Dr. Goh Keng Swee is known to be the mentor of many and their source of inspiration. He was a very passionate towards his work and the mordernization of Singapore. He is the one who has laid down the foundations of many systems that are still being used in Singapore. He is like the planner to many things in Sngapore and the ministers are just trying to improve it even further. Many ministers have recieved advice and guidance from him which have proved to be valuable. They feel that they owe Dr. Goh a debt that can never be returned for without his spirit and vision, Singapore would not be the metropolis that it is now.
Here are some of his contributions to Singapore
Politics:
1.He was an anti-colonial in his outlook during the pre-independence years.
2.He was the founder of the Malayan Forum which was a political discussion group that comprises of Malayan and Singaporean students in london. The group met regularly to rally support for the decolonisation from malaya and allow Singapore to gain independence.
3.He entered politics and was elected as the MP for Kerta Ayer.
Economics:
1.He spearheaded many of the most impressive public policy achievements in Singapore: Economic Development Board (EDB), the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) and the Jurong Industrial Estate.
2.Together with Lee Kuan Yew in the year 1965,they decided that Singapore's central bank, Monetary Authority of Singapore will nothave currency issuing power. Therefore, Singapore remained as one of few independent states to issue currency under a currency board until 2003.
3.He was very instrumental in the founding of Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). He undertook major restructuring of MAS' key functions-monetary policy, reserve management as well as the supervision and development in the finance sector.
Defence:
1.He built the foundations of Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and saw the urgent need for Singapore to have a strong defence. Therefore, he implemented that all male singaporeans above the age of 18 had to undergo national service.
2.He played a major role in the setting up the local defence technology station, beginning with the establishment of Chartered Industries of singapore in 1967.
Education:
1.His Goh report led to a huge overhaul of primary and secondary schooling in Singapore. Streaming was introduced allowing students to study at their own prefered pace. Its recomendations underpin much of Singapore school curriculum even till today.
