In my opinion, Dr Goh Keng Swee contributed more to Singapore’s progress. Without him, Jurong would not have become an industrial estate and there will be mass unemployment, starvation and riots just like what Foreign Minister S.Rajaratnam said in 1968.But now it offers incentives to local and foreign business to locate there and jobs for people. If he had not make National Service compulsory, Singapore then would not be able to defend itself and may not survive untill now. If he had not pushed for the forming of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra , there would be no orchestra in Singapore. He also greatly influenced the development of Singapore's education system and introduced streaming in schools. If he had not set up Singapore Zooological Garden, the Jurong Bird Park, an 18-hole golf course in Jurong and Sentosa Golf Course, we would not have a sanctuary for us to unwind and relax and increase the number of tourists that come to Singapore. If he had not warned the Singapore Manufacturers’ Association that the “unthinking and unenlightened employer who pushes his labour force around” would be dealt with severly by the government and initiated a movement that improved workers’ lives -cooperatives- during a seminar in 1969. Formed NTUC Income, a cooperative insurance society, formed in 1970. After that came Comfort, a cooperative to organise the rag-tag band of taxi drivers, strikes would have taken place and this would then hamper Singapore’s march to progress and prosperity. If had not initiated the setting up of the Economic Development Board which was established in August 1961, foreign multinational corporations would not have been attracted to invest in Singapore and Singapore would be still a 3rd world country and not a 1st world country today. All of these things that he had done for Singapore make me feel thathe contributed more to Singapore than Mr S.Rajaratnam. However, i feel that both of them contributed a lot and led Singapore to what it is today.
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