Richard Hu Tsu Tau ( zh, s=胡赐道, p=Hú Cìdào; born 30 October 1926) is a Singaporean retired politician who served as

Minister for Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

between 1985 and 2001. A member of the governing

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...

(PAP), he was the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Kreta Ayer SMC between 1984 and 1997 and Kreta Ayer–Tanglin GRC between 1997 and 2001.

Early life

Hu was born in Singapore Hu Tsai Kuen, a doctor, and Margaret Kwan Fu Shing. He was educated at the

Anglo-Chinese School Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) is a family of Methodist schools in Singapore and Indonesia. It was founded in 1886 by Bishop William Fitzjames Oldham as an extension of the Methodist Church. Anglo-Chinese School is usually abbreviated as "ACS", wi ...

before graduating from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

in 1952 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...

. He subsequently went on to complete a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials in ...

at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

Career

Hu joined the

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...

Group of Companies in 1960 and rose to the position of Chairman and Chief Executive of this global company in Singapore between 1977 and 1983. In 1983, Hu became the Managing Director of the

Monetary Authority of Singapore The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is the central bank and financial regulatory authority of Singapore. It administers the various statutes pertaining to money, banking, insurance, securities and the financial sector in general, as well ...

(MAS) and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), holding both posts concurrently until 1984. He was chairman of

from 1985 to 1997. Hu contested as a

candidate in the Kreta Ayer Single Member Constituency in 1984 General Elections and won the election. Following the elections, he became the

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

for two years from 1985 to 1987 and the Minister of Finance for 16 years from 1985 to 2001. He had also briefly served as Minister for National Development from 1992 till 1993. As the Minister for Finance, Hu is perhaps best known by his signature on the 'Ship' series of legal tender notes issued after his appointment. He also introduced the Goods and Services Tax in 1993. As part of deregulation and reform of its financial and banking sectors, Hu oversaw the privatization of the government-run Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) and the sale of POSB to the

Development Bank of Singapore DBS Bank Limited, often known as DBS, is a Singaporean multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at the Marina Bay Financial Centre in the Marina Bay district of Singapore. The bank was previously known as The De ...

(DBS) in 1998. On 13 April 2004, Hu joined the Board of Singaporean property development company

CapitaLand CapitaLand is a Singaporean headquartered company focusing on investment, development and management of real estate. It is one of Asia's largest real estate companies and the owner and manager of a global portfolio comprising integrated develo ...

and was elected Chairman the same day, until his retirement in 2012. He was also the Chairman of GIC Real Estate Pte Ltd and Asia Financial Holdings Pte Ltd, as well as a Director of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) and a Director of Buildfolio.Com.Inc. Hu also served as the

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the Singapore Management University from July 2002 to August 2010. Hu retired from GIC in 2012. In 2013, Hu was appointed as senior advisor of the

Fraser and Neave Fraser and Neave, Limited (F&N) is a Singaporean food and beverage, publishing and former brewing and property industries conglomerate. It is owned by Thai Chinese billionaire business magnate Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi. Listed in Singapore, the ...

board.

Personal life

Hu is married to Irene Tan Dee Leng. They have two children. He is of

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

Chinese ancestry.

References

External links

AIMR Conference Proceedings May 1996, Volume 1996 Issue 5
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hu, Richard 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 1926 births Living people Alumni of the University of Birmingham Ministers for Health of Singapore