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

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