Goh Keng Swee
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Goh Keng Swee (born Robert Goh Keng Swee; 6 October 1918 – 14 May 2010) was a Singaporean statesman and economist who served as the second Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 1973 and 1985. Goh is widely recognised as one of the founding fathers of Singapore.. He was also one of the founders of the
People's Action Party The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major Conservatism, conservative political party in Singapore and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the Parliament of Singapore, followed by the opposition Workers' Party of Singap ...
(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Goh's main objective was to strengthen the country's military and domestic security capabilities after the British had withdrawn its troops from Singapore, which made the newly-independent nation vulnerable.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 Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...
had mentioned that he had wanted a
conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...
consisting both men and women similar to
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. 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 A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...
to issue currency, favouring instead a
currency board In public finance, a currency board is a mechanism by which a monetary authority is required to maintain a fixed exchange rate with a foreign currency by fully backing the commitment with foreign holdings, or reserves. This policy objective requ ...
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 The Monetary Authority of Singapore or (MAS), is the central bank and financial regulatory authority of Singapore. It administers the various statutes pertaining to money, banking, insurance, securities and the financial sector in general, as ...
(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 In economics, a commodity is an economic goods, good, usually a resource, that specifically has full or substantial fungibility: that is, the Market (economics), market treats instances of the good as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to w ...
-based economy to have such a
sovereign wealth fund A sovereign wealth fund (SWF), or sovereign investment fund, is a state-owned investment fund that invests in real and financial assets such as stocks, Bond (finance), bonds, real estate, precious metals, or in alternative investments such as ...
, and was initially seen as a risky venture that eventually paid dividends. The multinational merchant bank, Rothschild & Co, had also advised on the GIC during its early years. Goh died in 2010 at the age of 91, and he was accorded a
state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...
.


Early life and career

Goh was born in
Malacca Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...
on 6 October 1918. into a middle class
Peranakan The Peranakan Chinese () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (region), Nanyang (), namely the British Empire, British, Portugu ...
family, the fifth of six children.. His father Goh Leng Inn, was a manager of a rubber plantation, while his mother Tan Swee Eng,. was from the family that produced the Malaysian politicians Tan Cheng Lock and his son, Tan Siew Sin, who would later become Goh's lifelong political opponent... Goh was given the
Christian name A Christian name, sometimes referred to as a baptismal name, is a religious personal name given on the occasion of a Christian baptism, though now most often given by parents at birth. In English-speaking cultures, a person's Christian name ...
Robert, which he disliked and refused to respond to. When he was two years old, his family moved from Malacca to Singapore where his maternal grandparents owned several properties. The Gohs later relocated to the Pasir Panjang rubber estate when his father found work there, and became manager in 1933. In common with many Peranakan families, the Gohs spoke both English and Malay at home; church services were held at home on Sundays in Malay.. Goh's father Leng Inn and the latter's brothers-in-law Chew Cheng Yong and Goh Hood Keng taught in the Anglo-Chinese School for various periods, and were also involved in the Middle Road Baba Church while Hood Keng was pastor there. Goh attended the church as well.. Goh attended the Anglo-Chinese School between 1927 and 1936 where he was second in his class in the Senior Cambridge examinations, Goh graduated from Raffles College (now the
National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...
) in 1939 with a Class II Diploma in Arts with a special distinction in
economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
. After graduation, Goh joined the colonial Civil Service as a tax collector with the War Tax Department but, according to his superiors, was not very good at his job and was almost fired. Shortly after the start of
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, he joined the Singapore Volunteer Corps, a local militia, but returned to his previous work after the fall of Singapore. Goh married Alice Woon, a secretary who was a colleague, in 1942 and they have one son, Goh Kian Chee, two years later. In 1945, he relocated his young family to Malacca, but returned to Singapore the following year after the Japanese occupation ended. That year, he joined the Department of Social Welfare, and was active in the post-war administration. He became a supervisor of the Department's Research Section six months later. Goh attained a scholarship which enabled him to further his studies at the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
. During his time in London, Goh met fellow students seeking independence for
British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British Empire, British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. Unlike the ...
, including Abdul Razak, Maurice Baker,
Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...
and Toh Chin Chye. A student discussion group, the Malayan Forum, was formed in 1948 with Goh as the founding chairman. Goh graduated in 1951 with a first class honours in economics, and won the William Farr Prize for achieving the highest marks in
statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...
. Upon his return to the Department of Social Welfare, he was appointed Assistant Secretary of Research. In 1952, together with fellow civil servant Kenneth Michael Byrne, he formed the Council of Joint Action to lobby against salary and promotion policies that favoured Europeans over Asians. Byrne later became Minister for Labour and Minister for Law. In 1954, Goh was able to return to the London School of Economics for doctoral studies with the help of a scholarship conferred by the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
. He completed his
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in economics in 1956, and returned to the Department of Social Welfare, where he served as Assistant Director and subsequently as Director. In 1958, he was appointed Director of the Social and Economic Research Division in the Chief Minister's Office. He resigned from the civil service in August that year to work full-time for the
People's Action Party The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major Conservatism, conservative political party in Singapore and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the Parliament of Singapore, followed by the opposition Workers' Party of Singap ...
(PAP).


Political career


Pre-independence

Goh was a key member of the PAP's Central Executive Committee (CEC), and serving as Vice-Chairman. Goh contested in Kreta Ayer during the 1959 general election and won. He was subsequently elected into the Legislative Assembly on 30 May 1959,. and appointed Minister for Finance under Prime Minister
Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...
's first Cabinet. As Minister for Finance, Goh assumed the 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. Goh initiated the setting up of the Economic Development Board (EDB) which was established in August 1961 to attract foreign
multinational corporation A multinational corporation (MNC; also called a multinational enterprise (MNE), transnational enterprise (TNE), transnational corporation (TNC), international corporation, or stateless corporation, is a corporate organization that owns and cont ...
s 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 businesses to locate there. According to former Permanent Secretary Sim Kee Boon, Goh admitted that the Jurong project was "an act of faith and he himself jokingly said that this could prove to be Goh's folly". Nonetheless, Goh also felt strongly that "the only way to avoid making mistakes is not to do anything. And that... will be the ultimate mistake." In the 1960s, there were great pressures from communist agitators working through Chinese-medium schools and trade unions. Divisions existed within the PAP as well, with a pro-communist faction working to wrest control of the party from the moderate wing, of which Goh and Lee Kuan Yew were key members. A key source of division was the issue of merger with Malaya to form a new state of Malaysia. Goh and his fellow moderates believed this was a necessary condition for Singapore's economic development because Malaya was a key economic hinterland; merger would also provide an alternate vision against communism for Singapore's Chinese majority. In July 1961, 16 members of the pro-communist faction broke away from the PAP to form the Barisan Sosialis, and captured control of the main trade unions.


Federation of Malaysia

In 1961, the Singapore Government secured approval from Malaysian Prime Minister
Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman (8 February 19036 December 1990), commonly referred to as Tunku, was a Malaysian statesman who served as prime minister of Malaysia from 1957 to 1970. He previously served as the only chief minister of Federation of Malaya ...
for a merger, motivated in part by the Tunku's desire to stabilise the security situation in Singapore and to counter the perceived communist threat by the
Malayan Communist Party The Malayan Communist Party (MCP), officially the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), was a Marxist–Leninist and anti-imperialist communist party which was active in British Malaya and later, the modern states of Malaysia and Singapore f ...
. In 1963, Singapore joined Malaya, along with
Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...
and
Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...
, to form the Federation of Malaysia. However, the merger soon proved problematic for Singapore's leaders. Fundamental disagreements emerged over political and economic principles, particularly the issue of Malay dominance. Communal tensions escalated into violence in 1964, incited by both Malay and Chinese activists in Singapore. According to Lee, Goh played a key role in safeguarding Singapore's interests, especially in economic disputes with the Malaysian Minister of Finance and his own cousin Tan Siew Sin, whom he believed acted in hostility toward Singapore. After two difficult years within the Federation, Lee asked Goh to negotiate with Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak and Minister for External Affairs Ismail Abdul Rahman in July 1965. The aim was to explore the possibility of a looser arrangement for Singapore within Malaysia. However, following the discussions, all parties concluded that a clean break would be in the best interests of both sides.
Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman (8 February 19036 December 1990), commonly referred to as Tunku, was a Malaysian statesman who served as prime minister of Malaysia from 1957 to 1970. He previously served as the only chief minister of Federation of Malaya ...
ultimately agreed to this course of action, paving the way for Singapore's separation from Malaysia.


Post-independence


Minister for Interior and Defence (1965–1967)

Upon the independence of Singapore in 1965, Goh relinquished his portfolio of Minister for Finance and became Minister for Interior and Defence in 1967, assuming responsibilities for strengthening Singapore's military and domestic security capabilities. A key policy was the creation of National Service, a mandatory conscription system for able-bodied young males.


Minister for Finance (1967–1970)

Goh served as Minister for Finance again between 1967 and 1970, during which he declined to allow the
central bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...
to issue currency, favouring instead a
currency board In public finance, a currency board is a mechanism by which a monetary authority is required to maintain a fixed exchange rate with a foreign currency by fully backing the commitment with foreign holdings, or reserves. This policy objective requ ...
system in the form of the
Board of Commissioners of Currency, Singapore The Monetary Authority of Singapore or (MAS), is the central bank and Financial regulation, financial regulatory authority of Singapore. It administers the various statutes pertaining to money, banking, insurance, securities and the financial s ...
- as this would signal to citizens, academics and the financial world that governments cannot "spend their way to prosperity".


Minister for Defence (1970–1979)

On 11 August 1970, he was reappointed Minister for Defence.


Deputy Prime Minister (1973–1984)

On 1 March 1973, Goh was appointed
Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...
concurrently with his other Cabinet portfolio. On 12 February 1979, Goh moved on from the Ministry of Defence to the
Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
, where his Goh Report greatly influenced the development of Singapore's education system. He was described as both a key political and strategic leader responsible for the transformation of the system over 30 years from "fair" to "great", according to a November 2010 McKinsey report. 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". Goh served two terms as Minister for Education, his first term ended in 1980, and his second following the 1980 general election from 1981 until his retirement in 1985. From 1 June 1980, he was redesignated First Deputy Prime Minister upon S. Rajaratnam being made Second Deputy Prime Minister, and served as Chairman of the
Monetary Authority of Singapore The Monetary Authority of Singapore or (MAS), is the central bank and financial regulatory authority of Singapore. It administers the various statutes pertaining to money, banking, insurance, securities and the financial sector in general, as ...
until he stepped down from
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
on 3 December 1984, at the age of 66. In a tribute to mark the occasion, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew wrote: "A whole generation of Singaporeans take their present standard of living for granted because you had laid the foundations of the economy of modern Singapore."


Other contributions


Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC)

In 1981, Goh 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 In economics, a commodity is an economic goods, good, usually a resource, that specifically has full or substantial fungibility: that is, the Market (economics), market treats instances of the good as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to w ...
-based economy to have such a
sovereign wealth fund A sovereign wealth fund (SWF), or sovereign investment fund, is a state-owned investment fund that invests in real and financial assets such as stocks, Bond (finance), bonds, real estate, precious metals, or in alternative investments such as ...
. The foreign merchant bank, Rothschild, advised on the GIC.


Defence Science Organisation (DSO)

In 1971, Goh put together the Electronic Warfare Study Group, a team of newly-graduated engineers who had excelled in their university studies that was headed by Tay Eng Soon, then a university lecturer. The group worked on Project Magpie, a secret project to develop Singapore's defence technology capabilities. In 1977, the group was renamed the Defence Science Organisation (DSO). Originally part of the Ministry of Defence, the organisation became a non-profit corporation called DSO National Laboratories in 1997.


Cultural, sports and recreational

Goh was also responsible for projects that sought to improve Singaporeans' cultural and leisure life, such as the Jurong Bird Park,
Singapore Zoo The Singapore Zoo, formerly known as the Singapore Zoological Gardens or Mandai Zoo, is a zoo located on the margins of Upper Seletar Reservoir within Singapore's heavily forested central catchment area. It is operated by the Mandai Wildl ...
and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. He backed the construction of the Kreta Ayer People's Theatre in his
constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
as a venue for
Chinese opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...
performances. In 1968, Goh encouraged the establishment of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Goh was also instrumental in introducing rugby in the
Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A component of the Ministry of Defence (Singapore), Ministry of D ...
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 An oceanarium can be either a marine mammal park, such as Marineland of Canada, or a large-scale Public aquarium, aquarium, such as the Lisbon Oceanarium, presenting an ocean habitat with marine (ocean), marine animals, especially large ocean dwe ...
in the
Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...
, he contacted the
Sentosa Development Corporation Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) is a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (Singapore), Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of Singapore. Purpose Islands The S ...
and persuaded them to build an oceanarium in Singapore. Underwater World opened in 1991.


Personal life

In 1986, Goh divorced his first wife Alice. In 1991, he remarried his former Ministry of Education colleague Phua Swee Liang. Goh suffered his first stroke in 1999, and a subsequent one in 2000 which affected the vision in his right eye. According to Goh's daughter-in-law Tan Siok Sun, the medical condition caused him to be withdrawn and became introverted. In July 2007, Tan published a biography titled ''Goh Keng Swee: A Portrait''. Goh's second wife issued a statement claiming that Goh had not been consulted on the book and had indicated to her that he did not want any book to be written about him. "Therefore, the publication of this book is contrary to his wishes, and is a show of disregard and utmost disrespect to him." In an interview with ''
The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...
'', Tan said she did not start the dispute between Mrs. Goh and herself, nor did she wish to prolong it. After retirement from politics, Goh continued to be active in public life, serving as Deputy Chairman of GIC between 1981 and 1994, Economic Adviser to the
State Council of the People's Republic of China The State Council of the People's Republic of China, also known as the Central People's Government, is the chief administrative authority and national cabinet. It is constitutionally the highest administrative organ of the country and the e ...
on Coastal Development and Adviser on Tourism in 1985, Deputy Chairman of the
Monetary Authority of Singapore The Monetary Authority of Singapore or (MAS), is the central bank and financial regulatory authority of Singapore. It administers the various statutes pertaining to money, banking, insurance, securities and the financial sector in general, as ...
between 1985 and 1992, Chairman of the Singapore Totalisator Board between 1988 and 1990, Director of Gateway Technologies Services Pte. Ltd. from 1991 onward, Adviser to the United Overseas Bank Group from 1993 onward, Chairman of N. M. Rothschild & Sons (Singapore) Ltd. from 1994 onward, and Vice-Chairman of Hong Leong Asia Ltd. from 1995 onward. Goh was also Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Institute of East Asian Philosophies between 1983 and 1992, which was founded to study
Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...
. The institute later turned its focus on China's political and economic development, renaming itself the Institute of East Asian Political Economy, and Goh continued as Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Governors until 1995. In April 1997, the institute was reconstituted as the East Asian Institute, an autonomous research organisation under the auspices of the
National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...
.


Death

On 14 May 2010, Goh died in the early morning at his home in Dunbar Walk off East Coast Road in Siglap, at the age of 91. His body lay in state at Parliament House from 20 to 22 May, and there was a
state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...
on 23 May 2010 at the Singapore Conference Hall followed by a private ceremony for family members at the Mandai Crematorium. The latter was conducted by the pastor-in-charge of Barker Road Methodist Church, with a message delivered by the Bishop of the Methodist Church in Singapore, Robert M. Solomon. As a mark of respect, State flags at all Government buildings were flown at half-mast from 20 to 23 May.


Honours

In 1966, Goh was made an Honorary Fellow of the
London school of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
. In 1972, he was the recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Services, which is often regarded as "Asia's Nobel Prize". It is awarded to people who have demonstrated integrity in government, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society. That same year, the
Philippine Government The government of the Philippines () has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and democratic constitutional repub ...
conferred upon him the Order of Sikatuna, which is given to diplomats, officials and nationals of foreign states who have rendered conspicuous services in fostering, developing and strengthening relations between their country and the Philippines. Following his retirement from politics, in 1985 Goh was awarded the Order of Temasek (First Class), Singapore's highest civilian honour. He was also presented with the LSE's Distinguished Alumnus Award on 21 January 1989, and made the first Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Development Board Society in 1991. During the National Day Rally on 29 August 2010, Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former military officer who served as the third Prime Minister of Singapore, prime minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2024, thereafter serving as a Senior Minister of S ...
announced that the Singapore Command and Staff College, where senior officers of the
Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A component of the Ministry of Defence (Singapore), Ministry of D ...
receive training; and a complex to be constructed at the Ministry of Education's North Buona Vista Road headquarters for specialist teacher training academies in English language, physical education, sports and the arts would be respectively named the Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College and the Goh Keng Swee Centre for Education.; .


Publications

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References


Notes


Citations


Sources

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Further reading


Books

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Eulogies at the state funeral

*; See also *. See also *. See also *. See also *


Letters of condolence

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News reports

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External links

*, archived fro
the original
on 1 April 2013
National Library Singapore – NLS Resource guide on Dr. Goh Keng Swee
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Goh, Keng Swee 1918 births 2010 deaths Alumni of the London School of Economics Anglo-Chinese School alumni Deputy prime ministers of Singapore Finance ministers of Singapore Chairmen of the Monetary Authority of Singapore Malaysian emigrants to Singapore People who lost Malaysian citizenship Naturalised citizens of Singapore Members of the Parliament of Singapore Members of the Dewan Rakyat Members of the Legislative Assembly of Singapore National University of Singapore alumni Recipients of the Darjah Utama Temasek People's Action Party politicians Singaporean politicians of Chinese descent Singaporean Methodists Singaporean people of Hokkien descent Peranakan people in Singapore Honorary Fellows of the London School of Economics Rothschild & Co people Ministers for defence of Singapore Chiefs of Defence Force (Singapore) Ministers for education of Singapore Deaths from bladder cancer Deaths from cancer in Singapore