Goh Keng Swee

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(m. 1942 div. 1986)
Phua Swee Liang
(m. 1991)<ref name="ST obit">Obituary notice of Dr. Goh Keng Swee, The Straits Times (15 May 2010), p. C28.</ref>Goh Kian Chee (son)<ref name="ST obit"/>Goh Hood Keng (uncle)
Tan Cheng Lock (maternal uncle)
Tan Siew Sin (maternal cousin)London School of Economics (BSc, PhD)|Personal details}} | label4 = Pronunciation | data4 =

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Phua Swee Liang
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Tan Cheng Lock (maternal uncle)
Tan Siew Sin (maternal cousin)

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Goh was a prominent member of the country's first generation of political leaders after Singapore became independent in 1965. He served as Minister for Finance between 1959 and 1965, and again between 1967 and 1970, Minister for Interior and Defence between 1965 and 1967, Minister for Defence between 1970 and 1979 and Minister for Education between 1979 and 1985.

As Minister for Interior and Defence, Goh's main objective was to strengthen the country's military and domestic security capabilities after the British had withdrawn its troops from Singapore, which made the newly-independent nation vulnerable. A key policy was the creation of National Service (NS), a mandatory conscription system for able-bodied young males. Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had mentioned that he had wanted a conscription consisting both men and women similar to Israel. However, Goh rejected it, citing that the labour cost at least in its initial years would be too great for the newly-independent nation.

During Goh's tenure as Minister for Finance, he declined to allow the central bank to issue currency, favouring instead a currency board system as this would signal to citizens, academics and the financial world that governments cannot "spend their way to prosperity"; the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) was later established in 1971. In 1981, Goh also expressed the view that the central bank need not hold large amounts of cash in reserve to defend the currency, proposing that the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) be established to invest excess reserves. At the time, it was unprecedented for a non-commodity-based economy to have such a sovereign wealth fund, and was initially seen as a risky venture that eventually paid dividends.<ref>Template:Citation.</ref> The multinational merchant bank, Rothschild & Co, had also advised on the GIC during its early years.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Goh died in 2010 at the age of 91, and he was accorded a state funeral.

Early life and careerEdit

File:LSE main entrance.jpg

London School of Economics, where Goh Keng Swee spent six years studying at (1948–51, 1954–56), photographed in January 2005.

Goh was born in Malacca on 6 October 1918<ref name=Infopedia>Template:Citation.</ref> into a middle class Peranakan family, the fifth of six children.<ref name="ST 20100516">Template:Citation.</ref> His father Goh Leng Inn, was a manager of a rubber plantation, while his mother Tan Swee Eng,<ref name="ST timeline">Template:Citation.</ref> was from the family that produced the Malaysian politicians Tan Cheng Lock and his son, Tan Siew Sin, who would later become Goh's lifelong political opponent.<ref name="The Singapore Story">Template:Citation.</ref><ref name="Tan Siok Sun">Template:Citation.</ref>

Goh was given the Christian name Robert, which he disliked and refused to respond to. When he was two years old, his family moved from Malacca to Singapore where his maternal grandparents owned several properties. The Gohs later relocated to the Pasir Panjang rubber estate when his father found work there, and became manager in 1933. In common with many Peranakan families, the Gohs spoke both English and Malay at home; church services were held at home on Sundays in Malay.<ref name="A shy, quiet boy who loved books">Template:Citation.</ref> Goh's father Leng Inn and the latter's brothers-in-law Chew Cheng Yong and Goh Hood Keng taught in the Anglo-Chinese School for various periods, and were also involved in the Middle Road Baba Church while Hood Keng was pastor there. Goh attended the church as well.<ref name=MM>Template:Citation.</ref>

Goh attended the Anglo-Chinese School<ref name="ST 20100516"/> between 1927 and 1936 where he was second in his class in the Senior Cambridge examinations, Goh graduated from Raffles College (now the National University of Singapore) in 1939 with a Class II Diploma in Arts with a special distinction in economics.<ref name="ST timeline"/>

After graduation, Goh joined the colonial Civil Service as a tax collector with the War Tax Department but, according to his superiors, was not very good at his job and was almost fired.<ref name="ST 20100516"/> Shortly after the start of Second World War, he joined the Singapore Volunteer Corps, a local militia, but returned to his previous work after the fall of Singapore.

Goh married Alice Woon, a secretary who was a colleague,<ref name="ST 20100516"/> in 1942 and they have one son, Goh Kian Chee, two years later. In 1945, he relocated his young family to Malacca, but returned to Singapore the following year after the Japanese occupation ended. That year, he joined the Department of Social Welfare, and was active in the post-war administration. He became a supervisor of the Department's Research Section six months later.<ref name="ST timeline"/>

Goh attained a scholarship which enabled him to further his studies at the London School of Economics. During his time in London, Goh met fellow students seeking independence for British Malaya, including Abdul Razak, Maurice Baker, Lee Kuan Yew and Toh Chin Chye. A student discussion group, the Malayan Forum, was formed in 1948 with Goh as the founding chairman.<ref name=Infopedia/><ref name="ST timeline"/> Goh graduated in 1951 with a first class honours in economics, and won the William Farr Prize for achieving the highest marks in statistics.<ref name=Infopedia/> Upon his return to the Department of Social Welfare, he was appointed Assistant Secretary of Research. In 1952, together with fellow civil servant Kenneth Michael Byrne, he formed the Council of Joint Action to lobby against salary and promotion policies that favoured Europeans over Asians. Byrne later became Minister for Labour and Minister for Law.<ref name="ST timeline"/>

In 1954, Goh was able to return to the London School of Economics for doctoral studies with the help of a scholarship conferred by the University of London. He completed his PhD in economics in 1956,<ref>His thesis was entitled Template:Citation.</ref> and returned to the Department of Social Welfare, where he served as Assistant Director and subsequently as Director. In 1958, he was appointed Director of the Social and Economic Research Division in the Chief Minister's Office. He resigned from the civil service in August that year to work full-time for the People's Action Party (PAP).<ref name="ST timeline"/>

Political careerEdit

Pre-independenceEdit

Goh was a key member of the PAP's Central Executive Committee (CEC), and serving as Vice-Chairman.

Goh contested in Kreta Ayer during the 1959 general election and won. He was subsequently elected into the Legislative Assembly on 30 May 1959,<ref name="ST 20100518">Template:Citation.</ref> and appointed Minister for Finance under Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew's first Cabinet.

As Minister for Finance, Goh assumed the stewardship of Singapore's economy. As a budget deficit of S$14 million was forecast that year, he introduced stringent fiscal discipline which including cutting civil service salaries. As a result of these measures, he was able to announce at the end of the year when delivering the budget that the government had achieved a surplus of $1 million.<ref name="Today24May10" />

Goh initiated the setting up of the Economic Development Board (EDB) which was established in August 1961 to attract foreign multinational corporations to invest in Singapore.<ref name=Infopedia/><ref name="Today 20100515">Template:Citation.</ref> The next year, he started the development of the Jurong industrial estate on the western end of the island which was then a swamp, offering incentives to local and foreign businesses to locate there.<ref name=Infopedia/><ref name="ST timeline"/> According to former Permanent Secretary Sim Kee Boon, Goh admitted that the Jurong project was "an act of faith and he himself jokingly said that this could prove to be Goh's folly".<ref name="Today 20100515"/> Nonetheless, Goh also felt strongly that "the only way to avoid making mistakes is not to do anything. And that... will be the ultimate mistake."<ref> As recalled by Lim Siong Guan, Group President of GIC and former Head of the Singapore Civil Service: see Template:Citation.</ref>

File:Jurong Industrial Estate and Jurong Island, panorama, Nov 06.jpg

Jurong Industrial Estate with Jurong Island in the background, photographed in November 2006

In the 1960s, there were great pressures from communist agitators working through Chinese-medium schools and trade unions. Divisions existed within the PAP as well, with a pro-communist faction working to wrest control of the party from the moderate wing, of which Goh and Lee Kuan Yew were key members. A key source of division was the issue of merger with Malaya to form a new state of Malaysia. Goh and his fellow moderates believed this was a necessary condition for Singapore's economic development because Malaya was a key economic hinterland; merger would also provide an alternate vision against communism for Singapore's Chinese majority. In July 1961, 16 members of the pro-communist faction broke away from the PAP to form the Barisan Sosialis, and captured control of the main trade unions.

Federation of MalaysiaEdit

The Singapore Government attained approval from Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman for a merger in 1961, with the Tunku being motivated by a desire to stabilise the security situation in Singapore, and notably to neutralise the perceived communist threat. Singapore merged with Malaya and the British Borneo states in 1963 to form the Federation of Malaysia.<ref name="uslcRoadToIndependence">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Merger, however, proved to be problematic for the Singapore leaders. There was a clash of fundamental principles, both political and economic, notably on the issue of Malay dominance. Communitarian violence in 1964 was inflamed in Singapore by Malay and Chinese activists. According to Lee Kuan Yew, Goh fought to protect Singapore's interests against the Federal Minister of Finance, his cousin Tan Siew Sin, "who was out to spite Singapore". Goh played a crucial role in orchestrating the subsequent secession of Singapore from the Federation on 9 August 1965.

After two difficult years, Lee asked him to negotiate with the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak and Minister for External Affairs Ismail Abdul Rahman in July 1965 for Singapore to have a looser arrangement with Malaysia within the Federation. However, following the discussions, Goh ultimately decided that it would be better for Malaysia and Singapore to have a clean break and go on their separate ways.<ref>Template:Citation.</ref>

Post-independenceEdit

Minister for Interior and Defence (1965–1967)Edit

File:Operation Tiger Balm 09 Singapore infantry soldiers.jpg

Infantry soldiers of the Singapore Army awaiting the arrival of the deputy commanding general of the Army National Guard, United States Army Pacific, for a joint military exercise in July 2009. Mandatory conscription was initiated by Goh when he was Minister for Interior and Defence.

Upon the independence of Singapore in 1965, Goh relinquished his portfolio of Minister for Finance and became Minister for Interior and Defence in 1967, assuming responsibilities for strengthening Singapore's military and domestic security capabilities. A key policy was the creation of National Service, a mandatory conscription system for able-bodied young males.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Minister for Finance (1967–1970)Edit

Goh served as Minister for Finance again between 1967 and 1970,<ref name=Infopedia/><ref name="ST timeline"/> during which he declined to allow the central bank to issue currency, favouring instead a currency board system in the form of the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Singapore - as this would signal to citizens, academics and the financial world that governments cannot "spend their way to prosperity".

Minister for Defence (1970–1979)Edit

On 11 August 1970, he was reappointed Minister for Defence.<ref name=Infopedia/><ref name="ST timeline"/>

Deputy Prime Minister (1973–1984)Edit

On 1 March 1973,<ref name="ST 20100518"/> Goh was appointed Deputy Prime Minister concurrently with his other Cabinet portfolio.<ref name="ST timeline"/>

On 12 February 1979, Goh moved on from the Ministry of Defence to the Ministry of Education, where his Goh Report<ref>Template:Citation.</ref> greatly influenced the development of Singapore's education system. He was described as both a key political and strategic leader responsible for the transformation of the system over 30 years from "fair" to "great", according to a November 2010 McKinsey report.<ref>Template:Citation.</ref> He set up the Curriculum Development Institute, and introduced key policies such as religious education—subsequently discontinued and, in 1980, the channelling of students into different programmes of study according to their learning abilities, known as "streaming".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Goh served two terms as Minister for Education, his first term ended in 1980, and his second following the 1980 general election from 1981 until his retirement in 1985.

From 1 June 1980, he was redesignated First Deputy Prime Minister upon S. Rajaratnam being made Second Deputy Prime Minister, and served as Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore until he stepped down from Parliament on 3 December 1984, at the age of 66.<ref name=Infopedia/><ref name="ST timeline"/><ref name="ST 20100518"/>

In a tribute to mark the occasion, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew wrote: "A whole generation of Singaporeans take their present standard of living for granted because you had laid the foundations of the economy of modern Singapore."<ref>Template:Citation.</ref>

Other contributionsEdit

Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC)Edit

In 1981, Goh expressed the view that the central bank need not hold large amounts of cash in reserve to defend the currency, proposing that the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) be established to invest excess reserves. At the time, it was unprecedented for a non-commodity-based economy to have such a sovereign wealth fund.<ref>Template:Citation.</ref> The foreign merchant bank, Rothschild, advised on the GIC.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Defence Science Organisation (DSO)Edit

In 1971, Goh put together the Electronic Warfare Study Group, a team of newly-graduated engineers who had excelled in their university studies that was headed by Tay Eng Soon, then a university lecturer. The group worked on Project Magpie, a secret project to develop Singapore's defence technology capabilities. In 1977, the group was renamed the Defence Science Organisation (DSO). Originally part of the Ministry of Defence, the organisation became a non-profit corporation called DSO National Laboratories in 1997.<ref>Template:Citation.</ref>

Cultural, sports and recreationalEdit

File:Ara ararauna -Jurong Bird Park -sign-8a.jpg

The Jurong Bird Park was one of Goh's many projects

Goh was also responsible for projects that sought to improve Singaporeans' cultural and leisure life, such as the Jurong Bird Park, Singapore Zoo and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.<ref>Template:Citation.</ref>

He backed the construction of the Kreta Ayer People's Theatre in his constituency as a venue for Chinese opera performances.<ref>Template:Citation.</ref> In 1968, Goh encouraged the establishment of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

Goh was also instrumental in introducing rugby in the Singapore Armed Forces and later in schools. In recognition of his role in promoting the sport, the Schools "C" Division Cup is named after him.<ref>Template:Citation.</ref>

Impressed by an oceanarium in the Bahamas, he contacted the Sentosa Development Corporation and persuaded them to build an oceanarium in Singapore.<ref name="ST 20100516"/> Underwater World opened in 1991.

Personal lifeEdit

File:Goh Keng Swee, 1942.png

Goh with his first wife Alice Woon in 1942

In 1986, Goh divorced his first wife Alice. In 1991, he remarried his former Ministry of Education colleague Phua Swee Liang.<ref name="ST 20100516"/><ref name="ST timeline"/>

Goh suffered his first stroke in 1999, and a subsequent one in 2000 which affected the vision in his right eye.<ref>Template:Citation.</ref> According to Goh's daughter-in-law Tan Siok Sun, the medical condition caused him to be withdrawn and became introverted. In July 2007, Tan published a biography titled Goh Keng Swee: A Portrait. Goh's second wife issued a statement claiming that Goh had not been consulted on the book and had indicated to her that he did not want any book to be written about him. "Therefore, the publication of this book is contrary to his wishes, and is a show of disregard and utmost disrespect to him." In an interview with The Straits Times, Tan said she did not start the dispute between Mrs. Goh and herself, nor did she wish to prolong it.<ref>Template:Citation.</ref>

After retirement from politics, Goh continued to be active in public life, serving as Deputy Chairman of GIC between 1981 and 1994, Economic Adviser to the State Council of the People's Republic of China on Coastal Development and Adviser on Tourism in 1985, Deputy Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore between 1985 and 1992, Chairman of the Singapore Totalisator Board between 1988 and 1990, Director of Gateway Technologies Services Pte. Ltd. from 1991 onward, Adviser to the United Overseas Bank Group from 1993 onward, Chairman of N. M. Rothschild & Sons (Singapore) Ltd. from 1994 onward, and Vice-Chairman of Hong Leong Asia Ltd. from 1995 onward.<ref name=Infopedia/>

Goh was also Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Institute of East Asian Philosophies between 1983 and 1992, which was founded to study Confucianism. The institute later turned its focus on China's political and economic development, renaming itself the Institute of East Asian Political Economy, and Goh continued as Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Governors until 1995.<ref name="ST timeline"/> In April 1997, the institute was reconstituted as the East Asian Institute, an autonomous research organisation under the auspices of the National University of Singapore.<ref>Template:Citation.</ref>

DeathEdit

On 14 May 2010, Goh died in the early morning at his home in Dunbar Walk off East Coast Road in Siglap, at the age of 91.<ref>Template:Citation. See also Template:Citation.</ref>

His body lay in state at Parliament House from 20 to 22 May,<ref>Template:Citation; Template:Citation.</ref> and there was a state funeral on 23 May 2010 at the Singapore Conference Hall followed by a private ceremony for family members at the Mandai Crematorium.<ref>Template:Citation; Template:Citation; Template:Citation; Template:Citation.</ref>

The latter was conducted by the pastor-in-charge of Barker Road Methodist Church, with a message delivered by the Bishop of the Methodist Church in Singapore, Robert M. Solomon.<ref name=MM/> As a mark of respect, State flags at all Government buildings were flown at half-mast from 20 to 23 May.<ref>Template:Citation.</ref>

HonoursEdit

In 1966, Goh was made an Honorary Fellow of the London school of Economics. In 1972, he was the recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Services, which is often regarded as "Asia's Nobel Prize".<ref>Template:Citation.</ref> It is awarded to people who have demonstrated integrity in government, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society. That same year, the Philippine Government conferred upon him the Order of Sikatuna, which is given to diplomats, officials and nationals of foreign states who have rendered conspicuous services in fostering, developing and strengthening relations between their country and the Philippines.<ref name=Infopedia/>

Following his retirement from politics, in 1985 Goh was awarded the Order of Temasek (First Class), Singapore's highest civilian honour. He was also presented with the LSE's Distinguished Alumnus Award on 21 January 1989,<ref>Template:Citation.</ref> and made the first Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Development Board Society in 1991.<ref name=Infopedia/>

During the National Day Rally on 29 August 2010, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that the Singapore Command and Staff College, where senior officers of the Singapore Armed Forces receive training; and a complex to be constructed at the Ministry of Education's North Buona Vista Road headquarters for specialist teacher training academies in English language, physical education, sports and the arts would be respectively named the Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College and the Goh Keng Swee Centre for Education.<ref>Template:Citation; Template:Citation.</ref>