TODAY asks: did govt of sg agree with shin corp investment

last SG · 2006-11-16T09:48:38+00:00

I think all this is up to the choice of Shin Corp.

OO_OO_OO SG

The very first sentence of Today's headline reports blared: Did the Government of Singapore agree with Temasek's investment in Shin Corp?

assuming they didnt agree because temesek is independent of government.
Well who do we pay taxes to? We pay taxes to the government, we expect them to make good use of our money. If they allow the investment branch to squander the nation's resources, then are they fit to even handle the nation's resources? They should well be aware of every cent that is being spent instead of raising taxes and collecting money so freely.

or could it be they are trying to push all responsibility to Temesek.
Comon', we're not fools. everyone makes mistakes. if it was a bad investment, just admit it and move on. im sure singaporeans are forgiving.

its like a kid being caught eating on the train, and the parent says: its not my fault, fine the kid, dont fine me.

precipice SG

do you think they invested without the blessings of the govt?

shade343 SG

Why is it people dont understand that Temasek is a PRIVATE COMPANY? Rolling Eyes

The government has stated many times that they do not interfere in the business decision of Temasek Holdings.

precipice SG

dont make me laugh.

if temasek is a private company, then how did that woman get appointed as the head????

charlize SG

Don't mind him.

He only knows what he reads in the local papers. Laughing

OO_OO_OO SG

i think that no matter how private the company is, the government has to take responsibility of the use of state funds. we entrusted our money to the government, not temesek. when an investment goes wrong, the one accountable is not temesek, its the government.

Hogzilla SG

If it's a private company, the CEO will be ousted when the CEO puts out a statement that they will only make 3% profits after dunno how many years.

ZHU_GE_LIANG SG

shade343 boyboy,

i pity u so much... U r just another innocent kid being brainwashed by the media.

Atobe SG

Temasek is a 'PRIVATE COMPANY' ?

It is as private as far as it concerns the First Family of Singapore in its arrangements.

From the following site concerning Corporate Governance of State Owned Enterprises' it shows the symbiotic relationship between The Government of Singapore supervising the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Ministry of Finance, and Other Regulators such as Attorney General's Chambers, CPIB, Commercial Affairs Department.

Amongst all the GLC in Singapore, it seems that Temasek Holdings has a special privilege of being linked with a subsidiary line directly to the Ministry of Finance.

The reason is that it is 100% owned by the Ministry of Finance, and being allowed to operate independently is probably for the sake of day-to-day operation, and any major investment decisions that involve PUBLIC FUNDS will surely have been approved by the POWER OF ONE.

Can Temasek Holding be Private Enterprise when it receives from the Singapore Government the surplus funds that have been generated and not returned to the Singapore Reserves ?

The Board of Directors of Temasek has an ex-Minister Dhanabalan as the Chairman of Temasek, and Ho Ching as a CEO who is also the wife of PM LHL. The other members of the Board of Directors are all ex-Civil Servants or Senior Employees from GLCs.

shade343 SG

Look, Temasek only has 1 shareholder and that is the MInistry of Finance. But it is run in a capitalistic manner. The board consist of directors from both the public and private sector. 4 out of 9 directors in Temasek holdings hold a directorship in listed companies such as DBS, Exxonmobil, GK Goh and Comfortdelgro.

In fact only the only government presence in the board is Lim Siong Guan from Ministry of Finance. The rest are independent of any public positions. Ho ching is not even a minister.

The Ministry of Finance has repeatedly say they do not interfere in the affairs of Temasek Holdings. Period.

shade343 SG

Temasek Holdings, as a private company, also declare and pay dividends to it shareholders. Since the MoF is the single shareholder, money is returned to the government in the form of dividends.

OO_OO_OO SG

the ministry might not intervene with the decisions of temesek.
but, the fact remains that the tax payers money lies with the government.
when an investment goes wrong, the government should come up and explain, not throw the blame to temesek.
our tax money goes to the country, not temesek holdings.

4getmenot SG

yea yea..if its a private company, the head would already be asked to step down after making such scandalous blunder in the shin corp deal. Rolling Eyes ..

shade343 SG

So why nobody celebrates the fact that temasek has managed to acheived 18% total shareholder returns by market value?

This loss will merely undermine the returns for FY2006, but every business decision comes with a risk. SInce when was investing 100% profitable and risk free? The higher the risk you put yourself in, the bigger the payout if all goes well.

And the govt understands this basic economic fact. And it should be noted that the objective of Temasek holdings is to " manage our investments with the aim of creating and maximizing sustainable value for our shareholder."

So there should not be any surprises concerning a business set-back. In fact, such an incident would have made Temasek Holdings a wiser company. They would now be more prudent when it comes to further investing in Thailand.

OO_OO_OO SG

friend. the problem is not the losses. its how the government pushes responsibility to everyone but itself.
do you daresay the government had 0 say in this deal?
if it made a mistake, it should accept it. and the press should not try to cover up by publishing such senseless reports.

precipice SG

i agree fully with this.

no company will keep the same management after such a blunder.... if it is a private company.

shade343 SG

The govt has made it clear that they do not micro manage their investment vehicles. They employ people to do that. Our country follows a system of capitalism, if you want the govt to control everything, we might as well switch to a system of communism.

Since the mistake was made by Temasek Holdings, shareholders have every right to voice their displeasure at the management and fire them if they no longer have confidence in their performance.

But I think, everybody makes mistakes, nobody is perfect. And as such, MoF isnt calling for anybody to be axed at Temasek yet. Like what Tharman Shanmugaratnam said " Temasek has been riding the risk well and its returns since 2002 were well above 18%".

shade343 SG

If shareholders still have faith in the capabilities of the management, why should they fire them?

dragg SG

who are the shareholders?

the 18% profit is merely hearsay.

shade343 SG

hearsay? Have you looked at the Temasek annual report? Are you implying that what Tharman Shanmugaratnam say is fictional?