What did Dr.Goh do for Singapore? Here we review his life's work.

While Dr Goh’s contributions to Singapore are immense, he is first and foremost remembered as the economic architect of Singapore. The Economic Development Board, the Jurong Town Corporation (now JTC Corporation), the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) were all initiated by the economist with a PhD from the London School of Economics.

He was famous for frugality. His first Budget as finance minister included a pay cut for civil servants. He inculcated in officers a respect for the public purse and a habit of husbanding resources.

As PM Lee said: ‘He also set out the key principles guiding many of our policies, always in pellucid and magisterial prose. The fundamental tenets of thrift and hard work, free enterprise and prudent public finance, and harmonious industrial relations continue to form the bedrock of Singapore’s competitive strengths and success.’

He was minister extraordinaire in a Cabinet of formidable talents, sent to head the most-important ministry of each epoch. From finance, he was sent on the day Singapore declared independence to be sworn in as minister for defence. He introduced national service and built up the armed forces from scratch.

When the education system needed fixing, Dr Goh went there in 1979 to streamline it and bring down drop-out rates.

The resulting streaming of pupils by academic ability proved controversial, as did a policy he introduced in 1982 to teach religious knowledge in schools. But as Dr Goh himself said: ‘Whatever you do is unpopular. It doesn’t matter.’

He influenced the entire civil service corps. His mandate roamed far and wide – he started the Jurong BirdPark, the Zoo, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the girls’ pipe band and the humanities scholarship, among others – and many civil servants got a chance to work with him.

Doing so much for Singapore, I must say that Dr.Goh is really a noble man.