Dr Goh Keng Swee (Part 1) II

His Greatest Contributions

What he done for the economy

Tourism

He was the one who decided to build the Jurong Bird Park and the Singapore Zoological Gardens. The Jurong Bird Park was built 1971 and the Singapore Zoological Gardens was built in 1973. These are the two prominent places in Singapore, attracting tourists from all over the World to come and visit these places. Any tourist who visits Singapore would definitely not miss visiting these places.
Not satisfied with the work done, he then proceeded on to suggest creating a place where a variety of fishes could be viewed. The coming of Underwater World in Sentosa in 1991 was inevitable. Now, even the locals visit Underwater World, surely the tourists would flood the place of joy.

Estate

He came up with the plan to change the swampland in Jurong to the famed Jurong Industrial Estate. The Jurong Industrial Estate area is bustling with activities now and you would never think that it was once a wasteland.
In 1962, the then Finance Minister Dr Goh Keng Swee, laid the foundation stone for the National Iron and Steel Mills, the first factory in the new industrial estate. In 1963, 24 factories were established. Jurong is also home to the Jurong Bird Park, the Chinese and the Japanese Gardens, the Science Centre with its Omnimax Theatre, three golf clubs and the Raffles Marina. Extensive public housing has brought an influx of residents, who are well served by shopping centres, sports facilities, schools, good road connections and the Mass Rapid Transit system. Dr Goh was the one who decided and strongly believed that the sleepy swampland could be turned into this.
Finance
He established the Economic Development Board (EDB) in 1961 and Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) in 1961. These organisations proved crucial to the development of Singapore as the Economic Development Board helps the economy to improve while the Development Bank of Singapore was a major bank.

Developing as a country

He is responsible for developing an economic strategy that was crucial in explaining Singapore economic takeoff. Between 1959 and 1965, he came up with the import-substitution strategy and made Singapore a manufacturing centre to provide common Malaysian market with their needs.
In other words, the import-substitution strategy mean emphasising on replacement of some agricultural or industrial imports to encourage local production for local consumption, rather than producing for export markets. The simplified way means to bring in goods rather than to bring out goods.
That was before Independence. Following Independence, he focused on making Singapore an export-orientated development strategy. He went against economic theories which stated that state protectionism and heavy spending on part of the government was important for the growth of a country.

What he done for the education

He was the one who came up with the idea of streamed education, which included the EM1, EM2 and EM3 policy. Although this was stated controversial by the people, he went ahead with his plan which indeed helped the education of the people in Singapore.
Defence

What he done for the Military Force

He was the one who set up the Singapore Armed Forces in a mere six years. Additionally, it was one of the most successful Singapore state institution.
He made the law of all able-bodied males at the age of 18 need to attend National Service. He strongly believed that a strong defensive force was a crucial part in Singapore’s Independence. He believed that Singapore male citizens should participate directly as soldiers in their country’s defence to reinforce their sense of responsibility to the national community and to strengthen they themselves and their bonds with one another as countrymen.

In 1971, he put together the Electronic Warfare Study Group, a team of newly graduated engineers who had excelled in their university studies which was headed by Dr. Tay Eng Soon, a university lecturer. The group worked on Project Magpie, a secret project to develop Singapore's defence technology capabilities. In 1977, the group was renamed the Defence Science Organisation (DSO). Originally part of the Ministry of Defence, in 1997 the organization became a non-profit corporation called DSO National Laboratories