Goh Chok Tong

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Goh Chok Tong 吴作栋
Senior Minister
Incumbent
Assumed office  12 August 2004
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	Lee Kuan Yew
Constituency	Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency (Marine Parade)
2nd Prime Minister of Singapore
In office 28 November 1990 – 12 August 2004
President	Wee Kim Wee Ong Teng Cheong Sellapan Ramanathan
Deputy	Lee Hsien Loong and Tony Tan Keng Yam (1995 to 2004) Ong Teng Cheong (1990 to 1993)
Preceded by	Lee Kuan Yew
Succeeded by	Lee Hsien Loong
Born	May 20, 1941 (1941-05-20) (age 67) Singapore
Political party	People's Action Party
Spouse	Tan Choo Leng

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Goh.

Goh Chok Tong (simplified Chinese: 吴作栋; traditional Chinese: 吳作棟; pinyin: Wú Zuòdòng; Hokkien: Gô· Chok-tòng; born May 20, 1941), was the second Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore from November 28, 1990 to August 12, 2004, succeeding Lee Kuan Yew. He served a total of fourteen years. He is currently Senior Minister of Singapore and the chairman of the central bank of Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

[edit] Early life

Born into a Hokkien family, Goh studied at Raffles Institution from 1955 to 1960. He was said to have been a very competitive swimmer in his younger days. In his student days, he was given the nickname Bold.

He earned a First Class Honours (Bachelor of Arts) in economics from the National University of Singapore (then known as the University of Singapore), a Master of Arts in Development Economics from Williams College in the United States in 1967. After his studies, Goh returned to Singapore to serve in the Administrative Service.^[1]

[edit] Career at Neptune Orient Lines, 1969 to 1977

In 1969, Goh was seconded to the Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) as a Planning and Projects Manager. His career advanced quickly and by 1973, he became the Managing Director and led NOL to achieve impressive financial results during his tenure. ^[1]

[edit] Early political career

In the 1976 Singapore general election, at the age of thirty-five, Goh was elected as Member of Parliament for Marine Parade constituency, as a People's Action Party (PAP) candidate. He was appointed a Senior Minister of State for Finance. In 1981, he was promoted to be the Minister for Trade and Industry. He later also served in other appointments including Minister for Health and Minister for Defence. ^[2]

In 1985, Goh became the First 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, S Dhanabalan, and Ong Teng Cheong, and Lee accepted their decision. ^[1]

[edit] Prime Minister, 1990 to 2004

Prime Minister Goh and U.S. President George W. Bush signing the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement in the White House, May 6, 2003.

On 28 November 1990, Goh became the second Prime Minister of Singapore, taking over from Lee Kuan Yew. Lee remained an influential member of his Cabinet, holding the post of Senior Minister. Goh was initially written off by critics as a weak, transitionary figure, and a seat-warmer for Lee Hsien Loong. Nonetheless, in 1992, Lee Kuan Yew handed over to Goh the post of Secretary General of People's Action Party, successfully completing the leadership transition.

As Prime Minister, Goh was seen as having a more open-minded and consultative style of leadership, compared to his predecessor. His administration introduced several major policies and policy institutions, including:

• Medisave
• Non-Constituency Members of Parliament
• Government Parliamentary Committees
• Group representation constituency
• Nominated Members of Parliament
• Vehicle Quota Scheme
• Elected President
• Singapore 21

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

As Secretary General, Goh led the PAP to three general elections in 1991, 1997, and 2001, in which the party won 61%, 65% and 75% of the votes respectively. After the general election in 2001, Goh indicated that he would step down as Prime Minister after leading the country out of the recession. ^[1]

During an interview with Time Magazine in July 2003, Goh surprised his national by announcing that his Government is now openly employing gays, even in sensitive jobs. This is despite homosexual acts remaining illegal under the Singaporean Penal Code of 377a.^[3] His announcement drew a strong backlash from self proclaimed conservatives of the island nation, but nevertheless reinforced Goh's image as an open-minded leader.

[edit] Senior Minister, 2004 to present

Goh Chok Tong speaking at a rally at Potong Pasir during the 2006 general election. The banner behind him shows the campaign manifesto of the People's Action Party, "Staying Together, Moving Ahead".

On 12 August 2004, Goh stepped down as Prime Minister and serves as Senior Minister in Lee Hsien Loong's Cabinet. On 20 August 2004, Goh assumed the post of Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.[1] After a number of threats of Islamist terrorism in Singapore, Goh met local Islamic religious leaders in 2004, and made a visit to Iran, where he met the Iranian president, Mohammad Khatami, and visited local mosques. The Straits Times speculated that this was meant to develop relationships between Singapore and Iran.

Goh subsequently visited other Middle-Eastern countries as Senior Minister, with a view to improving diplomatic relationships and thus gaining wider business opportunities for Singaporean businessmen, especially in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait.

On May 19, 2005, Goh signed a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement with Israel's Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his visit to Israel. A previous agreement was 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. Goh also discussed for an agreement to recognise each other's certification standards, so as to ease the flow of goods between the two countries.

He currently is a patron for the Institute of Policy Studies, a government think tank.

In the Singapore general election, 2006, Goh was tasked to help the PAP win back the two opposition wards of Hougang and Potong Pasir.[2] 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 as United Nations Secretary-General. The job eventually went to Ban Ki-moon [3] [4].

[edit] Family

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Goh Chok Tong

Goh is married to Tan Choo Leng and they have a twin son and daughter. Their son, Goh Jin Hian, is a medical doctor at Mount Elizabeth Hospital while their daughter, Goh Jin Theng, is in London with her English husband, Lee Craven.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Who will be the next UN Secretary General?

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