Goh Chok Tong

A second volume of his biography titled Standing Tall: The Goh Chok Tong Years was released in April 2021 to mark his 80th birthday. The sequel consists of the 14 years which Goh was the Prime Minister of Singapore.

On 25 June 2020, Goh made a Facebook post announcing his retirement as a Member of Parliament for Marine Parade GRC after 44 years of service and will therefore retire from politics.

In December 2020, Goh stated in his Facebook post that he will be undergoing four weeks of radiotherapy following the removal of a lump in his larynx in order to ensure that all cancer cells are eliminated. It was the latest in a series of health scares faced by Mr Goh in recent years.

In an interview in 2019, Goh stated that he believed a 75% to 80% majority in Parliament, in the future, would constitute a 'strong mandate' for the Singapore government. In the same interview, he noted that he does not believe the electoral system needed any further tweaking.

On 4 August 2019, Goh made a Facebook post stating that he felt saddened by how his long-time friend, former PAP politician Tan Cheng Bock, had "lost his way" by forming a new political party, Progress Singapore Party (PSP), to contest in the next general election.

On 2 August 2018, Goh stated that ministerial pay is not enough and it will adversely impact the ability to attract competent people to join the government in the future. He also dismissed the idea of reducing the minister's salary as a populist move, a move that sparked controversy and public disapproval.

In 2018, Goh's first volume authorised biography book titled Tall Order: The Goh Chok Tong Story was published. It details Goh's life from his childhood to until he took office as Singapore's second prime minister in 1990.

In 2015, Goh was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by his alma mater, the National University of Singapore, for his contributions to the country.

In October 2014, the Madame Tussauds Singapore museum unveiled a wax figure of Goh. At its opening, Goh posed for pictures with his statue.

On 4 May 2012, Goh was appointed as Patron for Advancement of the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

He resigned from the Cabinet in 2011 before stepping down as a Member of Parliament (MP) and retire from politics in 2020. He was given the honorary title Emeritus Senior Minister in 2011 by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. He is also the only living former prime minister.

On 24 January 2011, Goh announced that he would continue to seek re-election to Parliament at the 2011 general election. Over the following months, he progressively released snippets prior to the election on the importance of grooming a successor who could be part of the fourth generation PAP leadership to helm Marine Parade GRC in the long run.

After the 2011 general election in which the opposition made unprecedented gains by winning a group representative constituency in (Aljunied), Goh and Lee Kuan Yew announced that they were retiring from the Cabinet in order to give Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the rest of his team a clean slate from which they can make a fresh start in the new parliamentary term.

On 18 May 2011, Lee Hsien Loong announced that Goh was to be appointed a senior adviser to the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and would be given the honorary title of "Emeritus Senior Minister".

On 24 June 2011, Goh was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun by the Japanese government.

In 2008, Goh was invited to join the InterAction Council of Former Heads of State and Government, an independent international organisation of former world leaders.

In the 2006 general election, Goh was tasked to help the PAP win back the two opposition wards of Hougang and Potong Pasir. However, he was unsuccessful in this task, as Low Thia Khiang and Chiam See Tong retained their respective wards.

In 2006, Goh was briefly considered for the job of United Nations Secretary-General but he lost out and the job eventually went to Ban Ki-moon.

On 1 February 2005, Goh was appointed an honorary Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia's highest civilian honour, "for eminent service to Australia-Singapore relations".

On 19 May 2005, Goh signed a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement with Israel's Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a visit to Israel, superseding the agreement signed in 1971. Improvements in the agreement include enhancements to the withholding tax rate on interest income, which was reduced from 15% to 7%. This would benefit Singaporean businessmen with investments in Israel and vice versa, by ensuring they are not taxed twice.

He was succeeded by Lee Hsien Loong, the eldest son of Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, on 12 August 2004 and was subsequently appointed as a senior minister in the Cabinet and chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) between 2004 and 2011.

On 12 August 2004, Goh stepped down as Prime Minister and held a new position as Senior Minister in the Cabinet of his successor, Lee Hsien Loong. On 20 August 2004, Goh assumed the position of Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. After a number of threats of terrorism in Singapore, Goh met local Islamic religious leaders in 2004 and made a visit to Iran, where he met Iranian president Mohammad Khatami and visited local mosques.

During an interview with Time magazine in July 2003, Goh surprised Singaporeans by announcing that his government was openly employing homosexuals, even in sensitive jobs, despite homosexual acts remaining illegal under Section 377A of the Penal Code. Although his announcement drew a strong backlash from conservatives, it nevertheless reinforced his image as an open-minded leader.

Under Goh's leadership, Singapore also signed an FTA with Japan in 2002, with Japan deepening her trade ties with ASEAN with a FTA with ASEAN in 2008.

During the period under Goh's administration, Singapore experienced several crises, such as the 1997 Asian financial crisis, threats of terrorism including the 2001 Singapore embassies attack plot by Jemaah Islamiyah, the 2001–2003 economic recession, and the 2003 SARS outbreak.

Goh's administration whose access to Bill Clinton's White House was blocked because of the Michael Fay incident did not deter Goh from reaching out to the US President to pitch his idea for a free trade agreement (FTA) between Singapore and the US, as he did not believe Clinton to be aware of the diplomatic freeze. With the help of American businessman Joe Ford, Goh managed to reached out to President Clinton during the 1997 APEC summit, where he played Golf with the President, ending the diplomatic freeze. On September 1998, Goh had a meeting with President Clinton in the White House and agreed to contribute to the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) which helped build strong ties between the two countries. The considerable improvement in this bilateral relationship had great impact on Singapore's economic recovery from the Asian Financial Crisis as several trade negotiations, part of "The Millennium Round" have failed (1999 Seattle WTO protests and Doha Round) have broken down. As international trade was three times Singapore's GDP at that time, securing trade treaties was paramount to Singapore's economic survival, with the US as its most desired trading partner. By riding on the improved relationship with the Clinton's administration, Goh personally reached out to President Clinton during the annual summit at Brunei in November 2000, near the end of Clinton's second term of his presidency. After a midnight golf session with Clinton after the banquet, Goh successfully convinced Clinton on a Singapore-USA FTA, with Clinton suggesting a FTA similar to the US-Jordan FTA. The FTA with USA was eventually signed in 2003 and this was USA first FTA with an Asian country, with Goh exalting this FTA as the "crown jewel" of Singapore's international trade.

Goh's Deputy Prime Ministers: Lee Hsien Loong and Ong Teng Cheong was both diagnosed with cancer in 1992, which prompted the prime minister to call an by-election in his own constituency of Marine Parade in 1992, just over 1 year after the 1991 General Elections, citing the need for 'political self-renewal' and to get 'ministerial calibre' people to join the government. Teo Chee Hean, who is currently one of the core leaders of the 3G members of PAP and Senior Minister, was one of the new politicians brought in to contest in the by-election.

Goh's tenure as prime minister was also marked by the 1991 aircraft hijack of SQ117, 1997 Asian financial crisis, 2001 embassies attack plot and the 2003 SARS outbreak. His government enacted the Elected President scheme in 1991 as presidents before were appointed by Parliament. His government also introduced the Vehicle Quota Scheme to limit the number of vehicles in the city-state.

As Secretary-General, Goh led the PAP to three general election victories in 1991, 1997, and 2001, in which the party won 61%, 65% and 75% of the votes respectively. After the 2001 general election, Goh indicated that he would step down as Prime Minister after leading the country out of the recession.

On 28 November 1990, Goh succeeded Lee Kuan Yew and became the second Prime Minister of Singapore. During the first year of Goh's premiership, Lee remained as secretary-general of the PAP. Lee also remained an influential member of Goh's Cabinet, holding the post of Senior Minister. The 1991 general elections, the first electoral test for Goh, led to the party winning 61% of the popular vote which is the all-time low for PAP since independence. Because of the drop in share of the popular vote, and losing an unprecedented four seats in Parliament to the opposition, Goh has to quell rumours about his potential resignation to the international news media. In 1992, Lee handed over the post of Secretary-General of the People's Action Party (PAP) to Goh, successfully completing the leadership transition.

In 1985, Goh became Deputy Prime Minister and began to assume the responsibility of the government in a carefully managed leadership transition. According to Lee Kuan Yew, his preferred successor was Tony Tan. However, Goh was selected by the second generation of PAP leaders that included Tony Tan and Ong Teng Cheong; Lee accepted their decision. However, during the 1988 National Day Rally, Lee Kuan Yew publicly discussed his preferred choice of successor to the nation - ranking Goh as number 2 below Tony Tan, and while praising his 'faster mind', criticized his indecisiveness and softer and consultative approach to leadership. This led to Goh feeling humiliated and flabbergasted, as he reflects on this incident in his memoirs, Tall Order: The Goh Chok Tong Story.

Goh was tasked to organise the 1981 Anson SMC by-election which was a pivotal event in shaping his political sensibilities. Despite having been passed as first assistant secretary-general by Tony Tan, Goh was surprisedly asked by Lee Kuan Yew to lead and organise the by-election, which was ostensibly because of Goh previous successful campaigns in organising the 1979 by-election at Anson SMC and the 1980 General Elections. Early on in the campaigning for the 1981 Anson SMC by-election, a chasm of leadership emerged as volunteers and older activists for the previous MP Devan Nair departed along with the MP. The new PAP candidate was Pang Kim Hin, who has difficulties connecting to the ground as he had a reputation of being a "rich man's son", being the nephew of Old Guard minister Lim Kan San. Despite being a three-cornered fight, it was apparent that the main opposition candidate was J. B. Jeyaretnam, who was a veteran opposition at the time, having previously came close in winning the seat at Telok Blangah, which is of close proximity to Anson. The rising costs of housing and upcoming public bus fares was a source of unhappiness among voters. PAP lost the Anson seat with a 37-point swing in just 10 months since the last General Election, marking the first time since Independence that PAP has lost a seat. This watershed event prompted gossip with the PAP that this could signal the end of Goh's political career. While Lee Kuan Yew was worried that Goh may lack the political sensitivity of the ground, as he failed to detect the possible loss of the seat and remained overconfident until very close to Polling day, he did not blame Goh for the loss, as he reflects this incident in his memoir: From Third World to First.

In the 1976 general election, Goh, then 35, was elected as Member of Parliament for Marine Parade SMC as a People's Action Party (PAP) candidate. He was appointed as a Senior Minister of State. In 1981, he was promoted to Minister for Trade and Industry and later served in other appointments including Minister for Health and Minister for Defence.

In 1969, Goh was seconded to the national shipping company Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) as the company's Planning and Projects Manager. His career advanced quickly and by 1973 he was the Managing Director. At NOL, Goh worked under the company's founder, Muhammad Jalaluddin Sayeed, with whom he maintained close ties.

Goh earned a Bachelor of Arts with first class honours in economics from the University of Singapore and a Master of Arts in development economics from Williams College in 1967.

Goh Chok Tong SPMJ AC (Chinese: 吴作栋; pinyin: Wú Zuòdòng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Gô͘ Chok-tòng; born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1990 and 2004, and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party between 1992 and 2004. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Marine Parade SMC between 1976 and 1988, and Marine Parade GRC between 1988 and 2020.

Goh was born in Singapore on 20 May 1941 to Goh Kah Choon and Quah Kwee Hwa, who hailed from the Minnan region of Fujian province in China. He has Chinese Hokkien ancestry. Goh studied at Raffles Institution from 1955 to 1960. He was a very competitive swimmer in his younger days and was given the nickname "Bold".