SINGAPORE: Goh Keng Swee's wife says new book on him goes against his wishes

But daughter-in-law, who wrote biography, says she sought the former deputy prime minister's views beforehand

Straits Times
Friday, July 6, 2007

By Peh Shing Huei

A biography on one of Singapore's founding fathers, Dr Goh Keng Swee, faces a controversial launch this month as his wife has issued a statement protesting against its publication.

The book is authored by the former deputy prime minister's daughter-in-law, Ms Tan Siok Sun, and is the first to offer an in-depth look at the man who played a pivotal role in Singapore's economic transformation, defence strategy and education policy.

Titled Goh Keng Swee: A Portrait, it will be launched on July 16 at the Arts House.

But ahead of the event, Mrs Goh Keng Swee sent a statement to the media yesterday, distancing Dr Goh from the book.

She wrote: "It has come to my knowledge that a book on Goh Keng Swee is to be launched on July 16. In connection with this, I wish to say that Goh Keng Swee is not aware of and has not been consulted on both the contents of and the publication of this book. Goh Keng Swee has not endorsed and is not responsible for the contents of the book.

"As far as I am aware, Goh Keng Swee had indicated that he did not want any book to be written about him. Therefore the publication of this book is contrary to his wishes, and is a show of disregard and utmost disrespect to him."

Dr Goh, 88, retired from politics in 1984. He has been in ailing health since the late 1990s.

Ms Tan, who is married to Mrs Goh's stepson, Mr Goh Kian Chee, 63, issued her own statement last evening: "My book is a personal tribute to my father-in-law, Dr Goh Keng Swee, whom I love and respect.

"I had been encouraged to write this book by members of my family and friends, and this is my humble effort to share the experience with them."

In the preface to her book, Ms Tan, the director of a human resources firm, wrote: "This is not an authorised biography in the sense that he (Dr Goh) had approved the text. Except for the very first draft of the defence chapter, GKS (Goh Keng Swee) did not see its contents before it was published.

"Yet, on the other hand, it is not an unauthorised biography either. When I sought his views to write his biography, he burst into his characteristic guffaw and asked who would want to read it.

"I promised him that I would keep the interviews short and manageable, and this seemed to have met with his approval."

The 222-page biography is published by Editions Didier Millet and traces Dr Goh's life, from his childhood years in Malacca to his retirement days after 1984.

It is being launched ahead of a series of biographies on Singapore's first-generation leaders, a project by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

In the works are books on Old Guard leaders such as Dr Goh, former deputy prime minister Toh Chin Chye as well as the late Cabinet ministers Mr S. Rajaratnam, Mr Lim Kim San and Mr Eddie Barker.

Date Posted: 7/6/2007