Person

Goh Chok Tong

b. 1941

2nd Prime Minister of Singapore from 1990 to 2004

Born
20 May 1941 · Singapore

Life timeline

Their life from birth to death. On the timeline, world events of the time are shown faintly.

Showing 98 years
  1. 20 May 1941BornBorn in Singapore
  2. 1979 – 1981RoleMinister for Trade and Industry
  3. 1981 – 1982RoleMinister for Health
  4. 1982 – 1991RoleMinister for Defence
  5. 1985 – 1990RoleDeputy Prime Minister of Singapore
  6. 1988 – 2016RoleMember of the Parliament of Singapore
  7. 1990 – 2004RolePrime Minister of Singapore
  8. 2001AwardGold Olympic Order
  9. 2003AwardJawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding
  10. 2004 – 2011RoleEmeritus Senior Minister
  11. 2004 – 2011RoleSenior Minister
  12. 2005AwardHonorary Companion of the Order of Australia

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Meanwhile in the world

Major world events during their lifetime (1941 – today).

  1. 1941Attack on Pearl Harbor
  2. 1941 – 1945Eastern Front
  3. 1941Operation Barbarossa
  4. 1942 – 1943Battle of Stalingrad
  5. 1945Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
  6. 1945 – 1946Nuremberg trials
  7. 19501950 FIFA World Cup
  8. 1950 – 1953Korean War
  9. 1953 – 1959Cuban Revolution
  10. 19541954 FIFA World Cup
  11. 1955 – 1975Vietnam War
  12. 1956Hungarian Revolution of 1956
  13. 1956Suez Crisis
  14. 19581958 FIFA World Cup
  15. 1959Antarctic Treaty System
  16. 19621962 FIFA World Cup
  17. 1962Cuban Missile Crisis
  18. 19661966 FIFA World Cup
  19. 1966 – 1976Cultural Revolution
  20. 1968Prague Spring
  21. 1969Apollo 11 Moon landing
  22. 19721972 Summer Olympics
  23. 19741974 FIFA World Cup
  24. 19781978 FIFA World Cup
  25. 1978 – 1979Iranian Revolution
  26. 1979 – 1989Soviet–Afghan War
  27. 1980 – 1988Iran–Iraq War
  28. 19841984 Summer Olympics
  29. 1985Schengen Agreement
  30. 19891989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
  31. 1989Fall of the Berlin Wall
  32. 19901990 FIFA World Cup
  33. 1991Dissolution of the Soviet Union
  34. 19941994 FIFA World Cup
  35. 1994 – 1996First Chechen War
  36. 19981998 FIFA World Cup
  37. 2001 – 2021War in Afghanistan
  38. 2003 – 2011Iraq War
  39. 20042004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
  40. 20062006 FIFA World Cup

Biography

Goh Chok Tong (born 20 May 1941), also known by his initials GCT, is a Singaporean retired politician who served as the second prime minister of Singapore from 1990 to 2004 and as a senior minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2011. He served as the secretary-general of the People's Action Party (PAP) from 1992 to 2004 and was the member of Parliament (MP) for Marine Parade Single Member Constituency from 1976 to 1988, and Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency from 1988 to 2020.

Prior to his appointment as prime minister, he was the country's deputy prime minister, where he advocated for the Medisave, a savings 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 achievements or character to enshrine meritocracy.

Shortly before and during his tenure as prime minister, Goh proposed political reforms like the introduction of Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMP), to allow more opposition into Parliament, Group Representation Constituencies (GRC), to make sure that minorities are represented in Parliament and Nominated Members of Parliament (NMP), to have independent opinions in Parliament since all NMPs are non-partisan. Goh assumed the responsibility of government in a carefully managed leadership transition. Goh enacted the Elected President scheme in 1991 as presidents before were appointed by Parliament. He also introduced the Vehicle Quota Scheme to limit the number of vehicles in the city-state.

On 12 August 2004, Goh was succeeded by Lee Hsien Loong, the eldest son of Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, and was subsequently appointed as a senior minister in the Cabinet and chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) between 2004 and 2011. He resigned from the Cabinet in 2011, and was given the honorary title of "Emeritus Senior Minister" by Lee. He stepped down as a Member of Parliament (MP) and retired from politics in 2020.

Text from the Wikipedia article Goh Chok Tong, CC BY-SA 4.0

About this information

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