As Singapore bids a final farewell to Dr. Goh Keng Swee, the corner stone, the pillar, the rock upon which the edifice of Singapore stands tall, I am aware that nothing I could write could possibly do justice to a man who did so much for the country, who meant so much to so many and asked so little in return. Far more eloquent and worthy voices than mine have, since 14th May, come forth with their accounts, their memories and their celebrations of a life so well lived. Having been born both too recently and too distant from this land to really have had any personal experience of him, I did manage to read a lot about him over the last decade that I have been here, and while by then Dr. Goh had long since retired from public life, it simply boggled the mind to learn that one individual was not only capable of, but actually did, so much.
As we (of all political persuasions) look at Singapore now, and thence forward to those horizons that we hope to bring the country to in our lifetimes, I am reminded of the words of Isaac Newton:
“If I have seen further, it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants”
Truly, Dr. Goh Keng Swee was a giant.
Cursed with an insatiable curiousity for the world around him and an unquenchable thirst for exploring any horizon he finds himself looking at, Fredric fervently hopes that being a commonsensical Jack of all Trades is still a useful survival skill in a world that is incredibly specialized. He may be found online hopelessly plugged into Wikipedia or Google Earth, and in life usually astride a Suzuki Vstrom headed to yet another godforsaken corner of Southeast Asia .