Dr. Goh Keng Swee's immense contribution to Singapore

Many people are aware about the immense contribution that Dr. Goh Keng Swee had made to improve the life of millions of people in Singapore. He was the architect of our economy strategy that transformed Singapore from a developing country to a thriving developed economy. His strategy to attract the multinatinal companies into Singapore laid the foundation for our economic growth. The same strategy is now emulated by many other countries that desired to grow their economy.

There is another aspect of his contribution tht may not be well known. Dr. Goh was the keynote speaker at the historic seminar on the modernisation of the labour movement in 1969. He laid out a convincing case for the labour movement to set up coooperatives to take care of the needs of Singapore, in life insurance, savings and other economic ventures.

This strategy led to the formation of NTUC Income in 1970. Dr. Goh was the chairman of the board of trustees of NTUC Income for nearly 10 years and provided the guidance and advice for NTUC Income to establish a foothold in a challenging market environment.  Without his guidance, it may not be possible for NTUC Income to be what it is today.

Later, the labour movement set up a consumer cooperative (i.e. NTUC Fairprice) and a taxi cooperative (which has since been privatised). The lives of many people are improved by the the contribution of the insurance, supermarket and other coopertives.

I heard stories about the frugal habits of Dr. Goh. He does not believe in wasting money unnecessarily. In his last speech in Parliament in 1984, according to the Straits Times report (quoting Prime Minister Lee), Dr. Goh said about the importance of "public service". I hope that Dr. Goh's message about "public service" can be rekindled.

Tan Kin Lian

Read this report in the Straits Times.