Over the weekend, Emeritus Senior Minister (ESM) Goh Chok Tong and World Scientific author Peh Shing Huei of bestselling non-fiction title ‘Tall Order: The Goh Chok Tong Story’ held a dialogue session where many questions about ESM Goh’s personal views were brought to light.
The dialogue session was a collaboration with POPULAR Bookstore at its annual BookFest@Singapore held at Suntec Convention Hall, on Saturday, December 22.
The questions were a good mix of light-hearted ones, as well as ones about the current political climate.
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ESM Goh shared photos of the event on his Facebook page, and wrote in a post, “First question in the engaging dialogue with Peh was from a parent who wanted to know what my mother fed me to make me so tall”.
He continued in jest, “Long beans, I said. But actually it was long genes. My father was tall”.
He also added, “Last question was whether I would chase away the Malaysian ships which anchored in our waters off Jurong Port. I replied that Malaysia was re-enacting what it did when it sent its ships into the disputed waters off Pedra Branca. After a few days, the ships left, probably because the crew became seasick. I explained that we should handle the current episode calmly and sit down to negotiate, failing which we should refer the dispute to international arbitration”.
ESM Goh also shared that one of the events that stood out in his political career was the financial crisis that led to the fall of President Suharto.
At the end of the session, ESM Goh praised Peh for his sensible and practical advice to keep the book thin enough to carry around. He also encouraged the audience to read more in order to develop imagination and creativity.
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obbana@theindependent.sg