Goh Chok Tong

Goh Chok Tong SPMJ AC (Chinese: 吴作栋; pinyin: Wú Zuòdòng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Gô͘ Chok-tòng; born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1990 and 2004, as a member of the People's Action Party, he served as Secretary-General of the PAP between 1992 and 2004. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Marine Parade SMC between 1976 and 1988, and Marine Parade GRC between 1988 and 2020.

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Goh Chok Tong SPMJ AC
吴作栋
Goh in 2001
2nd Prime Minister of Singapore
In office 28 November 1990 – 12 August 2004
President	Wee Kim Wee Ong Teng Cheong S. R. Nathan
Deputy	Ong Teng Cheong Lee Hsien Loong Tony Tan
Preceded by	Lee Kuan Yew
Succeeded by	Lee Hsien Loong
Secretary-General of the People's Action Party
In office 15 November 1992[1] – 6 November 2004[2]
Preceded by	Lee Kuan Yew
Succeeded by	Lee Hsien Loong
Member of Parliament for Marine Parade
In office 23 December 1976 – 23 June 2020
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Tan See Leng (PAP)
Constituency	Marine Parade SMC (1976–1988) Marine Parade GRC (1988–2020)
Senior positions Senior Minister of Singapore In office 12 August 2004 – 20 May 2011 Serving with S. Jayakumar (2009–2011) Preceded by Lee Kuan Yew Succeeded by Teo Chee Hean (2019) Tharman Shanmugaratnam (2019) Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore In office 20 August 2004 – 30 April 2011 Preceded by Lee Hsien Loong Succeeded by Tharman Shanmugaratnam
Ministerial offices Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore In office 2 January 1985 – 28 November 1990 Serving with Ong Teng Cheong Preceded by Goh Keng Swee S. Rajaratnam Succeeded by Lee Hsien Loong Minister for Defence In office 1 June 1982 – 30 June 1991 Preceded by Howe Yoon Chong Succeeded by Yeo Ning Hong Minister for Health In office 6 January 1981 – 31 May 1982 Preceded by Toh Chin Chye Succeeded by Howe Yoon Chong Minister for Trade and Industry In office 15 March 1979 – 31 May 1981 Preceded by Office established Succeeded by Tony Tan
Personal details
Born	Goh Chok Tong (1941-05-20) 20 May 1941 (age 82) Singapore, Straits Settlements
Political party	People's Action Party
Spouse	Tan Choo Leng ​ (m. 1965)​
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Singapore (BA) Williams College (MA)
Signature
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	吴作栋
Traditional Chinese	吳作棟
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Wú Zuòdòng Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Ngh Jok-dung Jyutping Ng4 Zok3 Dung6 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Gô͘ Chok-tòng

Prior to his appointment as prime minister, he was the country's deputy prime minister, where he advocated for the Medisave, a scheme that allows Singaporeans to set aside part of their income into a Medisave account to meet future medical expenses. Goh also advocated for the Edusave Awards, a monetary reward for students who did well in school based on either their academic or character, to enshrine meritocracy.

During his tenure as prime minister, political reforms like the introduction of Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMP), to allow more oppositions into Parliament, Group Representation Constituency (GRC), to make sure that the minorities are represented in Parliament and Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP), to have independent opinions in Parliament since all NMPs are non-partisan, were also proposed by Goh when he was serving as Deputy Prime Minister after assuming the responsibility of the government in a carefully managed leadership transition.

Goh's tenure as prime minister was also marked by the 1991 aircraft hijack of SQ117, 1997 Asian financial crisis, 2001 embassies attack plot and the 2003 SARS outbreak. His government enacted the Elected President scheme in 1991 as presidents before were appointed by Parliament. His government also introduced the Vehicle Quota Scheme to limit the number of vehicles in the city-state.

He was succeeded by Lee Hsien Loong, the eldest son of Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew,[3] on 12 August 2004 and was subsequently appointed as a senior minister in the Cabinet and chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) between 2004 and 2011.[4]

He resigned from the Cabinet in 2011 before stepping down as a Member of Parliament (MP) and retire from politics in 2020.[5] He was given the honorary title Emeritus Senior Minister in 2011 by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. He is also the only living former prime minister.