Howe Yoon Chong

Born in Singapore on 12 August 1923 of Chinese origin,[2] Howe Yoon Chong was the son of a liquor shop owner who migrated to Malacca, British Malaya.[3] Howe received his early education at St. Francis Institution in Malacca from 1933 to 1940, and was once a schoolmate of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew at Raffles Institution in Singapore.[4] He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Economics from the University of Malaya in Singapore (now the National University of Singapore) in 1953.

Howe worked in the civil service for almost thirty years. He began his career as a teacher, then was a broadcaster for a period before taking the post of an administrative officer in the British Colonial Secretariat. Later, Howe was appointed as a police magistrate and then secretary to Singapore's Public Service Commission.

In 1960, Howe became the first chief executive officer (CEO) of the Housing and Development Board (HDB). From 1970 to 1979, he was the chairman and President of the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS),[5] the first Chairman of the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), the Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, and the head of the Singapore Civil Service.

During his tenure as a senior civil servant, Howe played the leading role in several of Singapore's iconic infrastructural projects like the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), Singapore Changi Airport and public housing.[6][7][8]

Known by his civil service's colleagues as a fierce, tough-talking man, Howe debated vehemently with former Deputy Prime Minister Goh Keng Swee over whether to build the MRT system in Singapore. Howe was strongly in favour of the MRT as the backbone of Singapore's public transport system, while Goh proposed a more economical all-bus alternative.

Howe fought strongly against the extension plans for a second runway at Paya Lebar Airport, and advocated the building of a new international airport in Changi.[9] This was despite the Cabinet's decision for the go-ahead in 1972, based on a British expert's report that it would cost less to expand Paya Lebar Airport and that there was not enough time to get Changi built up to meet increasing traffic needs. Howe gathered a team to reclaim land, widened and extended the old Royal Air Force airstrip to take Boeing 747s and build the terminal. In August 1981, operations stopped overnight at Paya Lebar Airport and restarted the next morning at Changi Airport. Howe's role in setting up Changi Airport won him credit in Lee Kuan Yew's memoirs.[10]

Howe also fast-tracked the public housing programme while serving as the HDB's CEO under then-chairman Lim Kim San in the early years, solving the chronic housing shortage in the 1960s.[3] He undertook the politically and technically arduous task of starting up Toa Payoh New Town, and faced organised opposition to the resettlement of Toa Payoh and the removal of squatters.[11] As Chairman of PSA, now known as PSA Corporation, Howe went against the advice of professionals to build Singapore's first container terminal in the early 1970s.[12]

Howe's first call to enter politics came as early as 1953 from Lee Kuan Yew, then a practising lawyer.[3] However, he declined Lee's invitation as he believed that Singapore needed civil servants in light of the repatriation of British forces during the post-World War II period.[4] In 1979, Howe was again persuaded by then Prime Minister Lee and then-Minister for Finance Goh Keng Swee to enter politics, and he eventually agreed.[6]

In 1979, upon being named as a People's Action Party (PAP) candidate in by-elections called in seven constituencies, Howe said he hoped to serve no more than five years. After submitting his nomination papers in the by-election, Howe dismissed the opposition candidates, including independent Chiam See Tong, as "court jesters" who had come out "to provide comic relief".[3] Howe eventually beat Chiam with almost 67% of the votes to win the Potong Pasir seat. In the 1980 general election, Howe again defeated Chiam for Potong Pasir,[13] and duly served as the Member of Parliament for the constituency until 1984.

On 12 February 1979, Howe was sworn into the Cabinet as Minister for Defence. Directness being his hallmark, just six months after becoming Defence Minister Howe said that those who dodged national service ought to be looked upon as "pariah" in the community.[3]

Howe relinquished his defence post to become the Minister for Health from 1982 to 1984. There, Howe became best remembered by Singaporeans for his controversial proposal in 1984 to raise the age for the withdrawal of Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings from 55 to 60 years. At a news conference on 26 March 1984, Howe reasoned that Singaporeans could not depend only on their children in their old age. That suggestion, part of the 54-page report of the Committee on the Problems of the Aged[14] which he chaired, was eventually dropped. However, the report that took 20 months to finalise remains an important document with its forward-looking strategies to support Singapore's greying population.[3][6][15][16][17] Taking up the suggestions in the report, the Singapore Government subsequently introduced the Minimum Sum scheme. This allows workers to withdraw some of their CPF funds at age 55, setting aside a certain minimum sum which can only be withdrawn at retirement age, currently at 62 years.[13][18] To encourage the employment of aged workers, the CPF contribution rates for both employer and the aged employee were cut in July 1988.[4] In 1993, the government raised the retirement age to 60.[17]

Howe did not contest the general election in 1984. As a result of Howe's controversial report, the PAP lost 12% of the overall votes in that election, and conceded the Potong Pasir ward to Chiam.[4][17] Howe retired from politics that year.[13]

In a letter of appreciation to Howe on his retirement, the then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew said he was indebted to Howe for the devoted work he had put in for the people. Lee also predicted that when workers in their 20s and 30s reached their 60s, they would see how difficult it was for children to stretch their salaries to support aged parents. They would then be grateful to Howe for the furore he had stirred by the report on the problems of the aged.[13]

After leaving politics, Howe returned to DBS as chairman and CEO in 1985 and served until 1990. In 1991, he helped to set up a managed fund, the Mendaki Growth Fund, for the Malay self-help group Mendaki, the Council for the Development of Singapore Muslim Community.[3]

From 1992 to 2000 he was the Executive Chairman of Great Eastern Life Assurance,[19] and from 1992 to 2007 the President and CEO for The Straits Holding Company, an investment holding firm. He was also Chairman of the Rendezvous Hotel Singapore and Rendezvous Hotels & Resorts International.[20]

On 21 August 2007, Howe died in Singapore from a stroke after having been hospitalised for three weeks.[6] Several of Singapore's leaders, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, attended Howe's wake.[12][21] Howe's funeral was held at Mandai Crematorium on 24 August.[10][22]