Goh Chok Tong

Goh Chok Tong[a] AC SPMJ (born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Singapore from 1990 to 2004 and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party (PAP) from 1992 to 2004. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Marine Parade SMC from 1976 to 1988, and Marine Parade GRC 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. In 1990, He introduced the Vehicle Quota System to limit the exponential increase of personal vehicles. In 1991, Goh also enacted the elected presidency scheme in 1991, with previous presidents having been appointed by Parliament. On 12 August 2004, Goh was succeeded by Lee Hsien Loong, the eldest son of Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew,[3] 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, 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.[5]