1918 - 2010 Goh Keng Swee - People's Action Party - PAP

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Goodbye
Goh Keng Swee
1918 - 2010
Special Issue May / June 2010

Eulogy by PM Lee Hsien Loong
Strategic visions
Dr Goh Keng Swee was a master
architect of modern Singapore.
He introduced major
policies that laid the foundation for Singapore’s
prosperity and security, and
created lasting institutions that continue
to serve us well today.
Dr Goh was in the group which included
Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Dr Toh Chin
Chye and a few others, that conceived
and launched the PAP in 1954.
As a civil servant he could only support
the Party from behind the scenes,
until he contested the 1959 General
Election, was elected as the Legislative
Assemblyman for Kreta Ayer constituency
and became our first Minister for
Finance.
In the core leadership, Dr Goh’s
role was that of analyst, thinker and
strategist. He analysed the problems,
thought through tactics to counter the
communist threat, and strategised major
moves to advance the Party’s political
cause.
His efforts helped the non­communists
in the PAP to eventually win the
life and death fight to determine Singapore’s
future.
His contributions to our economic
development were pervasive. He established
key institutions, including
the Economic Development Board,
Monetary Authority of Singapore and
Jurong Town Corporation, to stabilise
and grow our fledging economy. His
The creator of the SAF is given a solder’s farewell at the Singapore Conference Hall on May 23.
2 PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
fiscal, monetary and industrialisation
policies laid an enduring foundation for
our economic success.
But Dr Goh’s role extended well beyond
economics. He had a broad conception
of a just society, and believed
that economic gains should be widely
spread among citizens. He was a strong
supporter of the trade union movement,
the PAP’s symbiotic partner.
He exhorted the NTUC to modernise,
grow strong and adopt a constructive
win­win approach, in order to promote
the interests of workers.
He also saw that Singa poreans
needed more than comfortable material
conditions, and was determined to
give them the opportunity to appreci­

Dr Goh’s role extended well beyond economics. He had
a broad conception of a just society, and believed that
economic gains should be widely spread among citizens.
ate the finer things in life. Hence he
launched the Singapore Symphony Orchestra,
Jurong Bird Park, Singapore
Zoological Gardens, and the Chinese
and Japanese Gardens. These have become
popular outlets for Singaporeans
to relax at and enjoy.
This broad approach built a cohesive
and successful nation. Voters saw
how the PAP government was improving
their lives, and re­elected the Party
in successive elections.
Some of Dr Goh’s policies were
far from popular initially, for example.
persuading unions to switch from confrontation
to cooperation, and getting
Singa poreans to send their sons to do
National Service.
But he took full advantage of the
political preconditions which MM Lee
created to undertake tough courses of
action that produced results for Singapore,
and eventually won the voters’
support.
Dr Goh himself acknowledged this
readily. In his last major speech as a
minister in 1984, he explained that he
had been able to implement good policies
because of the PAP track record,
and because MM Lee as prime minister
could carry the public on difficult and
unpopular issues.
This speech was just before the
1984 General Election. The election
was a major step in the transition from
the first generation leaders to a younger
team.
In the same speech, Dr Goh urged
the new candidates who were about to
be fielded to build on what the founding
leaders had established, and bring
Singa pore to fresh pinnacles of success.
Mr Lee paying his last respects at Goh Keng Swee’s home in Siglap.
I was one of the new candidates in
the audience. Dr Goh’s speech left a
deep impression on us all. We knew
that henceforth the new team would
increasingly be responsible for keeping
Singa pore safe, secure, and successful.
Ever since then, we have done our
best to uphold this responsibility, to
hand over a better Singapore to future
generations.
Dr Goh’s life and contributions carry
important lessons for the Party.
First, we should be clear and unwavering
about what the Party stands for,
and what we want to achieve for Singapore.
We need to grow the economy to
give us the resources to live well, and
invest in our people and future. But
our aim goes beyond that – to foster a
strong and cohesive society, and ulti­
mately to build a nation.
Second, we must focus on getting
sound policies for the long term. The
Party must reflect on the aspirations
of the people, and be in tune with the
popular mood.
But it has a responsibility to think
beyond immediate sentiments and constraints,
and endeavour to lead Singapore
in the right direction.
Third, beyond individual policies,
our most important duty is to prepare a
future team to carry the torch forward
for Singapore. We must always be on
the lookout for new talent, and nurture
a new generation of party activists and
leaders for the nation.
These strategic priorities will enable
the Party to continue serving Singapore
well and improve the lives of all
Singaporeans year after year.
PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
3

Eulogy by MM Lee Kuan Yew
‘My closest confidante’
Goh and Mr Lee Kuan Yew hang out at a community centre.
Goh Keng Swee, S. Rajaratnam,
Dr Toh Chin Chye, K.M. Byrne
and I were the core group
who planned the formation of the PAP.
We used to meet in my basement
dining room at 38 Oxley Road.
Keng Swee pointed out that we had
to build up mass support for any political
party.
Fortunately in February of 1952,
working as a legal assistant in the firm
of Laycock & Ong, I was asked to be the
legal adviser to the Postal and Telecommunications
Uniformed Staff Union to
negotiate with the government for better
terms of service.
It led to a strike, the first under
the then “Emergency Regulation” de­
4 PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
Keng Swee was my alter ego, never
daunted, never intimidated. We
reinforced each other’s resolve.
signed to cripple the communist controlled
trade unions. I won concessions
for them.
So I was asked to represent the
clerks of the Singapore Union of Postal
and Telecommunications Workers
against the government in an arbitration
court. Again I gained concessions.
As a consequence, many other
unions, including Chinese­speaking
unions, appointed me as their legal adviser.
Throughout the strike and arbitra­
tions, Keng Swee, Byrne and Raja gave
me backroom support, working out
the relevant facts and figures, and the
counter arguments.
I made a breakthrough to the Chinese­speaking
world after the Chinese
students’ May 13th, 1954, clash with
the police at King George V Park.
The pro­communist students made
National Service an issue and gathered
students to protest National Service to
serve the colonial government. The police
arrested them. They sought legal

Mr Lee’s letter of thanks to his right-hand man in 1984, and Goh’s reply.
services when they were charged in
court.
I brought out a left­wing pro­communist
British QC called D.N. Pritt,
who led me in a district court before
F.A. Chua, district judge, who later became
a judge of the Supreme Court. He
acquitted them all.
My backroom colleagues, including
Keng Swee, discussed and refined ev­
ery move I made.
Thereafter, we had a Chinese­speaking
base, mainly of young students.
Keng Swee, Raja, K.M. Byrne and
I had no idea that these Chinese associations,
including the Singapore Chinese
Middle School Students’ Union,
Singapore Factory and Shop Workers’
Union, and a myriad of miscellaneous
associations like those of barbers, tai­
lors, cinema and entertainment workers,
and even wooden house dwellers,
were all controlled by a few pro­communist
cadres.
We first worked with them in a united
front.
In 1961, when we wanted to go into
Malaysia, to which they had earlier
agreed, the left­wing communists got
13 PAP members of the Legislative As­
PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
5

Eulogy by Mr Othman Wok
The partnership between Goh and Mr Lee began in London in 1949.
Caring, careful man
I
met Dr Goh Keng Swee for the
first time in early 1953. He was
then the Director of Social Welfare
and I was a journalist with the Malay
language daily newspaper, Utusan Melayu,
as well as the honorary secretary
of the Singapore Printing Employees’
Union.
Bluecollar workers at the Straits
Times Press were on strike because
the management had sacked a union
committee member working as a linotypist.
The strike had gone on for three
weeks and there was no sign of it ending.
The company was a powerful employer
during those days and the management
refused to negotiate with the
union.
One afternoon, Dr Goh came to the
union headquarters to enquire about
the situation.
I wondered why this man popped
out of the blue and went out of his way
to assist us. Later, I learnt that he was
always sympathetic towards the plight
6 PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
of workers and he wanted the strike
settled quickly.
Together with Mr Lee Kuan Yew,
then a lawyer, and Mr K.M. Byrne,
Head of the Civil Service, they met the
It took me almost two
years to convince Dr
Goh to finance the
National Stadium.
He was worried the
stadium would be
under-used, and the
$1 million spent
building it wasted.
management and ended the strike.
I did not meet Dr Goh again until
just before the May 1959 General Election,
when both of us were members of
the PAP committee planning strategies
sembly to defect. They formed the Barisan
Socialis. Then began a long tussle.
Goh Keng Swee was my closest confidante;
together with Raja we worked
out a way to defeat them, by winning a
referendum to join Malaya. They knew
that the Malaysian Special Branch
would be after them once merger came
into effect.
When we found ourselves trapped
in a Malay­dominated Malaysia, I led
the fight for a Malaysian Malaysia.
When the movement gathered massive
Malaysia­wide support from the
non­Malays in Peninsular Malaya, Sin­
to contest the election.
He stressed that Singapore should
change its direction from an entreport
port to a manufacturing country, not
only to survive but to also develop and
progress, and employ thousands of
workers who lost their jobs because of
the communist problems.
When the PAP won, the first thing
he did was look for a suitable site to
build factories. He chose Jurong, a
wasteland of jungle and swamp.
One day I received a phone call
from him. He sounded annoyed and
got straight to the point: “Tell your fire
brigade chief that the way he wants the
fire safety precautions to be installed
is costing investors a lot money and
time. I want to build as many factories
as possible quickly.” I spoke to the fire
brigade chief.
Some time in 1966, Dr Goh announced
at a Cabinet meeting: “I require
all able­bodied ministers and
MPs to join the People’s Defence
Force (PDF) to be trained as officers,

In his talks with Tun Razak, then Malaysia
Deputy Prime Minister and Dr Ismail, then
Malaysia Minister for External Affairs and
Minister for Home Affairs, Keng Swee
decided it was best to separate.
gapore, Sarawak and Sabah, the Tunku
decided to cut Singapore off.
I did not want this, and asked Keng
Swee to work towards a looser federation.
In his talks with Tun Razak, then
Malaysia Deputy Prime Minister, and
who will then train the thousands of
full­time and part­time national servicemen
coming in soon.”
Many of us joined and after an
18­month crash course were posted to
the various PDF units.
While we were in camp training, he
visited us and stayed for dinner. The
PDF did not have proper cooks then
and the food was horrible.
He sat next to me. I noticed that af­
Dr Ismail, then Malaysia Minister for
External Affairs and Minister for Home
Affairs, Keng Swee decided it was best
to separate.
I had to agree.
Keng Swee was my alter ego, never
daunted, never intimidated. We re­
I learnt that he was always sympathetic towards the plight
of workers and he wanted the strike settled quickly.
Mr Othman (far left) at a dinner hosted by Goh (middle), their last get-together in 1987.
ter one spoonful he stopped eating. He
said to me: “How do you manage to eat
this horrible thing?”
Toto was another idea of Dr Goh’s.
He got it from Bulgaria. The income
derived was to be used for building
sport facilities and the development of
sports. The money was deposited in
the government central development
fund.
I had to apply for a grant to build
inforced each other’s resolve. It was
a partnership that lasted from the
London Forum days in 1949 until he
resigned in 1984. I wrote a letter to
publicly thank him for his services. He
replied. My letter set out his outstanding
contributions.
He was a member of the Central Executive
Committee of the PAP until he
resigned from office. He played a major
role in the formation and development
of the PAP.
4 June 2010
the National Stadium at Kallang. He
asked me why we needed a new stadium.
I explained that the two we had
– Jalan Besar and Geylang – were too
small. A bigger stadium would also enable
us to organise local, regional and
international sports events.
It took me almost two years to convince
him to finance it. He was worried
the stadium would be under­used, and
the $1 million spent building it wasted.
It was very nice of him to accept my
invitation to lay the foundation stone.
The stadium was completed in 1973
and was the venue for the South East
Asia Peninsular (SEAP) Games the
same year. Whenever the Malaysia Cup
football competition was held, 50,000
spectators filled it. He must have been
relieved that that million spent was not
wasted after all!
Mr Othman was the Culture and
Social Affairs Minister from 1963 to
1977 and Minister without portfolio
from 1977 to 1981.
PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
7

We Salute the Great Man Who Helped
Transform Our Nation
DR GOH KENG SWEE
(1918 - 2010)
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Eulogy by Mr Goh Ken-Yi
Great grandfather
My earliest memories of my
grandfather are of the time
I spent weekends with him
at his house along Goodwood Hill…
not the least of which was bedtime. He
would tell me a story or two and then.
As I lay on the cusp of sleep, he would
gently stroke my hair.
Sometimes, he would fall asleep before
I did. I would nudge him awake
and he would always continue despite
his own fatigue.
I did not appreciate then that this
was occurring at a time, during the
mid­1970s, when he was working tirelessly
towards building some part of
the nation that is the Singapore we
know today.
During my early teens, my grandfather
bought me a camera, a Nikon
EM, which I still keep with me.
Photography was something he
was passionate about and this gift was
meant not only to see if I would pick up
the same hobby, but probably also to
get me to hone my sense of the world,
to start appreciating nature at its simplest,
the things around us that we often
overlook or take for granted.
So we would visit the zoo, bird
park, air shows, parades, fireworks,
clicking away with our cameras. The
one thing that I found difficult to capture
a picture of was my grandfather
himself.
He would usually brush me off
whenever I wanted to snap a shot of
him and redirect my attention to something
else. A few times, though, I did
manage to get him to emerge from his
shell and strike a jovial, sometimes
even comical, pose.
Actually, I find this camera­shy
10 PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
His unassuming facility is something I feel we
sometimes lack in an age where self-promotion
has become an accepted tenet of society.
aspect of him strangely inconsistent
with his…overtly public vocation. But
when the time came to blaze a certain
trail, he would rise to the challenge,
on centre stage no less if he had to.
And yet, when the work was done,
he would often deflect any notion of
praise directed towards him.
His unassuming facility is something
I feel we sometimes lack in an
age where self­promotion has become
an accepted tenet of society.
A moment I will always remember
and cherish is when I was about to
start my working life (in investment).
My grandfather had asked me to his
office and I figured that he was going
to chastise me for being somewhat distracted
and not knowing what career
path to take.
I had graduated with an engineering
degree but had no intention of becoming
an engineer. Further, instead
of minoring in economics as he had
recommended, I decided to…acquire
a second degree in English literature.

Goh brought Ken-Yi with him to NTUC income’s 5th anniversary dinner in 1975.
I was in the midst of a fluffy explanation
as to how I intended to cope
with my new job, when he stopped
me, eyeballed me for a second and
said: ”Ken­Yi, all this doesn’t matter.
In working life, first and foremost,
what you need to be is a reliable and
responsible person. At first, you may
be given some tasks to complete;
later in your career, you will be setting
these tasks yourself as you rise
through management.
“Whichever the case, you must
always be a person others can count
on to do a good job, whether the end
result is successful or not.”
And this is why I could really appreciate
and understand the sentiments of
a particular lady who was sitting next
to me during evening service earlier
this week.
Like many people before and after
her who have worked under my grandfather,
she had been tasked to produce
a report for him on a particular project.
When she had not heard from him
a week post­submission, she thought
Goh and Ken-Yi at a grassroots event.
the matter was closed, or perhaps she
might have to look for a new job, only
to receive a call from my grandfather a
few weeks later informing her that he
had decided not to proceed with the
project, but that she had done a good
job in any case.
This lady was clearly very touched
that he had bothered to get back to her
on her report.
So there you have it, anecdotes that
I believe show aspects of his selfless­
He would usually
brush me off whenever
I wanted to snap
a shot of him and
redirect my attention
to something else.
ness towards family and fellow man,
his intrinsic humility despite his many
contributions, and at the core of his
soul, a great sense of moral responsibility.
To me, however, he was simply a
great grandfather.
Please allow me to close by quoting
from a book he gave me in 1989,
“The Ascent Of Man” written by Dr
Jacob Bronowski. The book traces
the rise of man and the evolution of
science, and was one of my grandfather’s
favourites.
I quote: “Knowledge is not a looseleaf
notebook of facts. Above all, it is a
responsibility for the integrity of what
we are, primarily of what we are as
ethical creatures.
The personal commitment of a man
to his skill, the intellectual commitment
and the emotional commitment
working together as one, has made the
ascent of man.”
Ken­Yi, 37 and a banker,
is Goh’s eldest grandson.
PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
11

We Salute the Great Man Who Helped
Transform Our Nation
DR GOH KENG SWEE
(1918 - 2010)
From:
Chief Executive Officer,
Management and Staff of
Architects 61 Pte. Ltd.

Goh Keng Swee: The Man
Master blaster
Death is often touted as a leveler
of men. In the case of Goh
Keng Swee, it has been quite
the opposite. And while much tends
to go to the grave with the deceased,
Goh’s death has proved to be revelationary
at two levels.
Those under 30 have
learnt the extent to which
the fabric of their lives has
been woven by one man’s
ideas. Those older have
found out his contribution
goes beyond that, to being
mid­wife for the birth of Singapore
as an independent
country.
What has also emerged
is how much can be accomplished
based on principles
that he followed. They included
being self­critical,
honest, tough, creative and
moral.
Goh was born on Oct 6,
1918, in Malacca, the fifth of
six children in the Methodist
family of a housewife and
a teacher. He had a Christian
name, Robert, which
he disliked. The Peranakan
family moved to Singapore
when he was two, and his
father went into the rubber
business.
His constant companions on the
plantation were books. He read mostly
serious stuff all his life, until he had
problems with his eyesight in his 80s.
Like his sisters, he played the piano.
He also picked up the accordion on his
own, and listened to classical music.
Goh attended the Anglo­Chinese
schools. An essay for his school magazine
at 13 perhaps foretold the direction
he would move in. In it, he insisted
anyone who wants to “prosper in this
world must have an ambition” – “to
make ourselves useful to our country,
our people and ourselves”.
Goh wore a trendy sharksin suit when he married Alice Woon in
1942. He was 24 then and she was 17.
He scored the second­highest
grades in his school for the Senior
Cambridge exams. He had distinctions
in English Language and Literature,
and Geography. His favourite subject
though was Mathematics.
His results won him a Queen’s
Scholarship and a chance to study
abroad. But he opted instead for Singapore’s
Raffles College, as it did not require
him to sit for extra subjects, and
the arts stream.
To better understand the effects of
the Great Depression on his family’s finances,
he did Economics as a major.
In 1939, he graduated with
just a Class 2 degree in Arts
but a distinction in Economics.
By all accounts, Goh did
not shine at his first job,
as a tax collector for the
government. But he met
his first wife, Madam Alice
Woon, at his office. He noticed
her when she pointed
out that the spectacles he’d
been looking for were on his
nose!
They married in 1942,
the day he turned 24. She
was 17. He wore a trendy
white sharkskin suit for the
occasion. They had one son
and remained together for
about 40 years, parting in
the mid­1980s.
After World War II, he
worked for the Social Wel­
fare Department. He set
up “people’s restaurants”,
which offered cheap nutritious
meals, and got an insight
into the poor living conditions
here. By this time, he was taking an
interest in politics.
It deepened when he was at the
London School of Economics in 1948
to study statistics. At the time, the British
Labour government was nationalising
industries, the communists were
PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
13

Goh Keng Swee: The Man
active in the east, and
Asians were looking
to free their countries
from their colonial
overlords. It was then
he met Lee Kuan Yew.
To educate themselves
about politics,
the Malayan students
there set up the Malayan
Forum. Goh was its
first chairman. Quite a
lot of discussion was
done in pubs over a
few beers. His fondness
for the brew later
led to liver problems.
This was on top of the
diabetes he had.
Back in Singapore,
he got involved in the
unions, which were
fighting for a better deal for locals. He
did a survey on the incomes and housing
of the urban working class, using
a new methodology ­­ interviewing
heads of households.
What he gleaned from it was to
form the basis for the economic and
Goh Keng Swee’s legacy lies as
much in his attitude towards
work and life as all the policies
and systems he put into place. One less
well­known tale which indicates the
kind of man he was involves a priest.
Goh was then in the process of creating
the armed forces and wanted a
code of conduct drawn up for the man,
preferably by someone experienced in
the techniques of influencing people.
So he asked a Jesuit priest, Father J.
Sheridan, to do the draft.
A family portrait taken in the 1940s. Goh Keng Swee is seated.
social policies of a socialist­style political
party, the People’s Action Party.
When he returned to London for
his doctorate, he served as the PAP’s
talent scout abroad. It was a role that
he continued to play during his 25
years in government.
Waste not allowed
14 PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
The incident illustrates his innovativeness
in searching for solutions, his
knack of getting the right people to do
a job, and openness to consulting others
with the experience and the expertise.
For the armed forces, he turned to
the Israelis, because of their performance
during the Six­Day War, and because
they, too, are from a small country.
They were struck by “his iron will
and logic”.
On the economic front, he depend­
Many who paid
tribute to him recounted
how he had
come to their “rescue”
in their youth, and
helped them realise
their hopes. They include
Senior Minister
Goh Chok Tong, and
former permanent secretaries
Philip Yeo and
J.Y. Pillay.
At home, his resentment
for the colonial
system grew, and
he left the civil service
for politics, to change
the situation.
He was assigned to
contest in Kreta Ayer
and won. On June 5,
the only economist in
the Party was sworn in as Singapore’s
first Minister for Finance.
The really hard work had begun; a
legend was launched.
Goh headed the ministry twice,
from 1959 to 1965, and 1967 to 1970.
During these periods, he put Singa­
ed on Dutch economist Albert Winsemius,
who offered direction, suggestions
and guidance for a couple of
decades.
Many have described Goh as one of
those rare people who listened to others’
ideas; he certainly had no qualms
learning from his juniors, nor giving
young people a chance to tackle major
issues. If the suggestions made sense
to him, he would run with them.
If things did not work out, he admitted
his mistake and dropped the idea,

Goh speaking to reporters in December 1984, the month he retired from politics. That year marked a changing of the guard in the PAP.
pore on the route to industrialisation
and determined the economy should
be export­driven.
He was also Singapore’s first Minister
for Defence, from 1965 to 1967,
and 1970 to 1979. He set up the armed
forces and started National Service.
which is what he did seven years after
he introduced religious education as a
subject in schools.
As he pointed out to his elder grandchild
years later: “You must always be
a person others can count on to do a
good job, whether the end result is successful
or not.”
Despite his years studying theories,
Goh did not go by the book, pronouncing:
“Governments are seldom moved
by doctrines, principles, theoretical arguments
and analyses which academ­
Basically, the man who was “always
thinking, thinking, thinking” was the
government’s Mr Fix­It, which is why
he became Minister for Education,
a posting he described as the “most
frustrating period” of his life. During
his time, 1979 to 1984, he launched his
ics consider important.”
Instead, he got down and dirty, for
a better picture of whatever he was involved
in. Only then, he believed, one
could come up with good solutions. It
involved reading a lot of reports and
books.
He expected his people to be accountable.
Recalled one MAS officer
who attended weekly sessions with
him in the 1980s: “We were challenged,
we were under pressure to ensure that
our decisions were not only theoreti­
most controversial policy ­­ streaming
at Primary 3, and sought to raise the
quality of teachers.
What few knew before Minister
Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s eulogy at his
state funeral is Goh’s major role in Singapore
leaving Malaysia. The relation­
cally sound, but these actions were
also rooted in good market judgment.”
Goh’s guardianship of the public
purse was fierce. He routinely turned
down projects which cost more than
$1 million, a huge sum of money in the
1960s, until it was vital the funds were
truly needed, like the $260 million in
the 1970s for the upgrading of Singapore
General Hospital.
And when he was offered the same
pay he had as minister to be deputy
chairman of the MAS and GIC after his
PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
15

16 PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
We Salute the Great Man Who Helped
Transform Our Nation
DR GOH KENG SWEE
(1918 - 2010)
From:
The Board of Directors
Managing Director/Group CEO
Management & Staff
ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited

Goh Keng Swee: The Man
ship between Singapore and Malaya
was souring on the racial, economic
and political fronts, and he was tasked
with sorting things out.
In the book, “Goh Keng Swee, A
Portrait”, written by his daughter­inlaw
Tan Siok Sun, when he was asked
by leaders across the Causeway for
suggestions on how matters might proceed,
he suggested calling it quits, as
“the political cost was dreadful and the
economic benefits, well, didn’t exist”.
It made sense to all concerned, and
on Aug 9, 1965, Singapore left Malaysia
to go it on its own.
Goh decided he would call it a day
when he turned 65 in 1983, believing
his political time was past. That year,
he discovered he had bladder cancer.
He had to avoid meat – no more ayam
berkeluak, his favourite dish ­­ and eat
more vegetables, which he disliked.
The book also speculates that he
did not want to stand in the 1984 General
Election in case developments in
his personal life became an election issue.
He was made deputy chairman
of MAS and the Government of Singapore
Investment Corporation, and
served as an advisor to China, which
was opening up, helping it develop its
economic zones and tourism industry.
retirement from politics, he suggested,
his salary be halved.
Neither did he tolerate time being
wasted. He believed, “any meeting that
went beyond an hour should be treated
as a seminar, and beyond three hours,
as a conference”. He liked his policy
papers short ­­ two­and­half pages at
most – and in language simple enough
for a fool to understand.
He was considered a poor orator
but a top­notch writer, who could cut
through the extraneous to the core of
Goh with his second wife, Dr Phua, and his second grandson, Wu Shao Yi, in 1988.
He married again in 1991, to Dr
Phua Swee Liang, whom he had met at
the Education Ministry, and reveled in
being a private citizen. They traveled
regularly, driving around the places
they visited, with her at the wheel.
One of the biggest blows to Goh in
his later years was his failing eyesight.
It deprived him of reading and watching
the animal documentaries he en­
an issue. Penang lawyer Philip Hoalim
Jr recalls his effort at a gathering involving
young British Conservatives
and Malayan Forum members.
“They gave their views. We gave
our views. At the end, it was time to
draft a resolution. The Conservatives
tried to do it but couldn’t, and Keng
Swee took over.
“Amid all the noise, he sat down
in a corner and wrote the resolution –
within five minutes! It was so tight you
couldn’t put a pin through.”
joyed; there would be no more chess
and photography. He suffered several
strokes which left him bedridden when
he was in his 80s.
When he slipped away, at around
5am on May 14 at his Siglap home,
shortly before his morning feeding
through a tube, he left behind his wife,
son, two grandchildren and three great
grandchildren. He was 91.
His views on economics can be
found in three books.
Despite his willingness to try new
things, he was conservative on culture.
Like many his age then, he found the
music of The Beatles and The Rolling
Stones “barbarous”. He thought stage
plays should be nationalistic in content.
Despite such prejudices, two things
cannot be denied. Noted President S.R.
Nathan, who once worked for him: “He
had extraordinary energy and a sense
of selflessness.”
PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
17

We Salute the Great Man Who Helped
Transform Our Nation
DR GOH KENG SWEE
(1918 - 2010)
From:
Dr Leong Heng Keng & Mr Leong Mun Sum,
Management and Staff of Leung Kai Fook Medical Co Pte Ltd

Memories
Clockwise: Goh Keng Swee ready to smash a sake barrel, 1991
• At the London School of Economics in the 1950s
• At son Goh Kian Chee’s wedding in 1968 • Playing golf in 1971.

1
5
Goh Keng Swee: Memories
THE POLITICIAN:
1. Victory at the 1976 General Election
2. Handing out hongbao to the needy, 1984
3. On his way to the counting centre,
1959 General Election
4. Goh (centre) chats to the roadside peddlers in Kreta Ayer
5. At the PAP’s lunchtime rally at Fullerton Square,
1961 by-election
20 PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
4
2
3

1
6 3
5
THE MINISTER:
1. Passing out parade, 1967, as Defence Minister
2. At the National Iron and Steel Mills,
1963, as Finance Minister
3. Press conference, 1981, as Education Minister
4. On the first cable car to Sentosa, 1974
5. Greeting Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, 1978
6. HDB balloting in 1980
2
4
PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
21

THE FUNERAL:
1. Son, Mr Goh Kian Chee, at the state funeral
2. A last salute by the Home Team
3. President S.R. Nathan presenting the state flag and
Goh’s medals to his widow, Dr Phua Swee Liang at
the state funeral.
4. Dr Lily Neo (second from right) leads Kreta Ayer
grassroots leaders to the wake
5. Kreta Ayer residents pay their last respects
1
5
4
Goh Keng Swee: Memories
22 PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
2
3

Goh Keng Swee: The Legacy
Goh-lden bequests
Goh Keng Swee’s contributions, which fall into three main areas, have been
fundamental to Singapore’s development. Petir looks at what he left behind
Jurong Industrial Estate was a swamp in the 1960s and was a flop initially.
THE ECONOMY
Industrialisation
As Singapore’s first Finance Minister,
Goh Keng Swee’s most major task
was to address Singapore’s unemployment
rate of 14 per cent and the needs
of a population growing at 4.4 per cent
annually. With no natural resources to
exploit nor any scenic landscape to develop
tourism, he saw industrialisation
as his only option.
Times were bad then. Recalled
economist Albert Winsemius, who was
part of a UN group sent to assess the
situation and who became Singapore’s
economic advisor: “There were strikes
about nothing. There were communistinspired
riots almost every day. The
general opinion was: Singapore is going
down the drain. It is a poor little
market in a dark corner of Asia.”
But his group saw hope in Goh’s
first five­year plan. Based on their re­
commendation, he set up the Economic
Development Board in 1961 to
market Singapore to foreign investors.
It had the pick of Singapore’s brightest
to doing the wooing. But few businesses
were interested. Forty to 50 calls
would see one success. It took a lot of
knocking on doors to change that.
Last year, the EDB brought in $11.8
billion worth of investments, creating
21,900 new jobs.
‘Goh’s Folly’
A total of 3,600ha of swampland in
Jurong were chosen as the site for Sin­
PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
23

Goh Keng Swee: The Legacy
gapore’s first industrial estate. It called
for not just filling in the land but also
the creation of roads, power plants,
sewers, drainage… But few entrepreneurs
were convinced of the possibilities
and workers shied from living so
far from town. The project was dismissed
as “Goh’s Folly”.
To promote his baby, Goh Keng
Swee made it a point to attend the
groundbreaking ceremony and official
opening of even the smallest factory.
The press was asked to cover every
single event, and a steady trickle of entrants
resulted.
His big breakthrough came in 1968,
when Texas Instruments not only
came for a looksee but opened a plant
within 50 days of deciding to invest.
National Semiconductor followed, and
other multinationals joined them. Jurong
Town Corp was set up in 1968 to
manage the estate’s development and
other industrial estates.
There are now more than 7,000 local
and global companies sited on over
6,600ha of industrial land, and 4.4 million
sq m of ready­built facilities in Jurong,
plus industrial estates elsewhere
in Singapore.
Export nation
Plans for a common market with
Malaysia and of serving as a manufacturing
centre for the grouping crashed
when Singapore and Malaysia parted
ways in 1965. Goh, needing a new
strategy, gambled on a route newlyindependent
countries were shunning
to protect their industries ­­ export­oriented
development.
Rather than protect Singapore from
the discipline of international competition,
he opened the country to free
trade and foreign investments. And
while others avoided MNCs, believing
they would exploit a country, he welcomed
them, leveraging particularly
24 PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
Goh helped set up MAS and decided the economy be export driven.
on the growth in the electronics sector.
The result is one of the world’s
most open economies where exports
are more than double Singapore’s
GDP.
Stable dollar
Prior to 1970, separate government
departments were handling different
aspects of monetary policies and
functions. As Singapore developed,
it needed a central body to develop a
more dynamic and coherent policy on
monetary matters.
Goh oversaw the setting up of the
Monetary Authority of Singapore that
became Singapore’s central bank and
financial regulator. He also served as
its chairman from 1981 to 1985.
While there, he laid out policies
for a strong and stable currency and
took measures to ensure the Singapore
dollar was not internationalised,
to discourage speculation in it. This
helped keep the currency strong and
controlled domestic inflation.
He also put in place tough banking
regulations which helped see Singapore
through economic crises.
At the same time, he changed the
laws to attract foreign financial institutions
to do more business here.
As a result, the sector grew at double­digit
rates for most of the 1980s
through to the 1990s.
Meanwhile, foreign banks were
kept out of the domestic banking scene,
allowing the local banks to grow.

Building an army in two years was akin to a miracle, said Goh.
Currency issue
It was Goh who insisted that the
Currency Board – a colonial legacy –
issue Singapore dollars, rather than
MAS when it was set up. Again, Singapore
stood out as an exception among
newly independent states.
Acknowledging that it was “a
strange anachronism in this age of
electronic finance”, he argued that governments
cannot “spend their way to
prosperity” and that every single Singapore
dollar has to be fully backed by
reserves. This prevents over­issuing of
new money that can lead to inflation,
and ensures the country’s currency remains
stable.
However, MAS has since taken
over the board’s functions.
Wealth fund
Having dragged Singapore out of its
financial pit, Goh was faced with growing
state coffers in the 1970s. Asked to
find ways to obtain better returns from
the surpluses, he came up with an independent,
professionally­managed
– the Government of Singapore Investment
Corporation.
Its task was to find long­term investments
for the spare cash. This allowed
MAS to focus on regulating banks and
managing the country’s currency.
This pioneer in sovereign wealth
funds is now possibly the fourth largest
in the world.
Development bank
Singapore’s largest local bank, DBS
Bank, started off as the finance arm
of the EDB. Its main aim was to help
finance new, relatively risky projects
that others avoided, such as infrastructure
building and electronics manufacturing.
Goh pushed for it to list publicly
and, later, become a full­fledged commercial
bank.
Savings culture
Ninety years after the British set
it up, the Post Office Savings Bank
(POSB) was in decline. However, Goh
saw its potential to start a savings culture
here. On top of that, the money
could be used for development projects.
To encourage the lower­income to
stash their cash, he waived the need
for a minimum sum required to set up
an account and the tax on interest paid
on the savings. As people’s incomes
grew, savings too would grow, he reckoned.
Singapore now has one of the highest
national savings rates in the world
– 55 per cent.
DEFENCE
Army days
When Singapore became independent,
it had only 1,000 soldiers, 75 per
cent of whom were Malaysians and
British, who owed no loyalty to the
new country. As the first Defence Minister,
Goh Keng Swee had the major
headache of building a defence force
from scratch.
He started by calling for volunteers,
dragging in MPs to his People’s
Defence Force.
His initial idea was to have 12 battalions
of regulars, but was asked to
come up with a scheme where civilians
would also be trained and could
be called on if needed, “because the
security of every society must always
depend, more or less, upon the martial
PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
25

Goh Keng Swee: The Legacy
spirit of the great body of people”. This
saw the start of National Service for
men in 1967.
To get things off the ground, he
tapped the expertise of the Israelis in
a hush­hush operation. Building up an
army in barely two years was a “minor
miracle”, he recalled, full of crash
courses, as much for him as those who
were to serve in it, and “crisis management
was almost a daily occurrence”.
“I think without the Israelis, we
could not have done it. They kept plugging
at it and we kept on learning by
trial and error, as much error as trial.”
That done, he worked on having an
air force.
Making bullets
It was during his second stint as
Defence Minister that Goh focused on
developing the defence industry here,
which he had begun in 1967 with Chartered
Industries of Singapore.
He set up the Singapore Mint in the
complex, so the plant served both military
and civilian markets: The same
tool and die workshop made both
5.56mm ammunition for the SAF and
the country’s coins.
Over the next eight years, more defence­related
companies were opened.
These were the predecessors of Singapore
Technologies Engineering subsidiaries,
and all hold their own in the
world market. They build missile gunboats,
repair weapons and electronic
equipment for the navy, fix trucks and
AMX­13 tanks for the army, refurbish
second­hand US Navy Skyhawk aircraft
for the air force, and more.
Believing that a small country like
Singapore would need an edge in modern
warfare, in 1971, he assembled a
team of engineers, fresh graduates
from top overseas universities, to develop
Singapore’s defence technology
capabilities.
26 PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
Streaming was introduced to improve children’s academic results.
The bird park was inspired by a famous Brazilian aviary.
They were the defence R&D professionals
and pioneers of today’s DSO
National Laboratories.
EDUCATION
Primary 3 decider
As far as Goh was concerned, Singapore’s
education system made no
sense. So even before he took over
the Education Ministry, he gathered a
team of Mindef systems engineers to
look into it. They were nicknamed the
Daring Dozen. It resulted in the Goh
Keng Swee Report, which defined the
shape of education today.
It got straight to the point, beginning:
“It has not occurred to many Sin­
gaporeans how unnatural the present
school system is. Most school children
are taught in two languages – English
and Mandarin. Eighty­five per cent of
them do not speak either of these languages
at home.”
It also highlighted that only 42 per
cent of each Primary 1 cohort completed
secondary school. Of this, just
16 per cent finished A levels and 6 per
cent went on to study at a university or
polytechnic.
He concluded: “There are three
matters or aspects of education which
have been neglected in Singapore, possibly
as a result of overemphasis on
examinations. These three aspects are

(1) creative imagination, (2) character,
(3) moral values.”
To address the appalling dropout
rate, he introduced streaming. Children
were assessed as early as Primary
3 and grouped according to their
learning ability. Those who needed a
slower pace could take seven to eight
years for primary school, and five for
secondary school. They could also enter
a monolingual stream.
Dropout rates fell, and children’s
academic results improved.
To cater to the brightest children,
he introduced the Gifted Education
Programme, where the top 1 per cent
of each cohort’s learning path is accelerated.
He went on to deal with raising
the professionalism, working conditions
and the pay of teachers, and gave
school heads more autonomy. Teachers
were sent abroad to train, and the
Curriculum Development Institute set
up to produce quality instructional material.
OTHERS
Co-operative ventures
At the historic seminar to modernise
the labour movement in 1969, Goh
Keng Swee, ever on the lookout for the
welfare of the poor, proposed co­operatives
be formed to take care of ordinary
workers. NTUC Income, for life insurance,
and NTUC Welcome (now Fair­
Price) for groceries, led the list set up.
For the birds
A visit to the famed Rio de Janeiro
Aviary in Brazil so impressed him, Goh
pushed for having something similar
here. In arguing for it, he noted: “It is
well to concede at the outset that the
bird park will not make our society
more rugged. It will have negligible effect
on the productivity of workers. Its
efficacy as a means of tightening social
cohesion is also in doubt, as is its contribution
to raising cultural or education
standards of the population. But
it will add to the enjoyment of our citizens,
especially our children.” In 1971,
one was set up in Jurong.
His visit to an underwater world in
the Bahamas, led to a similar attraction
at Sentosa.
Culture vulture
Despite his remarks on the dangers
of asking the government to feed
the soul, Goh did his bit for culture. In
1969, he provided his constituency with
a permanent stage for performances.
The Kreta Ayer People’s Theatre for
Cantonese operas opened in 1969. Best
of all, it was funded by private donations.
The classical music fan also pushed
for a national orchestra, declaring it
was a scandal that Singapore did not
have one. When an initial request for
funds to do so was turned down by the
Finance Ministry, he looked abroad
to world­renowned conductor Shalom
Ronly­Riklis to hatch a plan to change
that, and involved his Cabinet colleagues.
It worked, and in January 1979, the
41­man Singapore Symphony Orchestra
gave its first performance. Goh was
not able to make it to that debut concert,
but managed the next night’s.
SEA studies
Goh believed that it is vital for policy
makers and scholars here to have
a good understanding of Singapore’s
neighbours. It led to his submitting a
step­by­step plan for the setting up of a
research body.
In 1968, Parliament approved having
the Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies to study the stability and security,
economic development, and political
and social developments in the area.
CREDITS
Goh Keng Swee also
played a role in the
development of:
Institutions/Organisations
• Housing Board
• Port of Singapore Authority,
now PSA Corp
• Singapore Institute for
Standards and Industrial
Research
• Singapore Tourist Promotion
Board, now Singapore Tourism
Board
• Temasek Holdings
• Institute of Molecular and
Cell Biology
• Intraco
• Neptune Orient Lines
• Jurong Shipyard, now Sembcorp
Marine, Sembawang Shipyard
• National Iron and Steel Mills,
now NatSteel
• Keppel Shipyard
Recreational tourist sites
• Chinese Garden
• Japanese Garden
• Singapore Zoological Gardens
• Golf courses ­ Tanah Merah
Country Club, Jurong Country
Club, Sentosa Country Club
Societies
• Pyramid Club
• Economic Society of Singapore
Others
• Singapore Pools
• Singapore Totalisator Board
• Corrupt Practices Investigation
Bureau
• Commercial Affairs Department
• Asian Dollar Market
• Oral History Centre under the
National Archives
• Singapore Labour Foundation
• National Safety Council of
Singapore
• Public Service Commission
PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
27

We Salute the Great Man Who Helped
Transform Our Nation
DR GOH KENG SWEE
(1918 - 2010)
From:
The Board of Directors,
Management and Staff of
NTUC Fairprice Co-operative Ltd

Insights
I remember…
What struck me most was his single-minded
pursuit of the building and development of the
Singapore Armed Forces. Nothing was too difficult
or too small for him. His knowledge of military
strategy and technology was legendary.
He confounded many visiting generals and
admirals with his depth of knowledge and ability to
discuss the finer points of operating certain fighter
aircraft, warships and weapon systems.
As a boss he was demanding, impatient and did
not suffer fools gladly. He was particular about
ensuring that the soldiers were properly fed and that
troop morale was well served.
He raised the Music and Drama Company to
entertain soldiers confined to camps. The NCOs’
Club was set up not only to give importance to
Warrant Officers and NCOs, but also to ensure that
they would have somewhere to drink their beer
without having to get into fights on Orchard Road.
The Temasek Club was established to allow
officers of all ranks from the three services to
interact in an informal environment. Normanton
Park was developed so that officers could own
homes at affordable prices.
– Lt Gen (Ret) Winston Choo
He never spoke much to us bodyguards around
him; he was always deep in thought. But he never
forgot to enquire about our well­being. And made
sure that his grassroots members took care of our
dinner.
– Former police officer Lionel De Souza, who served
as Dr Goh’s bodyguard every so often
In Parliament, he was gentle with
new MPs like me. Every meeting
and every encounter with him was like
attending a tutorial. I also had the
opportunity to travel and to play some
golf with him. He was more relaxed
then.
– Mr S.Chandra Das, former MP
I first met Dr Goh when I was 17 and
dating his son. He looked rather stern. It
was only later on, when I got to know him
better, that I realised under that exterior
– something I believe he cultivated and
projected given his chosen path to pursue
politics in tumultuous times – was a kind,
thoughtful, caring, even gentle, man.
It was a side he kept intensely private
but showed whenever he was with my
son, Ken-Yi, his first grandson. It’s this
loving and caring side I was privileged to
know and will always remember.
– Ms Jennie Chua, CEO, Ascott Group
I was only 26 years old when I first served under Dr Goh in the Ministry of Education. A total of five
over years with so much personal coaching, teaching and guidance from Dr Goh; and most importantly
his trust in me and his generosity in giving me so much job challenges to stretch me as a young officer.
Without that valuable working experience under him, I wouldn’t be what I am today.
– Madam Low Sin Leng, executive chairman,
Sembcorp Industrial Parks Ltd
PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
29

DR GOH KENG SWEE
We pay tribute to your endless contribution to Singapore.
We stand on what you helped to build.
With utmost respect,
PAP Ulu Pandan Branch

Insights
I remember…
Every year during his term as Minister for Finance, he would “lock” himself
away in a Changi chalet for three weeks just before the Budget sitting in
Parliament. Three days before the sitting, he would come up with the draft of
the Budget speech with blanks. He’d say, “You guys fill in the figures”, and he
wouldn’t change the statements any more.
– Mr Bernard Chen, who worked in the Finance Ministry, in
his contribution to in an upcoming book of essays by ex-MPs to be
printed by the Institute of South East Asian Studies
吴博士有远见,关心民瘼之情在牛车水区展露无遗。他的
方言和华语并不流利,却能与当地居民及社团沟通。在他担任
牛车水议员的25年期间,受到基层组织的拥护与支持。
1969年由吴博士倡议,民间出钱出力建成的牛车水剧
场,给文化艺术表演者提供了良好的表演场所,也成了热爱观
赏方言戏剧者的好去处。1975年起以吴博士为首的人民剧场基
金会,每年都拨款分发度岁金给区内的贫困与乐龄人士,温暖
了他们的心。
此外,吴博士也极力改造牛车水的面貌,在任期内为牛车
水居民兴建组屋,小贩中心和小型购物办公楼中心。1983年建
成的牛车水大厦摊贩/巴杀中心,是为安顿街边及非法小贩而
建的。
吴博士虽身为副总理及部长,却很节俭。记得在彩色电视
盛行的时代,吴博士仍不舍得丢弃使用多年的黑白电视,直到
在我的劝说之下,才购买一个彩色电视机。不过,他却物尽其
用,把黑白电视捐献给技能培训中心当研究之用。
The most creative mind in the PAP.
He was full of ideas and theories.
– 潘峇厘,前国防部高级政务次长
– Retired academic and diplomat Maurice Baker,
who set up the Malayan Forum with Goh Keng Swee
Goh Keng Swee showed very strong support for our fight against
the shipping conferences’ monopolistic practices on freight rates. But
there was little he could do. It was around that time the government
set up its own shipping line – NOL. I read in the newspapers that
NOL had joined the shipping conference, I brought it up to him, he
laughed and said: “ This is life.”
– Mr Tan Eng Joo, community leader and businessman
He was a cheerful man. We
used to go out together for
drinks quite frequently. We
would take turns to buy each
other drinks. – Dr Toh Chin Chye,
founding chairman of the PAP
吴老先生德才兼备,政绩过
人;俭约养廉,贯其平生。
5月17日在吴宅,我谨引诗以
吊唁:事冗不知筋力倦,官
请赢得梦魂安。
- 黎达材, 前国会议员
Typically, we would have dinner
at the unit and then, if it
was a good meeting, Dr Goh
would be more than happy to
go to the officers’ mess. There,
he would not hesitate to drink
with all of us, bum cigarettes
off Winston Choo and tell risque
stories...
– Colonel (Retired)
Ramachandran Menon
When we drove in his old
Vauxhall car, we had to pay
for the petrol.
– Former MP Chan Chee Seng on
campaigning during the
1959 elections
PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
31

Dr Goh Keng Swee was instrumental in transforming Singapore
into an international financial centre. He recognised POSB’s ability
to mobilise Singaporeans to save, and developed POSB into a
statutory board for the benefit of the nation. Inculcating the virtue
of thrift through new services, incentives, school programmes and
publicity campaigns initiated in 1968, POSB grew from strength to
strength to become the people’s bank.
His legacy is long-lasting and even today, DBS and POSB continue
to live and grow his vision.
We pay our deepest respect to
the man who nurtured a nation
of savers and planners.
1918 – 2010
From: The Management and Staff of DBS and POSB

Insights
I remember…
I was very impressed that he never let himself
have an idle moment. If he was not interested
in the Cabinet papers being discussed, he
would do crossword puzzles or anagrams to
keep himself occupied.
– SM S. Jayakumar, who used to sit next to Dr Goh in Parliament
I had started my honours course in economics when I was told
by the Ministry of Education to switch to English literature, as my
university study was financed by a teaching bursary. I appealed and
was rejected. Maurice Baker, who was an English lecturer, referred
me to Dr Goh.
Dr Goh met me and spent about 15 minutes questioning me on
why I wanted to do economics. A few days later, I received a letter
from the ministry allowing me to continue with economics. His
intervention not only changed my career but also the whole course
of my life.
– Mr S. Dhanabalan, chairman of Temasek Holdings, in his eulogy
The most unusual instruction I ever received from him
was to get someone to disguise him so that he could
roam around Singapore unrecognised and get a direct
and personal feel of what life was like for the common
Singaporean.
– Mr Eddie Teo, chairman of the
Public Service Commission Chairman
I used to be the secretary in a series of regular meetings in the early
1970s. In the initial period, he would make many amendments and
changes to my drafts in red ink, and give explanations painstakingly
in the margins. He made all of us read “Gowers’ Plain Words” for
grammar.
– Mr Lau Wah Ming, retired Cabinet Secretary
Dr Goh was an MP who
genuinely cared for his
residents. However, he was
also mindful that our meetthe­people
sessions were
productive and that we were
meeting real needs.
At one of session after
he had listened and agreed
to help a resident with a
problem, I asked the man if
he had any other problems.
When the resident left, Dr
Goh told me that by asking
people for more problems,
you are inviting him to
create more problems. That
we must deal with genuine
problems not created ones.
– Mr Lee Kwok Meng,
former Kreta Ayer PAP
Branch Chairman
He was visiting for a month
but traveled with only a
piece of hand luggage. He
was very particular about
reimbursing staff for anything
they had bought for
him. He never ordered
room service preferring to
buy what he needed from a
greengrocer. The one luxury
he enjoyed was opera and
symphony performances.
– Former diplomat
Barry Desker on a
1983 visit to the US
PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
33

We Salute the Architect of Singapore’s Economic Development
Plan and its Growth as an International Financial Centre
DR GOH KENG SWEE
(1918 - 2010)

We Salute the Great Man Who Helped
Transform Our Nation
DR GOH KENG SWEE
(1918 - 2010)
From:
Mr & Mrs Stephen Lee Ching Yen

We salute the visionary who helped
transform our nation
DR GOH KENG SWEE
(1918 - 2010)
From:
The Management, Staff, Suppliers
and Families of DHL

Cyberspeak
We owe you...
Thousands of Singaporeans bade farewell at Parliament House.
Many more said their goodbyes online
A brilliant man, with excellent foresight, who spearheaded
many policies for the well­being of Singapore ­­ the setting
up of EDB and many monetary policies via MAS to
accelerate the growth of Singapore as a prime financial
hub in this region. We salute you, Dr Goh, for all your
contributions to where we are today. Thank you!
– oneforallallforone
May Dr Goh Keng Swee rest in peace! You have done a
great deal for Singapore as Deputy Prime Minister and
Cabinet minister, especially as Minister of Education. I am
one of those who greatly benefited from your education
policies and the programmes you implemented. May God
bless your family and children.
– Dr John Yam
I heard of the late Dr Goh Keng Swee from senior
citizens, including my late grandmother, an uneducated
and unschooled immigrant from China who endured
the atrocities of WWII. It is not just what people said Dr
Goh did but how they spoke of him ­­ often with affective
admiration and reverence.
– Kris
Dr Goh Keng Swee, we will remember what you have done
for us in Singapore. We will remember you in our heart.
– mathewho
Dr Goh Keng Swee was the quiet genius behind the
Singapore Story. A giant of a man whichever way one
looks at his life.
– Isa Manteqi
I watched, fully captivated, the live telecast of the state
funeral of the late Dr Goh Keng Swee. He is one of the
greatest sons of Singapore.
– S.
Thank you Dr Goh, our children can Aspire and Dream,
because your Generation laid the foundation for a stable
Singapore.
– Andy
... The public outpouring of affection since the passing of
Dr Goh Keng Swee on May 14 attests to the immeasurable
contributions and sacrifices he made for the country
during his stints as Defence, Finance, Education and
Deputy Prime Minister.
– Groundnotes
Dr Goh passed away this morning at the age of 91. He was
famed for being the architect of Singapore and for laying
a sound economic foundation that allowed Singapore
to be what it is today. And many people now can claim
credit when the tough part was done by Dr Goh and his
generation of leaders. He was a great mover of people and
resources. One minute’s silence for this grand old man of
Singapore.
– Chua Chin Leng
An effective and efficient local leader that never craved
credit. A Repectable Man who deservedly lived to a ripe
old age.
– Anonymous
Dr Goh Keng Swee will be remembered as Singapore’s
architect, a man who left big footprints in many areas of
Singaporean life as we know it. Many institutions and
ministries owe a great debt of gratitude to his insight,
foresight and wisdom.
– Miss Wong
Read the articles and eulogies about Dr Goh Keng Swee in
The Strait Times and The New Paper. Inspired.
– Christophertoh
Farewell, Dr Goh. Your legacy in Singapore lives on
though.
– Teck
PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
37

We Salute the Great Man Who Helped
Transform Our Nation
DR GOH KENG SWEE
(1918 - 2010)
From:
The President, Board of Directors, Members
and Staff of The National Safety Council of Singapore

Overheard
“I don’t mind a guy making mistakes but I can’t stand idiots and when people
refuse to learn.”
– Goh Keng Swee on learning
“Some of you will discover before long that you have joined a Holy Order that expects total
commitment from you. That will be your moment of truth. You will then regard the present condition of
the Republic not as a pinnacle of achievement but as a base from which to scale new heights.”
– on entering Singapore politics
“Life has been kind to me in that I had this opportunity to
make my contribution to Singapore’s development and to lay a
foundation for the next generation to build on.”
– on retiring from politics
“In advanced societies, it is not so much open nepotism which is
to be feared but the insidious ‘old boy’ type whereby no legalities
are committed but in which the pinnacles of power, influence and
wealth are the reserve of those born into the right families... Thus
many able and aspiring people are denied the opportunity for the
full use of their abilities.”
– on the dangers of power
“You know, as a minister, your work is your life. Even when you
are not working at the desk, you are still thinking of your work.
You’ve got no other life outside your work. But really, there’re
no other interests outside your work. Such other pursuits that
you undertake, such as exercise, golfing, is really to make you
more fit to work. Even listening to music is just to clear your
mind so that you can address your mind to work problems more
effectively. So we just get encapsulated in this business.”
– on being a minister
“We should be prepared to stand Confucius on his head where necessary”.
– on why the law should take precedence over filial piety
“When you have so many things to resolve, you do not worry
about whether the thing will succeed or not.”
– on getting it right
“In working life, first and foremost, what you need to be is a reliable
and responsible person.”
– on working life
PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
39

Overheard
40 PETIR MAY / JUNE 10
“You baffle me…
Beyond the probe of the searchlight
Of cold logic, like some ethereal being
Fluttering in the depths of night
A fleeting glance at beauty draws
Fervid attempts to locate substantiality
Which then dissolves in reason’s jaws
And leaves behind blank perplexity.”
– Goh Keng Swee’s poem, ‘A Paradox’, written for the
Raffles College magazine in 1937
“We must not underestimate the ability of Singaporeans to think
for themselves and come to their own judgment. We can persuade
them, but in the end, they make up their own minds.”
– on leading Singaporeans
“The only way to avoid making mistakes
is not to do anything. And that...will be the
ultimate mistake.”
– on being proactive
“It is only when a person can think
creatively that he is capable of
initiative, that he can form his own
judgment on matters and that he can
be trusted with great responsibility.”
– on why creativity is essential
“The ends of policy are immutable. They are first, to achieve
prosperity for the Republic and her citizens, and second,
to ensure the survival of the Republic as an independent
sovereign state.”
– on the purpose of policies
“We learnt that experience is a harsh taskmaster. Deciding on
policy and determining a line of action is different from engaging
in a debate. Cabinet government is not a debating society or
an academic seminar. These are intellectual exercises... In
government, you have to live with the consequences of your
decision. If you make a mistake, the results are painful. In political
life, there is no alibi for failure.”
– on the realities of governing

A Tribute to the Prime Architect
of Modern Singapore
CoMrAde dr Goh KenG Swee
Admiralty
Aljunied-Hougang
Ayer Rajah-West Coast
Bedok
Bedok Reservoir-Punggol
Bishan East
Bishan-Toa Payoh North
Boon Lay
Braddell Heights
Bukit Batok
Bukit Batok East
Bukit Gombak
Bukit Panjang
Bukit Timah
Founding Member of the People’s Action Party
From PAP branches:
Buona Vista
Canberra
Cashew
Changi-Simei
Cheng San-Seletar
Chong Pang
Chua Chu Kang
Clementi
Eunos
Fengshan
Geylang Serai
Hong Kah North
Hougang
Jalan Besar
Jalan Kayu
Joo Chiat
Jurong Central
Kaki Bukit
Kampong Chai Chee
Kampong Glam
Kampong Ubi-Kembangan
Keat Hong
Kebun Baru
Kolam Ayer
Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng
MacPherson
Marine Parade
Marsiling

A Tribute to the Prime Architect
of Modern Singapore
CoMrAde dr Goh KenG Swee
Moulmein
Mountbatten
Nanyang
Nee Soon Central
Nee Soon East
Nee Soon South
Pasir Ris East
Pasir Ris West
Paya Lebar
Pioneer
Potong Pasir
Punggol Central
Punggol East
Punggol North
Founding Member of the People’s Action Party
From PAP branches:
Punggol South
Queenstown
Radin Mas
Sembawang
Sengkang West
Serangoon
Siglap
Taman Jurong
Tampines Central
Tampines Changkat
Tampines East
Tampines North
Tampines West
Tanglin-Cairnhill
Tanjong Pagar
Teck Ghee
Telok Blangah
Thomson
Tiong Bahru
Toa Payoh Central
Toa Payoh East
Ulu Pandan
Whampoa
Woodlands
Yew Tee
Yio Chu Kang
Yuhua
Zhenghua