Goh Keng Swee

Goh Keng Swee (1918-2010) served as the second Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 1973 and 1984, and is widely recognised as one of the founding fathers of Singapore. He was also a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Kreta Ayer constituency for a quarter of a century. 

Born in Malacca in the Straits Settlements into a Peranakan family, he came to Singapore at the age of two years. He was a student at Raffles College and later at LSE, completing his BSc in Economics 1951 and his PhD Economics in 1956. His interest in politics began during his time in London, where he met fellow students seeking independence for British Malaya (which covered modern Malaysia and Singapore). 

Following his studies, he worked for the Department of Social Welfare, eventually rising to become its director. In 1958 he resigned from the Civil Service to work full-time for the People's Action Party (PAP), becoming a key member and later vice-chairman of its Central Executive Committee. The following year he successfully contested the Kreta Ayer seat in the 1959 general election for the Legislative Assembly and joined the first government of Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew as Minister for Finance. Upon Singapore's independence on 9 August 1965, Goh became the nation's first Minister for the Interior and Defence. He subsequently served as Finance Minister (1967–70), Minister for Defence (1970–79) and Minister for Education (1979–80, 1981–84). 

Following his retirement from politics, Goh continued to be active in public life, serving in a number of high profile economic advisory positions in the private sector.  

In 1972, Goh was the recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Services and was conferred the Order of Sikatuna by the Philippine Government. Following his retirement from politics, in 1985 Goh was awarded the Darjah Utama Temasek (Order of Temasek), First Class, Singapore's highest civilian honour. He was also made the first Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Development Board Society in 1991. 

 Source: Wiki