MR GOH KENG SWEE

Mr Goh


Dr. Goh Keng Swee (6 October 1918 – 14 May 2010) was the second Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 1973 and 1984, and a Member of Parliament for the Kreta Ayer constituency for a quarter of a century. Born in Malacca in the Straits Settlements into a Peranakan family, he came to Singapore at the age of two years. Educated at Raffles College and the London School of Economics and Political Science, his interest in politics began during his time in London where he met fellow students seeking independence for British Malaya, including Abdul Razak, Maurice Baker, Lee Kuan Yew and Toh Chin Chye. From 1945 onwards he worked for the Department of Social Welfare, eventually rising to become its Director. In 1958 he resigned from the Civil Service to work full-time for the People's Action Party (PAP), becoming a key member and later vice-chairman of its Central Executive Committee. The following year he successfully contested the Kreta Ayer seat in the 1959 general election for the Legislative Assembly, and joined the first government of Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew as Minister for Finance. In this role, he assumed stewardship of Singapore's economy. As a budget deficit of S$14 million was forecast that year, he introduced stringent fiscal discipline which including cutting civil service salaries. As a result of these measures, he was able to announce at the end of the year when delivering the budget that the Government had achieved a surplus of $1 million. He initiated the setting up of the Economic Development Board which was established in August 1961 to attract foreign multinational corporations to invest in Singapore. The next year, he started the development of the Jurong industrial estate on the western end of the island which was then a swamp, offering incentives to local and foreign business to locate there. Upon Singapore's independence on 9 August 1965, Dr. Goh became the nation's first Minister for the Interior and Defence. Compulsory National Service was initiated by Dr. Goh when he was Singapore's first Minister for the Interior and Defence.
He subsequently served as Finance Minister (1967–1970), Minister for Defence (1970–1979) and Minister for Education (1979–1980, 1981–1984).
Dr. Goh greatly influenced the education system. He set up the Curriculum Development Institute, and introduced key policies such as religious education (subsequently discontinued) and, in 1980, the channelling of students into different programmes of study according to their learning abilities, known as "streaming".
Dr. Goh was also responsible for projects that sought to improve Singaporeans' cultural and leisure life, such as the Jurong Bird Park, the Singapore Zoo and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. He backed the construction of the Kreta Ayer People's Theatre in his constituency as a venue for Chinese opera performances. He was also instrumental in introducing rugby in the Singapore Armed Forces and later in schools. In recognition of his role in promoting the sport, the Schools "C" Division Cup is named after him. Impressed by an oceanarium in the Bahamas, he contacted the Sentosa Development Corporation and convinced them to have one. Underwater World Singapore opened in 1991.
Following his retirement from politics, Dr. Goh continued to be active in public life, serving as Deputy Chairman of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (1981–1994); Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Institute of East Asian Philosophies (1983–1992) and Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Governors of its successor, the Institute of East Asian Political Economy (1992–1995); Economic Adviser to the State Council of the People's Republic of China on coastal development and Adviser on tourism (1985); Deputy Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (1985–1992); Chairman of the Singapore Totalisator Board (1988–1994); adviser to the United Overseas Bank group (from 1993); Chairman of N.M. Rothschild & Sons (Singapore) Ltd. (from 1994); and Vice-Chairman of Hong Leong Asia Ltd. (from 1995).