Mr Lim Kim San's and Mr Ong Pang Boon's achievements

Mr Lim Kim San's Background

He was born in Singapore on November 30, 1916, the eldest of the six children of Lim Choon Huat, a well-to-do merchant, and his wife Wee Geok Khuan. He attended the Anglo-Chinese School and Raffles College, where he received his diploma in Arts (Economics) in 1939.

Shortly after graduation he married Pang Gek Kim, daughter of a wealthy merchant banking family. They have six children, four girls and two boys. Following his marriage LIM took on the management of his father-in-law's business, becoming Director of the United Chinese Bank, a family-owned local bank, and Managing Director of the Batu Pahat Bank. Under his management the family enterprises prospered.

In 1959, Lim Kim San was approached by Goh Keng Swee, Toh Chin Chye and Lee Kuan Yew to contest the upcoming elections on a People's Action Party (PAP) ticket. Lim Kim San demurred, citing his business commitments, but he drew on his overdraft to fund the PAP campaign.


HDB Contribution

When the PAP won the elections and formed the government , due to rapidly increasing population at that time, where people were living in over-crowded conditions which were often unsafe, un-sanitized and without any amenities. Lim Kim San agreed to serve in the Public Service Commission and chair the Housing Development Board (HDB). He volunteered his service to the HDB for four years - setting policies, managing planners, architects and contractors all the while refusing a salary till he became a Cabinet Minister in 1963.

Lim was known for his organizing and planning abilities. He forwent a detailed planning stage and instead chose a "rough and ready" approach to work fast using rough estimates of the housing requirement. In the first two year of this crash program, over 25,000 units were built, more than what was built in the previous decade. Standardized architectural designs were used. Lim made the important decision to use private contractors rather than employing construction workers directly. This reduced the burden of HDB which would then supervise these contractors to ensure standards. Overall cost was kept low by using a large pool of contractors and different sources of building materials.
He had the trust of the Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, and worked closely with Goh Keng Swee the Minister for Finance. He was thus able to keep the housing program well-funded.




Mr Lim Kim San (second from left) on a working visit to Germany, 1964






Success on project

In the Five Years Housing Program, HDB achieved its goal of completing 51,000 units of low-cost housing by 1965. The largest project completed was Queenstown, a satellite town of more than 17,500 apartments housing close to 150,000 people. In this and other neighborhoods, the theme was to create a mostly self-sufficient neighbourhood or town to reduce the need to have to go out of the neighbourhood for routine needs. To suit this, amenities were provided including community centers, markets and shopping centers, health clinics, children’s playgrounds, sports facilities, and schools. This proposal (presently extended with the concept of a regional center led by Lim Kim San, is generally accredited to have significantly contributed to the lower rate of congestion and burden on the central business district than before.
In May 1961, the Bukit Ho Swee Fire some 16,000 people became homeless. Lim directed their relocation and the reconstruction. In just over four years, over 8,000 low-cost flats were built on that site and those who lost their home were able to return.

His contribution to Singapore's infrastructure is far reaching: initiating its land reclamation programme, building reservoirs and successfully negotiating a third water pipeline from Johore.
Lim Kim San continues to actively contribute to the PAP, Singapore and its business after his retirement. A keen judge of character, his services have been called on to identify and screen new blood for the PAP. Since 1988, he has been Chairman of Singapore Press Holdings which publishes all of Singapore's newspapers. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Advisors to the Elected President.
Lim Kim San's business acumen, practical approach and his instinct about people set him apart from the ideologues of Singapore's old guard. His talent is clearly in business organisation, team building and people management. In that perspective, his enduring contribution to Singapore can be measured by his role as a technocrat and businessman rather than a politician.







Mr Ong Pang Boon's Background

Born in Kuala Lumpur, he was educated in a Chinese primary school, a Confucian middle school, and a Methodist Boys’ School (KL), and he later attained a geography degree at the then University of Malaya in Singapore.

Political career

His foray into politics began as a polling agent for Lee Kuan Yew in the 1955 legislative assembly election. He entered parliament as a member for Telok Ayer in the 1959 general elections, a seat he retained till his retirement in 1984. He was subsequently appointed Minister for Home Affairs in the first self-government Cabinet and played a key role to eradicating yellow culture and crime in the Singapore society. His cabinet appointment also made him part of the Internal Security Council which sanctioned Operation Coldstore in 1963.

Ong later took on the highly sensitive Education ministerial portfolio from 1963 to 1970 at a time when Chinese language culture and education issues were highly politicized. By increasing the teaching of English in Chinese schools and vice versa, he was instrumental in laying the foundation for the bilingual policy of which Singapore is famed for. Ong became Labour Minister in 1970. Finally he took over as the Environment Minister in 1980. He retired from politics in 1984 to make way for younger leaders.


Contributions


Ong, together with the Chinese-educated old guards, represented the crucial link to the Chinese speaking masses in Singapore. This is especially so during a time when Chinese culture and education issues were contentious political issues. While being a defender of Chinese culture, they represented PAP’s vision which the role of Chinese culture is an equal component of a multi-cultural, multi-racial society, a hallmark of Singapore today.










Reflection on the achievements of Mr Lim Kim San and Mr Ong Pang Boon



Both Mr Lim Kim San and Mr Ong Pang Boon are the founding member of modern Singapore.Mr Lim Kim San, helped Singapore in the early years to deal with the significant problems of housing, his success in housing a young nation is legendary.Mr Ong Pang Boon,a 'Chinese cultural gatekeepers', helped to play down Chinese chauvinism and play up multi-ethnic nationalism and meritocracy in Singapore. In my opinon, both of them contributed a lot to Singapore, we can't compare which one of them contributed more to Singapore. Their starting point are the same - making Singapore become a better country, and they are also proud to serve their country. Thanks for their contribution!