Mrs Goh Keng Swee
The Family of the late Dr Goh Keng Swee
Mr President
Ladies and Gentlemen

Dr Goh Keng Swee was a visionary. He did not like this word. Visionaries are dreamers. He was no dreamer. He was a realist. But he could see over the horizon - opportunities, dangers, options and alternatives. Above all he had the boldness to act according to his perception of the future.

The economy of Singapore today bears evidence of these qualities of Dr Goh. We have been eloquently reminded of these by PM and MM.

He was without question Singapore 's greatest entrepreneur. We are unlikely to see someone like him again.

Let me say a few words about how he related to those who worked with him.

Last week, I was in Tokyo . I met our Ambassador, BG Tan Chin Tiong. Inevitably we talked about Dr Goh. He told me about Dr Goh's part in making him change his career path.

Upon completing 3 years of National Service, Chin Tiong returned to the Administrative Service, the top echelon of the civil service. He was posted in 1970 to the Ministry of Interior and Defence (MID), where Dr Goh was the Minister.

On his first day at MID, he was summoned to see Dr Goh who immediately set about to persuade him to leave the Administrative Service and become a regular in the SAF. He argued that to build an effective SAF, high quality manpower was required.

The culture of the Chinese Singaporeans in those days did not favour military service as a career for bright young men. A filial son did not join the army was the wisdom.

Dr Goh told him that he needed time to persuade bright young men to join the SAF. He would be establishing a prestigious and attractive scholarship for the SAF to attract our best and brightest. In the meantime he needed young people who had done military service like Chin Tiong to set the example and help change the prevailing mindset.

After several sessions Chin Tiong was persuaded by Dr Goh's exhortation and gave up his career in the Administrative Service to join as a regular in the SAF. Dr Goh did not blandish him with money or perks in trying to persuade him but appealed to his sense of duty.

He arranged for Chin Tiong to learn the ropes fast. He was given challenging assignments in the SAF, then sent for training at the Army Staff College , Camberley in UK . At that time, MOF had a rule that did not allow officers to be accompanied by their wives overseas, unless the overseas course was for more than a year. To overcome this restriction, Dr Goh even planned Chin Tiong's UK training such that he was away for more than a year, thus enabling his wife to accompany him.

Dr Goh was jealous to retain talent. His intervention with Shell Company to send back Goh Chok Tong is yet another example where he changed the course of a person's career.

I first met Dr Goh in late 1959 when I was doing my honours year in the university. I had already started my honours course in Economics when I was told by the Ministry of Education to switch to English Literature as my university study was financed by a Teaching Bursary. I appealed and was rejected.

Maurice Baker, who was an English Lecturer, referred me to Dr Goh. Dr Goh met me and spent about 15 minutes questioning me why I wanted to do economics. I did not think that I convinced him when he dismissed me.

A few days later I received a letter from the Ministry of Education allowing me to continue with Economics. His intervention not only changed my career but the whole course of my life.

Dr Goh's willingness to meet me was a surprise. It was in the early months of the PAP taking office. He had many issues to deal with, financial and political. He did not know me. Yet he called me up, questioned me, and helped me to continue with my course in Economics.

But this was typical of Dr Goh. His mind ranged over many different subjects at the same time.

During Cabinet meetings he used to scribble on slips of paper. I once stole a look at a slip of paper he had left behind on the table. I found a word with a list of synonyms. He was honing his wide and precise vocabulary.

I recall him asking an Administrative Officer who was a math graduate to come and explain to him some aspect of Boolean algebra which had aroused his interest. Once he sent me an article from an Econometrics journal. The piece was full of equations purporting to give some precision to demand and supply changes to prices. He wanted my comments. I wrote him that the rather vague and indeterminate conclusion of the equations did not seem to make the effort worthwhile. He did not come back but I think that he was testing me to see whether I took these types of articles on economic issues seriously.

These mental excursions were not diversions for him. They were to sharpen his mind to enable him to be more effective in his work.

I was fortunate to have him as my mentor when I entered politics. He made it a point to have meals with me in an informal setting. He guided me through some sensitive constituency issues, which I faced in my early days as an MP. In my first few months as Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of National Development I had to deal with a controversial land clearance issue involving a religious building. He called me on the phone, out of the blue, and described to me the principles to follow in addressing the issue. He did not tell me what exactly to do but his call was very helpful in clarifying my thinking and I resolved the problem successfully.

I mentioned his ability to look over the horizon. I recall two instances in the EDB.

The economic justification for Merger to form Malaysia was the Common Market. In the months before Merger Dr Goh foresaw that there would be many obstacles before the Central Government in Kuala Lumpur would work with us to grow our manufacturing sector.

He asked us in EDB to simplify the processing of applications for tax exemptions and submit as many as possible for approval before merger. We did so and he approved dozens of Pioneer Certificates to a variety of industrial projects. In the two years we were in Malaysia , we received hardly a single approval from KL which could be implemented. But a good proportion of the projects approved before the merger were executed and the construction and investment activity related to these projects kept us going.

Similarly, he asked Ngiam Tong Dow for a list of names of foreigners who had applied for Permanent Residence under the Immigration Deposit scheme. He signed off the list granting Permanent Residence to all of them without the usual individual justification memos. In many cases, the deposits were released for them to invest in businesses started during the two years we were in Malaysia .

Dr Goh could see what was likely to happen and prepared for it.

The second example was his insistence that Sentosa Island be kept for recreation. In 1968, a leading American MNC was prepared to build a large petroleum refinery in Singapore . It wanted to put the refinery on Sentosa Island . We were in the midst of the uncertainties following the British decision to withdraw their bases from Singapore . Such a large investment would have been a major endorsement of our attractiveness as a place to invest. We in the EDB thought that this was far more important than some future recreational need. But Dr Goh did not yield and we put in the extra effort to persuade the company to go to Jurong.

Again Dr Goh saw beyond the immediate issues.

Dr Goh once described the Singapore approach as follows:

"There was a persistent search for practical solutions,
a patient building of institutions and infrastructure,
a generous allocation of funds,
an accumulated collection of talented staff."

Dr Goh did not only initiate and build institutions. As Chairman Temasek, I am very conscious of the unique governance model which we have in Singapore for Government-Linked Companies. It is a model where the Ministry of Finance as a shareholder in companies focuses on placing the right people on the Boards and management of companies. As Minister, Dr Goh never interfered with the day to day operations of the government-linked companies. Even though many of the Boards were headed by civil servants with no business background, he gave the Boards and management the latitude to pursue their business interests according to the opportunities and imperatives of the market. In my first ten years in DBS, he only questioned the bank once about a business decision and even in that case did not impose his view on the bank. He established the foundations of the corporate governance model which we now follow in Temasek.

Sometimes in life, one has the privilege of walking with a man of action with a great mind. I am lucky to have had the privilege.

May Dr Goh Keng Swee's soul rest in peace.

Additional Information

• Eulogy by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong

• Eulogy by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew