Was saddened to learn of Denis Healey’s passing at the ripe old age of 98 last night.
When Singapore became independent, we were defenceless. We needed the British forces stationed here while we built up the SAF. But the British economy was in trouble, and their government wanted to withdraw from “East of Suez”, to ease the defence burden.
Denis Healey was the UK Defence Secretary, and a friend of Mr Lee Kuan Yew. He fought to keep British forces in Singapore as long as possible.
The British bent over backwards to help us. British regulations required them to destroy surplus equipment, but Healey agreed to let us have their surplus equipment when British forces left Singapore.
Healey also sold us the Hawker Hunter aircraft, and helped train our air force to operate and fly our first fighters.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew described Healey as having a powerful intellect, “like a computer which kept on putting out new solutions as more data was fed in”. He later became the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and was described as “the best Prime Minister Britain never had”.
My deepest condolences to his family on his passing. – LHL
(Denis Healey sitting down for dinner with my father in 1966, in their first meeting in Singapore to discuss British defence spending. / ST File Photo © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.)
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