Showing results by author "Peh Shing Huei" in All Categories

Philip Yeo is unlike any civil servant. He prefers action over talk, cartoons over words, and speed over due process. The maverick was blunt, direct, and unafraid to challenge the status quo, earning him a reputation not only as one of Singapore’s most accomplished government officials, but also among its most colorful bureaucrats. Neither Civil nor Servant captures the half-a-century career of the former Economic Development Board chairman, telling the stories of brilliant achievements almost unparalleled in the history of the Singapore civil service.

Goh Chok Tong was an improbable Prime Minister for an unlikely country. He had neither the connections nor the cunning to rise to the top, and was even once famously derided by his mentor Lee Kuan Yew for being "wooden" in his communication skills. Except for an imposing height most unusual in this part of the world, he was an ordinary man. He lost his father at a young age, lived in a two-bedroom public flat with his mother and four siblings and needed a government bursary to complete university.