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

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