Goh Chok Tong


Goh Chok Tong

(gō chôk tông), 1941–, prime minister of SingaporeSingapore
, officially Republic of Singapore, republic (2015 est. pop. 5,535,000), 299 sq mi (774 sq km). It consists of the island of Singapore and about 60 small adjacent islands at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, SE Asia.
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 (1990–2004). After holding government and business positions, he was elected to Singapore's parliament in 1976 and served in the cabinet and People's Action party leadership from 1979. In 1985 he became minister of defense and deputy prime minister, and five years later he succeeded Lee Kuan YewLee Kuan Yew
, 1923–2015, prime minister of Singapore (1959–90). Educated in England, he obtained a law degree from Cambridge Univ. in 1949 and in 1954 founded the moderately leftist People's Action party.
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 as prime minister. Less authoritarian than Lee, Goh saw Singapore through the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the turmoil attending the 2003–3 SARSSARS
or severe acute respiratory syndrome,
communicable viral disease that can progress to a potentially fatal pneumonia. The first symptoms of SARS are usually a high fever, headache and body aches, sore throat, and mild respiratory symptoms; diarrhea may occur.
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 outbreak. He was succeeded by Lee Hsien LoongLee Hsien Loong
, 1952–, prime minister of Singapore (2004–). The eldest son of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's first prime minister, Lee was educated at Cambridge and Harvard while also serving (beginning in 1974) in Singapore's armed forces.
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, his predecessor's son, and served in the government as senior minister (2004–11) after resigning as prime minister.