Richard Hu
Richard Hu | |||||||||||
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Minister for Finance | |||||||||||
In office 2 January 1985 – 10 November 2001 | |||||||||||
Prime Minister | |||||||||||
Preceded by | Tony Tan | ||||||||||
Succeeded by | Lee Hsien Loong | ||||||||||
Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore | |||||||||||
In office January 1985 – December 1997 | |||||||||||
Prime Minister |
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Preceded by | Goh Keng Swee | ||||||||||
Succeeded by | Lee Hsien Loong | ||||||||||
Minister for Health | |||||||||||
In office 1985–1987 | |||||||||||
Prime Minister | Lee Kuan Yew | ||||||||||
Preceded by | Tony Tan | ||||||||||
Succeeded by | Yeo Cheow Tong | ||||||||||
Member of the Singapore Parliament for Kreta Ayer–Tanglin GRC (Kreta Ayer) | |||||||||||
In office 2 January 1997 – 18 October 2001 | |||||||||||
Preceded by | Himself (Kreta Ayer SMC) | ||||||||||
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished | ||||||||||
Member of the Singapore Parliament for Kreta Ayer SMC | |||||||||||
In office 22 December 1984 – 16 December 1996 | |||||||||||
Preceded by | Goh Keng Swee | ||||||||||
Succeeded by | Himself (Kreta Ayer–Tanglin GRC – Kreta Ayer) | ||||||||||
Personal details | |||||||||||
Born | Richard Hu Tsu Tau 30 October 1926 Singapore, Straits Settlements, British Malaya | ||||||||||
Died | 8 September 2023 Singapore[citation needed] | (aged 96)||||||||||
Political party | People's Action Party | ||||||||||
Spouse | Irene Tan Dee Leng | ||||||||||
Children | 2 | ||||||||||
Parent |
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Alma mater | |||||||||||
Chinese name | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | |||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | |||||||||||
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Richard Hu Tsu Tau (Chinese:
Early life and education[edit]
Hu was born in Singapore to Hu Tsai Kuen , a physician,[1] and Margaret Kwan Fu Shing. Through his father, he was related to the Singaporean American author Kevin Kwan.[2]
He was educated at the Anglo-Chinese School before graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1952 with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry. He subsequently went on to complete a PhD in chemical engineering at the University of Birmingham.[3]
Career[edit]
Hu joined the Royal Dutch Shell Group of Companies in 1960 and rose to the position of chairman and chief executive in Singapore, where he served from 1977 to 1983.[4] In 1983, Hu was appointed managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), where he served until 1984 concurrently.[5] He was chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore from 1985 to 1997.[6]
Hu made his political debut in the 1984 general election as a People's Action Party (PAP) candidate contesting in Kreta Ayer SMC and won.[5][7] He was later appointed Minister for Health in 1985, where he served until 1987. He was also Minister for Finance from 1985 to 2001.[8][9] He had also briefly served as Minister for National Development from 1992 to 1993.[1]
As Minister for Finance, Hu was known for his signature on the 'Ship' series of legal tender notes issued after his appointment.[10] He introduced the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 1993.[5] As part of deregulation and reform of its financial and banking sectors, Hu oversaw the privatisation of the government-linked Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) and the sale of POSB to the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) in 1998.[11]
On 13 April 2004, Hu was appointed CapitaLand's chairman of the board, where he served until his retirement in 2012.[12] He was also chairman of GIC Real Estate Pte Ltd[13] and Asia Financial Holdings Pte Ltd, and director of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC)[14] and Buildfolio.Com.Inc. Hu served as the chancellor of the Singapore Management University from July 2002 to August 2010.[15] Hu retired from GIC in 2012.[16] In 2013, he was appointed senior advisor of the Fraser and Neave board.[17]
Personal life[edit]
Hu was married to Irene Tan Dee Leng,[18] with whom he had two children.[19] He was of Hakka Chinese ancestry.
Hu died on 8 September 2023, at age 96.[20]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Tay, Hwee Peng; Chew, Hui Min (4 March 2016). "Heng Swee Keat to present Budget 2016: Who were the finance ministers before him? | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
- ^ Ho, Olivia (14 May 2017). "'I'm no crazy rich Asian', says author Kevin Kwan". The Straits Times. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
- ^ "Heng Swee Keat to present Budget 2016: Who were the finance ministers before him?". Straitstimes.com. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
- ^ "Management Team | Barghest Building Performance". Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
- ^ a b c "Richard Hu, S'pore's longest-serving finance minister, dies at 96". The Straits Times. 8 September 2023. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- ^ "Official Reports". Parliament of Singapore. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
- ^ Tesoro, Jose Manuel. "SINGAPORE Keeping Up the Pace". Asiaweek. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
- ^ "Finance Minister Bios". Mof.gov. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
- ^ "Note Facts". The Singapore Mint. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
- ^ "National Archives of Singapore". Nas.gov.sg. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
- ^ "CapitaLand chairman Richard Hu to step down". Btinvest.com.sg. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
- ^ "Richard Hu Tsu Tau Ph.D." Bloomberg News. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
- ^ Lee, Meixian. "Richard Hu to retire from GIC board". Forums.condosingapore.com. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
- ^ "31 August 2010". Smu.edu.sg. Archived from the original on 6 September 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
- ^ Lee, Meixian (2 November 2012). "Richard Hu to retire from GIC board". The Straits Times. p. 22.
- ^ "F&N: Appoints Dr. Richard Hu As Senior Adviser To The Board". Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Business Times. 3 April 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
- ^ Who's who in Singapore, 2006. Kar Tiang Low, Who's Who Publishing (3rd ed.). Singapore: Who's Who Pub. 2006. p. 193. ISBN 981-4062-02-2. OCLC 62782476.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Migration (13 January 1985). "From the archives: Money man with a soft touch | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
- ^ Tan, Felicia. "Former finance minister Richard Hu dies at 96". Retrieved 8 September 2023.
External links[edit]
- 1926 births
- 2023 deaths
- Members of the Cabinet of Singapore
- Members of the Parliament of Singapore
- Finance ministers of Singapore
- Chairmen of the Monetary Authority of Singapore
- People's Action Party politicians
- Singaporean people of Hakka descent
- People from Yongding District, Longyan
- Singaporean politicians of Chinese descent
- Anglo-Chinese School alumni
- Alumni of the University of Birmingham
- Academics of the University of Manchester
- Ministers for health of Singapore