Impressions of the Goh Chok Tong Years in Singapore

Introduction: A Redefined Singapore

1 Introduction: A Redefined Singapore BRIDGET WELSH, JAMES U.H. CHIN, ARUN MAHIZHNAN AND TAN TARN HOW Singapore’s second prime minister Goh Chok Tong came into office in 1990 without fanfare.1 The lanky technocrat took the oath of office surrounded by his People’s Action Party (PAP) colleagues, with many expecting nothing more than continuity. It was predicted that he would only be a “seat warmer”, holding office until Lee Kuan Yew’s son Lee Hsien Loong, then deputy prime minister, took the reigns of power in the near term.2 In the event, Goh left the office 14 years later in 2004, at a time of his own choosing and on his own terms. It is the central argument of this collection of essays that during the tenure of Goh Chok Tong Singapore was transformed, and that he played a pivotal role in this transformation. Not only did he guide the country through several major crises—the 1997 financial crisis and the 2003 economic slump due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic, among others—he also redefined the very seat he was supposed to be warming, so much so that when Singapore’s third prime minister Lee Hsien Loong took office, he acknowledged the transformation of Singapore during his predecessor’s watch and opened his own tenure with a call for an“open and inclusive” society, echoing the tone of the “kinder, gentler society Goh promised 14 years earlier”.3 This argument on Goh’s leadership is controversial, and in this diverse collection of 45 essays, contested. While all the essays reject the view that Goh’s impact was limited to purely that of a placeholder, there are different interpretations of the constraints and scope of his personal influence in different spheres of governance. The obvious question of the continued role and the larger than life influence of Singapore’s major political architect, Senior Minister (SM) Lee Kuan Yew during the Goh years remains unanswered in the collection,largely since almost all the contributors are outsiders and not privy to the internal decision-making process of the PAP leadership. One wonders whether this question can be answered at all, since there is little public evidence of Cabinet deliberations and differences. In any case, this book is an assessment of the Goh years as a whole, not of the first and second prime ministers. 2 BRIDGET WELSH, JAMES U.H. CHIN,ARUN MAHIZHNAN ANDTANTARN HOW The impact of Goh as a man and as a prime minister is only one of the central questions of this collection. There are two additional anchors. In order to understand the Goh years, one must look beyond the impact of one individual to changes during this period as a whole. While the collection does not focus explicitly on each of Singapore’s second generation of leaders,4 it discusses the impact of individuals in specific areas and assesses the policies of the Cabinet as a whole.Featured in the discussions are many of the crucial members of Goh’s team, who reinforced the collective management of Singapore during the Goh years. An appreciation of the collective highlights one of the difficulties in understanding Singapore wherein the lines between the dominant political party, the PAP, and the government are often undefined; thus, who deserves the credit (or the blame) for policies is often unclear. Evaluating the impact and performance of the government, perforce broadly defined, is a common chord in this collection and the assessments vary sharply, with attention drawn to both shortcomings and strengths. It is the third anchor, arguably the most important, that distinguishes this collection from others, that is, the extensive attention to changes within Singapore itself in the economy, politics, society, the arts, and the physical landscape of the city and its environment .This is not just a discussion about the Singapore elite and government.Here,the story of Singapore’s profound modern transformation in different parts of life comes through, driven less by the actions of leaders and policy frameworks than by the actions of ordinary and many extraordinary Singaporeans. Whether it is the rejuvenation of Singapore’s film industry, the return to the limelight in international sports, or actions of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as the Nature Society (Singapore) (NSS) and the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), social changes have moved the country considerably...