Breaking News: Goh Keng Swee Dies ...

[HakkaThaileen]

Thanks for sharing the one-dollar note which had already ceased circulating for some time.

Do you happen to have the old 50-dollar note, the one with a Chinese mythological dragon in full view printed on it? Can share?

Thanks!

 

[lianbeng]

most important question: tomorrow got public holiday or not?

 

[Ramseth]

most important question: tomorrow got public holiday or not?

Surely not. There're rules for declaring public holiday. Dying in office qualifies, but Goh Keng Swee didn't die in office. The last one was way back in 1982, President Benjamin Sheares, died in office, state funeral of course and public holiday on funeral day, TV live telecast also.

 

[jw5]

Hi there,

1. good post
2. why you also write in point form now?
3. is this the new format for Sbf?

1. Hi there.
2. He's following streetsmart73's format.
3. It's not compulsory.

 

[Maverick01]

ohhh..so he is the one that started NS.

The Chief architect of the modern Singapore ecnomy

He also built uo our credible Defence Force SAF

Apart from the Lees & MBT I do not think there is anyone in the current Cabinet who can match his foresight and ability

Great man - I respect him

 

[Sun Wukong]

In Britain Dr Goh started the pro-independence Malayan Forum with other student leaders from Singapore and Malaya

Dr Goh quit the civil service to run in the 1959 Legislative Assembly Election on the PAP ticket

Dr Goh was Finance Minister in the first Singapore government

 

[Sun Wukong]

Former PM Lee (left) said in 1996 "I was fortunate in that I had a very good, very strong colleague in Dr Goh Keng Swee"

Dr Goh Keng Swee served five terms as MP for the Kreta Ayer constituency

 

[Sun Wukong]

The only economist in the first Singapore cabinet Dr Goh’s strategy was to build a manufacturing sector

To build young Singapore's economy Dr Goh worked to attract foreign multi-national corporations to invest and provide jobs quickly

 

[Sun Wukong]

In 1961, Dr Goh set up the Economic Development Board

Foreign banks were encouraged to set up shop in Singapore under Finance Minister Goh

 

[Sun Wukong]

Described as visionary, Dr Goh worked to transform 15 acres of swamp into Jurong industrial estate

Dr Goh also gave a soft touch to the industrial estate with the Jurong Bird Park

Dr Goh Keng Swee was also Singapore's first Interior and Defence Minister

 

[Sun Wukong]

Dr Goh was instrumental to Singapore's first defence hardware company Chartered Industries of Singapore

Introduced while Dr Goh was Defence Minister was the SAF scholarship

Dr Goh introduced National Service and built up the Singapore Armed Forces

 

[Sun Wukong]

Dr Goh who had earned himself the nickname, “Mr Fix It” was appointed Education Minister in 1979

Dr Goh studied at Anglo Chinese School after coming to Singapore at age 2 from Malacca

In 1984 Dr Goh Keng Swee retired from politics

 

[Sun Wukong]

When Dr Goh retired from politics in 1984 he had been in government for 25 years, serving as Deputy Prime Minister during his last 11 years

 

[scroobal]

Where did you hear these stories?

His met this lady during the system engineers review of MOE in the 70s. She is highly qualified. He went on to marry her and she attended official functions as his wife and he continued in cabinet for many years. He retired when he became sickly. He took on the China consultancy to keep his mind active. Even before his China stint, one look and you know that he was not well.

I don't know what cock bullshit you talking about. U want to know what the "personal reasons" are? He had fallen in love with his long time personal secretary and decided to divorce his wife and marry/live with the secretary. As Harry considers this sort of infidelity in a poor light, he was banished to China to serve as an "economic advisor" to China, along with his secretary. That was why he was away from S'pore even during the Asian crisis of 1987. Nobody quits politics in S'pore, if you don't know this by now. Politicians get recycled all the time and all over the place. Just look at Lau Goh, and Con You. The only way you leave politics in S'pore at his level is either Con You tell you to fuck off, or you die.

 

[longbow]

My understanding is that this guy has the gravitas to tell MM (for him it's first name basis -Harry) exactly how he feels.

Truly one of our founding fathers. What happened to Dr Toh?

Someone should go interview him before he is gone.

 

[zeebjii]

Papsmearer, why the fuck get so upset & started your juvenile insults ?
Have I fucked you in my earlier post?

You are entitled to your interpretation of facts. Gu Mu is the liason minister & has no authority to appoint. Fact is Deng made the invitation, of course as paramount leader, nobody suggest taking his time all the time.

Even you know the term Black Monday. Everybody would refer to the Stock Crash of 1987 as Black Monday. You knew too, except in your haste, you used 'Asian Crisis 1987', which every economist or not would generally refer to the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.

All these are the facts. No time to trade insults with you....

you lousy lah, must be young punk. Even me blur sotong know he's refering to 1987 stock market crash and the recession just before that.

 

[Lee5604]

Where did you hear these stories?

His met this lady during the system engineers review of MOE in the 70s. She is highly qualified. He went on to marry her and she attended official functions as his wife and he continued in cabinet for many years. He retired when he became sickly. He took on the China consultancy to keep his mind active. Even before his China stint, one look and you know that he was not well.

The lady in question is Dr Phua, who was a language specialist at MOE. I don't know if she divorced him later. There is no mention officially if he has left a wife behind.

 

[Trout]

The day after...

So he is gone. That reality sinks in, but what is changed? For some he was gone in 1984; for some it was 1991. When someone wants to be gone, he goes.

But now he is not coming back. Then again, he was never coming back. He was moving on, always moving on. And so should we.

But you know what? I will always remember the quirky man who just wanted to find solutions to make the world a better place. He thought of it, in part, as a technical problem. He bent his genius to it.

He could be raucous, learned, creative — sometimes all three at the same time. He lost it all, a bit at a time. And now he is gone.

 

[lianbeng]

Surely not. There're rules for declaring public holiday. Dying in office qualifies, but Goh Keng Swee didn't die in office. The last one was way back in 1982, President Benjamin Sheares, died in office, state funeral of course and public holiday on funeral day, TV live telecast also.

since no public holiday he die his problem lah.

 

[Trout]

In 1981, the Gnome decided that between doing nothing and doing something odd, he would do the odd thing. For the Gnome was of course a Wyvern, and Wyverns make that kind of choices.

In his argument, delivered at the inauguration of the Council which he had just created, the Gnome said these interesting words:

There is one extraordinary fact about a government minister — here or elsewhere — which few members of the public are aware of. This is that his ignorance of the subject he is in charge of greatly exceeds his knowledge of it. Ministers naturally seldom draw attention to this, but I assure you that this is true; anyway, in my case, it is.

This is not a public confession and the position is not as alarming as it looks. In modern society, it is not possible for the head of an organisation to know more than a small fraction of what goes on within it. It may be otherwise in primitive societies. The chief of a small group of primitive savages is better informed of what goes on in his village than, say, the President of General Motors is about his corporation.

The modern executive chief may be armed with a whole battery of computers while the village chief is not, but he knows less. Even so, the village chief may not understand everything, and so he usually has a witch doctor upon whom he depends when events pass his comprehension. Perhaps the only creature who possesses a total information system of which he has complete grasp is the patriarch of a troop of baboons. I have not come across any reference in the literature to the practice of witchcraft among baboons.​

He always had that sort of turn of phrase. But somehow, I scent something autobiographical about this short extract — for the Gnome was (as all good little Atlantean children know) witch doctor to the Thunderer.