Goh Keng Swee | |
|---|---|
吴庆瑞 | |
 | |
| 2nd Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore | |
| In office 20 March 1973 – 1 January 1985 Serving with S. Rajaratnam (1980–1985) | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Kuan Yew |
| Preceded by | Toh Chin Chye |
| Succeeded by | Goh Chok Tong Ong Teng Cheong |
| Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore | |
| In office August 1980 – December 1997 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Kuan Yew |
| Preceded by | Hon Sui Sen |
| Succeeded by | Richard Hu |
| Minister for Education | |
| In office 12 February 1979 – 2 January 1985 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Kuan Yew |
| Preceded by | Chua Sian Chin |
| Succeeded by | Tony Tan |
| Minister for Defence | |
| In office 11 August 1970 – 11 February 1979 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Kuan Yew |
| Preceded by | Lim Kim San (as Minister for Interior and Defence) |
| Succeeded by | Howe Yoon Chong |
| Minister for Finance | |
| In office 17 August 1967 – 10 August 1970 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Kuan Yew |
| Preceded by | Lim Kim San |
| Succeeded by | Hon Sui Sen |
| In office 5 June 1959 – 8 August 1965 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Kuan Yew |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Lim Kim San |
| Minister for Interior and Defence | |
| In office 9 August 1965 – 16 August 1967 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Kuan Yew |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Lim Kim San |
| Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Singapore | |
| In office 2 November 1963[1] – 9 August 1965 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Member of the Singapore Parliament for Kreta Ayer | |
| In office 30 May 1959 – 4 December 1984 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Richard Hu (PAP) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Robert Goh Keng Swee[2] 6 October 1918 Malacca, Straits Settlements |
| Died | 14 May 2010 (aged 91) Singapore |
| Cause of death | Bladder cancer |
| Nationality | Singaporean |
| Political party | People's Action Party |
| Spouse(s) | Alice Woon (m. 1942 div. 1986) Phua Swee Liang (m. 1991)[3] |
| Children | Goh Kian Chee (son)[3] |
| Relatives | Goh Hood Keng (uncle) |
| Alma mater | London School of Economics (BSc, PhD) |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | Singapore Army |
| Years of service | 1939–1942 |
| Rank | Honorary Colonel[4] |
| Unit | 20th People's Defence Force[4] |
| Goh Keng Swee | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 吳慶瑞 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 吴庆瑞 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Goh Keng Swee[a] DUT (6 October 1918 – 14 May 2010), born Robert Goh Keng Swee,[2] was a Singaporean statesman and economist who served as 2nd Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 1973 and 1985. Goh is widely recognised as one of the founding fathers of Singapore.[5] He was also one of the founders of the People's Action Party (PAP), which has governed the country continuously since independence.
Goh was a prominent member of the country's first generation of political leaders after Singapore became independent in 1965. He served as Minister for Finance between 1959 and 1965, and again between 1967 and 1970, Minister for Interior and Defence between 1965 and 1967, Minister for Defence between 1970 and 1979 and Minister for Education between 1979 and 1985.
As Minister for Interior and Defence, Goh's main objective was to strengthen the country's military and domestic security capabilities after the British had withdrawn its troops from Singapore, which made the newly-independent nation vulnerable. A key policy was the creation of National Service (NS), a mandatory conscription system for able-bodied young males. Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had mentioned that he had wanted a conscription consisting both men and women similar to Israel. However, Goh rejected it, citing that the labour cost at least in its initial years would be too great for the newly-independent nation.
During Goh's tenure as Minister for Finance, he declined to allow the central bank to issue currency, favouring instead a currency board system as this would signal to citizens, academics and the financial world that governments cannot "spend their way to prosperity"; the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) was later established in 1971. In 1981, Goh also expressed the view that the central bank need not hold large amounts of cash in reserve to defend the currency, proposing that the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) be established to invest excess reserves. At the time, it was unprecedented for a non-commodity-based economy to have such a sovereign wealth fund, and was initially seen as a risky venture that eventually paid dividends.[6] The multinational merchant bank, Rothschild & Co, had also advised on the GIC during its early years.[7] Goh died in 2010 at the age of 91, and he was accorded a state funeral.
- ^ "PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES DEWAN RA'AYAT (HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES) OFFICIAL REPORT" (PDF). Dewan Rakyat. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
A shy, quiet boy who loved bookswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Obituary notice of Dr. Goh Keng Swee, The Straits Times (15 May 2010), p. C28.
- ^ a b Desker, Barry; Kwa, Chong Guan, eds. (2011). Goh Keng Swee: A Public Career Remembered. World Scientific. pp. 83, 98, 101. ISBN 978-9814407533.
- ^ Lee Hsien Loong (24 May 2010), "A giant in our midst [eulogy by the Prime Minister]", Today, pp. 12–14, archived from the original on 25 May 2010.
- ^ Janadas Devan (15 May 2010), "Remembering Goh Keng Swee, 1918–2010", The Straits Times (Saturday), p. D2.
- ^ Hamilton-Hart, Natasha (2003). Asian states, Asian bankers : central banking in Southeast Asia. Singapore: Singapore University Press. p. 89. ISBN 978-0801439872.
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