Remembering Jacob Ballas (d. 18 January 2000)
Jacob Ballas
(b. 21 January 1921, Iraq – d. 18 January 2000, Singapore)
“I realised since I was a child that I belong to this place. I belong to Singapore. This is my home, this is my life and this is my graveyard”
Jacob Ballas
Since the late 1920s, Singapore was Jacob Ballas’s home after moving from Labuan, then a British colonial outpost in North Borneo. His father, Shua, imparted important lessons on self-reliance to the young Jacob whilst the family was residing in a rented two-storey terrace house at 19 Wikie Road, an area populated mostly by poor Orthodox Jews.
This appears to be an almost natural choice, as Jacob was born to Orthodox Baghdadi Jewish parents, Shua and Grace Ballas, in Amara, Iraq on 21 January 1921.
His childhood poverty as well as his education at St Andrew’s School drove his determination to succeed and broaden his perspectives as a member of the larger society in colonial Singapore.
Despite his lack of financial resources, he was able to succeed first as a car salesperson at Lyons Motors (after his Senior Cambridge Examination) and an insurance salesman (in the immediate and post-war years).
Some timely advice from Mr Khoo Teck Puat and coupled with Jacob’s business acumen set him on the path towards being a successful stockbroker (having overcame institutional barriers in the industry), and in 1962, he became the first Asian Chairman of the Malayan Stock Exchange, the first person of Jewish descent to achieve this position.
During the period (between 1964 and 1967), when he helmed the Malaysia and Singapore Stock Exchange, 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.
Jacob was instrumental and pivotal to the development of the stock markets in Malaya and Singapore and worked closely with former Finance Ministers, Dr Goh Keng Swee and Hon Sui Sen in the economic development of independent Singapore.
“Life is all about giving. We must not be self-centered in this world. As far as I am concerned, anybody who is willing to ask, I am willing to help."
Jacob Ballas
Jacob Ballas Centre and School
Source: Oliver Ho & Associates
Poverty was his upbringing, but philanthropy was his enduring legacy. Jacob Ballas believed that a student’s progress should not be hampered by limited financial circumstances. As an old boy of At Andrew’s School, a founding member of the St Andrew’s Junior College Board of Governors as well as a member on the Board of the Universities Endowment Fund, he gave generously to uplift the educational opportunities of the young and foster the best possible academic environment for them.
He set up the Grace Ballas Scholarship in memory of his mother, aimed at encouraging the academic achievements of all students as well as aid needy students. He also donated generously to organisations that do the work of caring for and educating the poor, Jews and non-Jews alike, providing them with the avenues to break free from the poverty cycle.
Jacob, a pillar of the Jewish community, also served his community actively, being the president of the Jewish Welfare Board in 1961 and for 10 years from 1989. He helped set a Jewish Centre, a hub of Jewish life in Singapore at Waterloo Street, which was subsequently named Jacob Ballas Centre, which opened in November 2007 – this was a shining example of Jacob’s legacy of giving.
At a personal level, Jacob Ballas, who had an infectious smile and impeccable manners, was a scintillating conversationist, a sharp dresser, an astute thinker and a restless idealist.
Jacob loved his beloved mother, Grace, deeply, and was laid to rest in Choa Chu Kang cemetery besides her, after his death twenty-three years ago, on this day.
Source: The Straits Times, 19 February 1996
The Jacob Ballas Children's Garden, a four-hectare garden and the largest children-themed garden dedicated to children that is located within the Singapore Botanic Garden, was named after him
In the words of the late Senior Counsel, Joe Grimberg,
“He an extraordinary man, a man of contrasts. He could at times be arrogant, at others humble. He could be harsh, kind, extravagant, frugal, calm, bad-tempered, humorous, solemn, a fighter and a peacemaker. But in one thing, he was consistent – he was loyal to his friends.”
Loyal he was, to his friends and Singapore, and the many diverse communities.
If the greatest of all is love, Jacob first loved.
Source: The Straits Times
Top image: Oliver Ho & Associates
