« God Will Take Care Of You | Home | God Will Make A Way »
Toh Chin Chye
By peace | August 13, 2008
Toh Chin Chye (Dr) (b. 10 December 1921, Batu Gajah, Taiping, Perak -) was the co-founder and Chairman of the People’s Action Party (PAP) and served as the Member of Parliament for Rochore since 1959, Deputy Prime Minister when Singapore attained independence in 1965, Minister for Science and Technology and Minister for Health. He was also the Chairman of Singapore Polytechnic and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Singapore.
Toh Chin Chye (simplified Chinese: 杜进才; traditional Chinese: 杜進才; pinyin: Dù Jìncái; born 10 December 1921) is a prominent first generation political leader in Singapore. Toh is married to Yeap Sui Phek and has one daughter.
An old guard in the People’s Action Party, Toh Chin Chye served as the Leader of the House from 1959 to 1968. He was born in Malaysia in 1921 and went to the Anglo-Chinese School in Ipoh and Raffles College in Singapore. He later studied at the University of London, and while in Britain, chaired the Malayan Forum. This was an organisation formed by students from Malaya and Singapore who were drawn together by their interest in current and political affairs. Chief among their concerns was the issue of British imperialism.
Toh returned to Singapore in 1954 and was a lecturer at the University of Singapore. He was one of the founding members of the People’s Action Party, which was convened in 1954, and was the party’s representative for Rochore in the 1959 General Election. He wond the election and, from June that year to March 1973, served as Deputy Prime Minister. He was also appointed the Leader of the House in 1959, and guided the affairs of the Legislative Assembly and, later, Parliament. Among his other responsibilities was that of Vice-Chancellor of the University of SIngapore, from 1968 to 1975. He was also Singapore’s first Science and Technology Minister and, later, became Health Minister. He retired from Cabinet in 1981, but continued as MP for Rochore until 1988.
At a dinner to pay tribute to Toh and other Old Guard ministers who had stepped down to make way for fresh faces in 1988, then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew recalled how Toh had made memorable contributions to the PAP and also how he was one who did not flinch in the face of hard times.
One of Toh’s legacies is the Singapore flag. In 1959, soon after Singapore became a self-governing state, Lee had assigned Toh to come up with a flag that would be unique and distinctly Singaporean, and which would symbolise a multiracial country. He wanted five stars to represent the ideals of the young nation — democracy, peace, progress, equalitly and justice. He added the crescent, to represent a new nation, because the stars ‘did not look balanced’, he said in a 1981 interview. He had wanted to set the white stars and crescent against an all-red background but the Cabinet decided to have a red and white backdrop instead. Red, he said, was picked for its association with prosperity and happiness. The Bill for the national flag, state crest and national anthem was moved by then Culture Minister S. Rajaratnam and approved by the Assembly in November 1959.
Timeline
1946 : Demonstrator, Raffles College, Philosophy Department.
1947 – 1949 : Demonstrator, Raffles College, Chemistry Department.
1953 : Lecturer, Department of Physiology, University of Malaya, Singapore.
1953 : Founder-Secretary, University of Malaya Society.
1954 – 1981 : Co-founder and Chairman, People’s Action Party.
1958 – 1964 : Reader in Physiology, University of Singapore.
1959 – 1968 : Deputy Prime Minister
1959 – 1975 : Chairman, Singapore Polytechnic Board of Governors.
1959 – 1988 : Member of Parliament for Rochore.
1964 : Research Associate, University of Singapore
1968 – 1975 : Minister for Science and Technology.
1968 – 1975 : Vice-Chancellor, University of Singapore.
1970 – 1975 : Chairman, Board of Governors, Regional Institute for Higher Education and Development.
1973 – 1975 : Chairman, Applied Research Corporation.
2 Jun 1975 – 5 Jan 1981 : Minister for Health.
1988 : Retired from politics
1990 : Adviser to Steamers Maritime Holdings.
Awards
1976 : Honorary Doctor of Letters, University of Singapore
1990 : Order of Nila Utama (First Class) for “contributions to Singapore during those critical times before and during the merger with Malaysia.”
2001 : Toh Chin Chye Professorship in Molecular Biology “for his dedication and his contributions as leader, educationist, teacher and public servant.”
Toh Chin Chye spends his retirement days away from the public eye. The Straits Times featured Toh twice in 2005 and 2006 respectively, once on May 2, 2005 to pay his last respects to former president Wee Kim Wee. He was seen being assisted by two men and a walking stick as he walked. In February 2006, Toh was featured again in The Straits Times paying his last respects to the late former Deputy Prime Minister S. Rajaratnam at his home in Chancery Lane.
Toh was briefly back into the spotlight when he was mistaken for a culprit in a ‘hit and run’ accident by the English tabloid, The New Paper. He subsequently won a libel suit against the publishers.
Toh is considered one of founding fathers of modern Singapore. Together with luminaries such as Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Keng Swee and S. Rajaratnam , Toh was part of a group that led the tiny island nation through her most critical years, both laying the foundation and shaping the Singapore success story.
Topics: All Posts, Famous People, Singapore | 1 Comment »
August 13th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
[...] Technical School (DSTS) was founded in 1964 was officially opened by then Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Toh Chin Chye on Friday, 14 May 1965. This is a precious piece of photo found at this website The Official [...]