• Born in Malacca in the Straits settlement.
• 6 Oct 1918 to 14 May 2010.
• The fifth of six children.
• Moved from Malacca to SG when he was 2 years old.

• 1927 to 1936 ; Anglo-Chinese primary & secondary school.
• Second in his class in the Senior Cambridge Examinations.
• 1939 ; graduated from Raffles College. *
  

• Joined the colonial Civil Service as a tax collector with the War Tax Department.
• However, according to his superiors, was not very good at his job and was almost fired.
• Shortly after the start of World War II, he joined the Singapore Volunteer Corps, a local militia.
• In the end, returned to his previous work after the fall of SG.
• 1942 ; married Alice Woon.
• 1944 ; Had their 1st child, Goh Kian Chee.
• 1945 ; joined the Department of Social Welfare, and was active in post-war administration.
• Won a scholarship which enable him to school in London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
• Upon his return to the Department of Social Welfare, he was appointed assistant secretary of its Research Section.
• 1952 ; together with civil servant Kenneth M. Byrne, he formed the Council of Joint Action to lobby against salary and promotion policies that favoured Caucasians over Asians.
• 1954 ; was able to return to LSE with the help of a University of London scholarship.
• 1956 ; Completed his PHD in Economics.
• Returned to the Department of Social Welfare, where he served as Assistant Director and then Director.
• 1958 ; he was made Director of the Social and Economic Research Division in the Chief Minister's Office.
• 1958 ; resigned to work full time for PAP.

• Assumed the stewardship of Singapore's economy.
• Introduced stringent fiscal discipline which included cutting civil service salaries.
• Initiated the setting up of the Economic Development Board, which was established in August 1961 to attract foreign multinational corporations to invest in Singapore.
• Started the development of the Jurong industrial estate on the western end of the island which was then a swamp, offering incentives to local and foreign business to locate there.
  
• Compulsory National Service was initiated when he was Singapore's first Minister for the Interior and Defence.
  
• Proposed that the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) be established to invest excess reserves and encouraged the establishment of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in 1968.
• Was also responsible for projects that sought to improve Singaporeans' cultural and leisure life, such as the Jurong Bird Park, the Singapore Zoo and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
• Was also instrumental in introducing rugby in the Singapore Armed Forces and later in schools.
• Impressed by an oceanarium in the Bahamas, contacted the Sentosa Development Corporation and convinced them to have one. Underwater World Singapore opened in 1991.
• Moved on from the Defence Ministry to the Ministry of Education, where his report greatly influenced the development of Singapore's education system.
• Set up the Curriculum Development Institute, and introduced key policies such as religious education and the streaming system in schools.

• 1981 to 1994 ; Deputy Chairman of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation.
  
• 1985 – 31 May 1992 ; Economic Adviser to the State Council of the People's Republic of China on coastal development and Adviser on tourism.
• 1988–1994 ; Deputy Chairman of the MAS Chairman of the Singapore Totalisator Board.
• From 1991 ; Director of Gateway Technologies Services Pte. Ltd.
• From 1 January 1993 ; Adviser to the United Overseas Bank group.
• From 1994 ; Chairman of N.M. Rothschild & Sons (Singapore) Ltd.
• From 1995 ; Vice-Chairman of Hong Leong Asia Ltd.

• Sinnathamby Rajaratnam * (Better known as S. Rajaratnam)
• 25 February 1915 to 22 February 2006.
• The second child of Sabapathy Pillai Sinnathamby and his wife.
• Both his parents & him are of Sri descent.
  
• Born in Vattukotai, Jaffna, Sri Lanka. **
  
• Was then brought back to Malaya and raised in Seremba and Selangor.

• Studied Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus for six months.
• Was transferred to St Paul's, a boys' school.
• Continued his studies in the prestigious Victoria Institution in KL.
• Then in Raffles Institution.

The lack of communication between London and Malaya during the Second World War meant that Rajaratnam could no longer receive money from his father to continue his education. He therefore turned to journalism to earn a living, never returning to university to complete his degree.

• 1959 to - ; Minister for Culture.
• 1965 to 1980 ; Minister for Foreign Affairs.
• 1968 to 1971 ; Minister for Labour.
• 1980 to 1985 ; Second Deputy Prime Minister.
• Until his retirement in 1988 ; Senior Minister.

• Writing Singapore's National Pledge in 1966.
• As the Foreign Minister ; helped Singapore gained entry into the United Nations & Non-Aligned Movement in 1970.
• Built up the Foreign Service and helped to establish diplomatic links with other countries and secure international recognition of the new nation's sovereignty.
• Carried out the foreign policy of international self-assertion to establish Singapore's independence during the period when the country faced significant challenges.
• Was one of the five founding fathers in ASEAN in1967 & helped to draw international attention to Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia in 1978.
• As the Minister for Labour ; he implemented tough labour laws to attempt to restore stability in the Singaporean economy and attracted multinational corporations to invest in Singapore.