In all my research, i found out what our founding fathers had done to improve Singapore. I think that Mr S. Rajaratnam and Dr Goh Keng Swee contributed equally to Singapore. As they had done many things to improve Singapore and help Singapore to overcome so many difficult problems over this years. I think that we owe them a living. Without them, Singapore will not be able to be a successful and multi-racial country. Singapore is like a jigsaw puzzle. Without them, it will not be a prefect picture.
Dr Goh Keng Swee's background
Dr. Goh Keng Swee (6 October 1918 – 14 May 2010) was the second Deputy Prime Minister of
He was born in Malacca and he came to
He was educated at
| 2nd Deputy Prime Minister of | 1 March 1973 – 3 December 1984 |
| Minister of Education | 12 February 1979 – 31 May 1980,
1 June 1981 – 3 December 1984 |
| 3rd Minister of Defence | 11 August 1970 – 11 February 1979 |
| 1st Minister for Finance | 5 June 1959 – 8 August 1965 Succeeded by Lim Kim San |
| 1st Minister of the Interior and Defence | 9 August 1965 – 16 August 1967 |
Dr Goh was a key member of the PAP's Central Executive Committee, and later became its vice-chairman.
He started the development of the Jurong industrial estate on the western end of the island which was then a swamp, offering incentives to local and foreign business to locate there.
He created the National Service for the able-body males between the age 18-21. This is to prepare the males for any wars in the further.
Dr Goh also create Jurong Bird Park, the Singapore Zoo and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra to improve Singaporeans' cultural and leisure life.
His Death
Dr Goh die in the early morning of 14 May 2010 after a long illness. He was 91 years old.
Mr S Rajaratnam's Background
The second child of Sabapathy Pillai Sinnathamby(S. Rajaratnam’s father) and his wife, both of Sri Lankan Tamil descent, Rajaratnam was born in Vattukottai, Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He was then brought back to
Rajaratnam than studied in Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, St Paul's boys' school, Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur, and later in Raffles Institution in Singapore. In 1937, he went to King's College London to pursue a law degree. However, due to World War II, he was unable to further his studies as his family are poor; instead, he work as a journalism to earn money. He met his wife Piroska Feher, a Hungarian teacher while in
He returned to
Political career
| Minister for Culture | 3 June 1959 - 9 August 1965 |
|---|---|
| Minister for Foreign Affairs | 9 August 1965 - 1 June 1980 |
| Minister for Labour | 1968 - 1971 |
| 2nd Deputy Prime Minister | 1980 - 1985 |
| Senior Minister | 1985 - 1988 |
His achievements
First Foreign Minister
Rajaratnam was
He helped
He built up the Foreign Service and helped to establish diplomatic links with other countries and secure international recognition of the new nation's sovereignty.
Rajaratnam was one of the five "founding fathers" of ASEAN in 1967 and helped to draw international attention to
He implemented tough labour laws to attempt to restore stability in the Singaporean economy and attracted multinational corporations to invest in
He played a key role in the successive pragmatic and technocratic People's Action Party governments that radically improved
Multiracial
Rajaratnam was a strong believer in multi-racialism in Singapore, and when drafting the Singapore National Pledge in 1966 just two years after the 1964 Race Riots, he wrote the words "One united people, regardless of race, language or religion." That means that
In the 1980s and 1990s, when the government began implementing several policies to promote the use of "mother tongue" languages.
Rajaratnam died on 22 February 2006 of heart failure, 3 days shy of his 91st birthday. As a mark of respect, Mediacorp channel 5 and 8 observed the one-minute of silence of procedure that night. The states flag on all government buildings and schools was flown at half-mast from 23 February to 25 February 2006.
In recognition of his contributions as one of
The state funeral was telecast live on Channel NewsAsia. The programme, called "Farewell to S. Rajaratnam", aired from 1:30 to 3:15 pm (SST) on February 25, 2006. His body was cremated at 5:00 pm, at Mandai Crematorium.