Friday was a sad day for me.
One of the greatest minds in Singapore history passed on. The Chief Architect of Singapore, Dr Goh Keng Swee. To quote MM, generations of Singaporeans benefited and will continue to benefit bcos he laid the foundations of modern Singapore. EDB, SAF, JTC, CPF, MOE, MAS, GIC, Temasek, you name it. Down to the SSO, Zoo, Bird Park, Sentosa and even the Chinese and Japanese Gardens. He started everything! And the best part, he was selfless, he was humble and he cared for the people. He put his best 25 yrs into making Singapore a better place. All Singapore flags should fly half mast for a month, in my opinion. All our dollar bills should have his face on it. May 14 should become a public holiday. The parliament house should have a statue of him. And yes, Jurong Industrial Estate should be renamed Goh Keng Swee Industrial Estate.
I wish I have the dollar bill with his signature. I would frame it and put it beside my Buffett and Munger dollar bill.
Someone is doing major update on Dr Goh's wikipedia page. Information has improved tremendously over the past few days.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goh_Keng_Swee
I guess the sad revelation that I learned from reading his life story over the past few days was that he sacrficed his personal life and his health for the sake of Singapore. Or maybe he just wasn't as lucky as MM. After 25 years of intense innovation, adding immeasurably huge contributions to our society, he was diagnosed with bladder cancer. The fortunate part was that he still lived over 20 years after with his current wife, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
So, live life to the fullest, but also in moderation and take good care of our health.
Just to put down here one of Dr Goh's best quote:
"The only way not to fail, is by not doing anything at all. And that, in the final analysis, will be the ultimate failure."
This quote was passed down to me across generations, from people who worked directly with him. and now it is with me. Thus his legacy lives on in all of us, Singaporeans. And it is up to us to let our children and our children's children understand his greatness and continue to learn from him. Like how schoolchildren today in the US still adore Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln, benefit from their foresight, worship them and still learn from them. Our children and their children will also continue to benefit from Dr Goh's far-sightedness. This is the least that we should do: pass on the legacy of one of our greatest Titans.
Thank you Dr Goh, thank you for all that you have done for Singapore.
One of the greatest minds in Singapore history passed on. The Chief Architect of Singapore, Dr Goh Keng Swee. To quote MM, generations of Singaporeans benefited and will continue to benefit bcos he laid the foundations of modern Singapore. EDB, SAF, JTC, CPF, MOE, MAS, GIC, Temasek, you name it. Down to the SSO, Zoo, Bird Park, Sentosa and even the Chinese and Japanese Gardens. He started everything! And the best part, he was selfless, he was humble and he cared for the people. He put his best 25 yrs into making Singapore a better place. All Singapore flags should fly half mast for a month, in my opinion. All our dollar bills should have his face on it. May 14 should become a public holiday. The parliament house should have a statue of him. And yes, Jurong Industrial Estate should be renamed Goh Keng Swee Industrial Estate.
I wish I have the dollar bill with his signature. I would frame it and put it beside my Buffett and Munger dollar bill.
Someone is doing major update on Dr Goh's wikipedia page. Information has improved tremendously over the past few days.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goh_Keng_Swee
I guess the sad revelation that I learned from reading his life story over the past few days was that he sacrficed his personal life and his health for the sake of Singapore. Or maybe he just wasn't as lucky as MM. After 25 years of intense innovation, adding immeasurably huge contributions to our society, he was diagnosed with bladder cancer. The fortunate part was that he still lived over 20 years after with his current wife, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
So, live life to the fullest, but also in moderation and take good care of our health.
Just to put down here one of Dr Goh's best quote:
"The only way not to fail, is by not doing anything at all. And that, in the final analysis, will be the ultimate failure."
This quote was passed down to me across generations, from people who worked directly with him. and now it is with me. Thus his legacy lives on in all of us, Singaporeans. And it is up to us to let our children and our children's children understand his greatness and continue to learn from him. Like how schoolchildren today in the US still adore Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln, benefit from their foresight, worship them and still learn from them. Our children and their children will also continue to benefit from Dr Goh's far-sightedness. This is the least that we should do: pass on the legacy of one of our greatest Titans.
Thank you Dr Goh, thank you for all that you have done for Singapore.
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