Dr Goh Keng Swee

Dr Goh keng swee was born on 6october 1918 and deceased recently, on 14may 2010.

LIFE

Dr Goh keng swee was born in Malacca in the straits settlements into a middle-income peranakan family. His father was a manager of a rubber plantation. When he was two years old, his family moved from Malacca to Singapore where his maternal grandparents owned several properties. Dr Goh keng swee studied at Anglo-Chinese Primary School and the Anglo-Chinese Secondary school between 1927 and 1936. He then graduate from Raffles college in 1939 with a Class II diploma in Arts with a special distinction in economics. He then joined the colonial civil service as a tax collector with the War Tax Department however, he was almost fired as he was not very good at his job.

Shortly after the start of World War 2, Dr god keng swee joined the Singapore Volunteer Corps but returned to his previous work after the fall of Singapore. He married Alice Woon in 1942 and had their only child, Goh Kian Chee, two years later. In 1945, he relocated his family to Malacca but returned to Singapore the following Year after Japanese Occupation ended. Dr Goh Keng Swee won a scholarship which enabled him to further his studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science. During his time in London , he met Lee Kuan yew ,Abdul Razak and few more. In 1952, together with fellow civil servant Kenneth M. Byrne, he formed a council of joint Action to lobby against salary and promotion policies that favoured Caucasians over Asian. In 1985, Dr Goh Keng Swee resigned from his civil service in August so as to work full-time for the People’s Action Party.

Achievements

Dr Goh was a key member of PAP’s central Executive Committee and later became its vice-ch

airman.

He was appointed for Minister for Finance in 1959, Dr goh introduced an industrialization programme with the aim of creating jobs for Singaporeans. At that time , Jurong was a swampy wasteland and Dr goh transformed it into Singapore’s first industrial estate. To jumpstart the area’s development, he offered incentives and drew in foreign investments. He also started the setting up of the Economic Development Board, which was established in August 19 1961 with the purpose of furthering the economic development of Singapore by attracting foreign investments.

When Singapore attained independence in 1959, Dr Goh became the first defence minister . Assuming responsibilities for strengthening Singapore’s military and domestic security capabilities, he implemented compulsory national service for all male Singaporeans above 18years old so as to quickly build up the Singapore Armed Forces.

When he was Minister of Education , the importance of curriculum development in the education system made Dr Goh set up the Curriculum Development Institude. To arrest the high dropout rates , Dr Goh also introduced streaming in 1980 to allow students to learn at their own pace within their own capabilities.

Dr Goh was also responsible for projects that sought to improve Singaporeans’ cultural and leisure life, such as Jurong Bird Park, the SingaporeZoo . He was also instrumental in introducing rugby in the Singapore Armed Forces and later in schools .