SINGAPORE: Former Finance Minister Richard Hu died on Friday (Sep 8) at 96 years old.
Dr Hu first entered politics in 1984 after contesting in the General Election as a member of the People's Action Party for the Kreta Ayer constituency, where he was elected as a Member of Parliament
Thereafter, he became the first MP to be appointed to the Cabinet after his election win and was named the Minister for Trade and Industry.
In 1985, Dr Hu concurrently became the Health Minister, a role which he held until 1987, and the Finance Minister - a portfolio he held for 16 years until 2001.
He also became the chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore in 1985, a position which he held until 1997, and also served briefly as the Minister for National Development from 1992 to 1993.
During his term, he introduced the goods and services tax (GST) in Singapore to reduce the government's reliance on direct taxation as a revenue source and to broaden the tax base.
He also led the privatisation of then government-run Post Office Savings Bank (POSB), selling it to DBS in 1998
