Lee Hsien Yang that is. 
The chief executive of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. , whose
brother is the country's Prime Minister, surprised investors by
announcing he would resign from Southeast Asia's biggest phone
company.
Lee Hsien Yang, 48, who announced the decision on Friday after the
stock market had closed, said he would stay on until SingTel had
found a replacement. He gave no reason for leaving.
"It's certainly surprising, it's not something they've been
telegraphing," said Hugh Young, managing director at Aberdeen Asset
Management in Singapore.
He added "an emotional, knee-jerk reaction downward would be
possible" in SingTel's share price when the stock market
opens.
Lee, 48, is a member of Singapore's leading political family. His
father, founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, still holds a cabinet
position as Minister Mentor, while his elder brother, Lee Hsien
Loong, is the country's Prime Minister.
Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL] -- the Singapore state investment firm
which has a 54 percent stake in SingTel -- is run by the Prime
Minister's wife, Ho Ching.
Fund managers and analysts dismissed suggestions that Lee's
decision would herald a period of uncertainty for SingTel.
"There's unlikely to be any uncertainty going forward -- SingTel is
a professionally run company, and with such companies, there is
always a succession plan in place, and it's hard for one person's
departure to have such a huge impact," said Bowen Phua, an analyst
at DBS Vickers Securities.
Potential successors could include Allen Lew, the chief executive
of SingTel's Singapore operations, and Chua Sock Koong, the chief
financial officer and chief executive of its international
businesses, Phua said.
"SingTel could get a professional guy from outside, but I think
Allen is one of the most ideal internal candidates due to his
experience in Australia and Thailand," Phua added.
Lew, 51, was appointed to his current position in February. Before
that, he was the chief operating officer of SingTel's Thai mobile
associate, Advanced Info Service Plc. , and managing director of
the consumer division Australian unit Optus.
"A VERY LONG TIME"
Lee Hsien Yang has been chief executive officer of Singapore's
largest listed firm since May 1995. The company said he would
continue in his role as chief executive officer until a replacement
had been found.
Lee told a press conference he did not have a specific reason for
wanting to step down.
"It's really hard to find a reason. At some point in time you
decide that you have been in a role for some time and you would
want to look for change, and 12 years is a very long time for a
tenure of any CEO," he told a media briefing.
"I have thoroughly enjoyed my role, it's been both challenging and
great fun."
He added now was "as good a time as any" for him to step down. "I
have always indicated to the board that I will not be here forever.
There's now a strong management team in place, and given the
strength of the company today, we would have both the options of
credible internal candidates as well as serious external candidates
who may be interested."
SingTel chairman Chumpol NamLamlieng said the board had only just
started the process of searching for his successor.
"At the moment there is no time frame specified for this but we
would take a thorough look at candidates internally and
externally," he added.
Lee said he had not thought about what he wanted to do next. "At
this point in time, I have neither solicited nor received any
offers."
But politics was out. "I've said many times before that I do not
think politics is something I am suited for. I have no great
interest to pursue a career in politics," he added.
Lee joined SingTel in April 1994 as Executive Vice President of
Local Services and took over at the helm a year later.
SingTel shares, which made their debut on the local bourse on Nov.
1, 1993, have traded below the price of S$3.60 at which they were
sold to institutional investors for over six years. The stock
closed at S$2.47 on Friday.
The company, with a market cap of $26 billion, paid Lee S$2.22
million in cash in the last financial year to March 31 --
representing an increase of 4.2 percent.
Facing a small home market of just 4.4 million people, where over
nine out of 10 individuals own a mobile phone, SingTel has spent
S$17 billion ($10 billion) in recent years buying operators in
high-growth Asian nations with fewer cellphone users, and in the
bigger Australian market.
It now derives about 75 percent of revenues and two-thirds of
pre-tax earnings from operations outside Singapore.
SingTel owns 21.5 percent of AIS, 30.8 percent of India's Bharti
Group , 44.6 percent of Globe Telecom Inc. in the Philippines, 35
percent of Indonesia's PT Telkomsel , and 45 percent of Pacific
Bangladesh Telecom Ltd.
