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

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