wished to make Aliyah, or immigrate to Israel, but couldn’t afford it.[22]

By the 1960s, Singapore's Jewish population numbered about 500 individuals.[23] Some Jews who had escaped to India before the Japanese Occupation had returned, some Jews left, and the Jews that stayed were playing new and important roles in various fields, including in Singapore’s politics before and after its independence in 1965.[24] 

There were seven hundred Jews in Singapore after WWII, but only about 250 individuals remained by the mid-1980s.[25] As Singapore grew into a prosperous nation, however, more Jews began to arrive, and as of 2024, there are about 2,500 Jews residing there.[26]

David Elias Building History

David J. Elias was born in Calcutta.[27] He married his second cousin, Miriam Elias, in 1914, and they lived in Singapore, where they raised eight children before sending them to England for school.[28] 

David Elias was a successful Jewish import-export merchant, and in 1928, he built the neoclassical style three-story David Elias Building for his firm, designed by the famous colonial architecture firm Swan & Maclaren.[29] On its facade, a prominent Star of David is carved.[30] Below it, the name “D.J. Elias Building” and the year 1928 are inscribed.[31] Multiple Stars of David adorn the building as bas-relief decorations.[32] Located in the mahallah,[33] or Jewish neighborhood, where Middle Road, Short Street, and Wilkie Road meet, the building contained the offices of D. J. Elias and Company as well as offices that Elias leased to shop owners and merchants of all ethnic groups.[34] The Singaporean government page on the David Elias building states:

"The neoclassical architectural style, characteristic of the late 1920s, is reflected in the other elements of the building. Arches between pillars on the front and the sides of the building create a covered walkway on the ground floor. A large concrete canopy conceals the high-pitched, broad roof of the building. Details such as the ashlar embellishment on full-height pilasters and flat arches reflect the owner’s preference to the European style of architecture.

The building previously housed various offices and shops, including the offices of David. J. Elias, as well as the former Sun Sun Hotel, with a bar at the bottom, which was run by local Chinese between 1941 and 1999.

The building was gazetted for conservation in 1994."[35]

D. J. Elias and his brother-in-law, the successful businessman Joe Elias, became trustees of Maghain Aboth Synagogue in the late 1930s.[36] D. J. Elias and his wife left Singapore before World War II, but returned afterwards and lived together in a big house on Leonie Hill Road.[37] Both D. J. Elias and his wife passed away in the 1960s and were buried in Singapore.[38] Their descendants live in England, Australia, the United States, and Spain.[39] 

Unlike many other Jewish homes and businesses, the David Elias Building still stands. The large Star of David adorning its corner is visible from far down the streets around it, and is a reminder of the Jewish presence in this area that was once the mahallah.

Contributions by Alana Bregman (alana@shanelani.com)

Singapore, Singapore

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