May/June 2010 - Keppel Offshore & Marine

PEOPLEof faith,” Goh laughs. “We didn’teven have a piece of land to beginwith. He had literally put CB Chooand me there to start up fromscratch.”And from scratch it was inBatangas where Keppelestablished its first overseas yard.“A lot of ground work was needed.We even had to develop a poolof subcontractors to support ouroperations. These people weremainly fisherman and farmers whoworked for us on a part time basisand we had to provide training forall of them,” Goh recalls.Goh eventually became the VP ofKeppel Philippines Shipyard, andone of the pioneers of KeppelGroup’s first significant overseasventure. Upon returning toSingapore in the 80s, he went onto assume several senior positionsacross Keppel’s subsidiariesincluding that of GM and Directorat Keppel FELS.Then, in 2000, he was thrownanother challenge to lead ataskforce in the restructuring ofKeppel’s offshore and marinebusinesses, a move that wouldthrust the group as the globalindustry leader.“In the first year of the integration,we were able to achieve costsavingsof about $17 million, justby putting people together andkeeping them focused,” he said.Following the successfulrestructuring exercise, Goh wasassigned to head specialisedshipbuilding arm, an instrumentalrole for which he is wellremembered.“I chose to focus KeppelSingmarine on the building ofOffshore Support Vessels (OSVs)because the offshore market waspicking up and there would be aneed for such vessels,” he shared.“Moreover, the main shipyardswith that were experienced in theconstruction of offshore supportvessels were located in Europe,where costs are high; KeppelSingmarine would have a costadvantage over these Europeanyards.”Under Goh’s leadership, KeppelSingmarine quickly rose to becomeone of the world’s foremostshipbuilding yards with its owndesigns and engineering expertisefor OSVs and tugboats.“I couldn’t have done it all alone.A leader must be supported bygood people. I had the opportunityof picking a formidable team forKeppel Singmarine – includingHoe Eng Hock, Lee Tai Kwee,Toh Ko Lin and Edmund Lek – whoworked well with one another, andwho stayed with me throughout,”Goh said.“When I was planning to retire,I knew that my people were readyto takeover,” he added confidently.Goh Boon Kiat (second from left) sharing a light moment with Hoe Eng Hock (second from right),ED of Keppel Singmarine, and colleagues at a naming ceremonyAs Goh closes an exciting chapterof his career at Keppel, he plans tospend more time with his familyand friends, as well as to perfecthis swing on the greens. But mostof all, he looks forward to continuehis lifetime vocation as a mentor,sharing his time, counsel andresources generously with whoeverneeds it.OffshoreMarine May – June 201031