February 19, 2010
A Singaporean by the name of Lim Kay Soon has written to the
Straits Times Forum today expressing his fears about Temasek
Holdings’ “upward revision of its private fund-raising scope from
US$5 billion (S$7 billion) to US$10 billion”.
“By raising funds via placement of public bonds which
Temasek fully and unconditionally guarantees, Temasek is no longer
only managing Singapore’s surplus funds. It has, in fact, morphed
into a semi-private fund management company,” he wrote.
Set up in 1974 to manage Singapore’s strategic “assets”, an
euphemism for state-owned companies, Temasek Holdings has evolved
to become a major international fund under the leadership of Ho
Ching, the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Under her charge, Temasek bought stakes in many international
companies such as Thailand’s Shin Corp, Australia’s ABC Learning
and U.S’s Merrill Lynch which were all disastrous flops resulting
in loss of billions of dollars.
Mr Lim is concerned about Temasek “indirectly leveraging on
its triple A status – which comes from Singapore’s surplus funds –
to access global private funds.”
“As with all investments, there are two possible outcomes,
winning or losing. Should Temasek lose all of Singapore’s surplus
funds, that would be sad, but Singapore would be able to painfully
bear with it. On the other hand, should Temasek also lose with its
borrowed money, it will not only hurt Singapore’s pockets, but may
also shake the world’s confidence in Singapore as a top financial
centre,” he added.
Mr Lim’s fears have been misplaced. Temasek Holdings is a
“commercial entity” or an “Asian investment firm” which is owned
solely by the Ministry of Finance. It has nothing to do with
Singaporeans or Singapore. Neither does it have to account to
anybody for its investments decision.
He ended his letter by asking if Temasek should be allowed to
trade with Singapore’s future:
“Singapore’s financial strength and stability is a key
pillar of its economy. Should Temasek be allowed to leverage on and
trade with the nation’s future?”
Mr Lim should stop wasting time asking questions which will
yield any answers from the authorities. He should just accept
Finance Minister Tharman’s exhortations and “trust” the system.
After all, whether Temasek makes money or not is really none of
Singaporeans’ business since they will never benefit from it in the
first place.
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/02/19/singaporean-worried-about-temasek-holdings-raising-funds-via-placement-of-public-bonds/
