SINGAPORE: Former Cabinet Minister Howe Yoon Chong has died. He was 84.
The former top civil servant and politician is best remembered for the 1984 Report of the Committee for the Aged - which came up with several policy recommendations on preparing for an ageing population.
A contemporary of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew at Raffles College, Mr Howe was asked by Mr Lee in 1953 to go into politics.
But Mr Howe said 'no'. His reason - a group was needed to look after the Administrative Service after the British had left.
And the economics graduate from the University Malaya was to go on to spend almost 30 years in the civil service, most of them, in key positions.
In 1960, Mr Howe was appointed the first chief executive officer of the Housing and Development Board (HDB).
He was later appointed the chairman of the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) and the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA).
Other key appointments included Head of the Civil Service as well as Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, Finance and National Development Ministries.
When he was 55 years old, Mr Howe was finally persuaded to stand in the 1979 by-elections on a People's Action Party ticket.
He won the Potong Pasir seat with almost 67 percent of the votes against then Independent candidate, Chiam See Tong.
In the 1980 General Election, Mr Howe again defeated Mr Chiam in a straight fight for Potong Pasir.
Mr Howe was first appointed Defence Minister and later, Health Minister.
It was as Health Minister that he chaired the committee which came out with the landmark Report on the Problems of the Aged.
Among several long-term strategies proposed was the controversial suggestion to raise the CPF withdrawal age from 55 to 60 years. - CNA/ir
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