I am nuts

Mdm Ho Ching must step down as head of Temasek

I'm sure many people's impression of CSJ is not very good, due to the media portray of him as either a raving mad man, or a troublemaker that is a danger to singapore. I once had that impression too. But then I started reading a couple of his books, simply out of curiosity initally, but found that he actually made alot of sense. Sure, some of his antics or articles may be abit over the top for local tastes, but I think we should delve more in depth to simply see the gist of what he was trying to say. For example, the following article makes complete sense to me if you ask me. When will Singaporeans get the transparency out of Temasek that we deserve? Is it another NKF in the making? But this time, with no govt backed entity such as the SPH going against it, who can make them disclose anything? Until now, Temasek has remained dumb on the question as to whether they had knowingly bought full control into Shin Corp despite the Thai laws not allowing them to. They are simply not bothered to even reply to their shareholders(ie Singaporeans) queries.

Media Release: Mdm Ho Ching must step down as head of Temasek
20 Oct 06


Given the revelations of the scandalous deal between Temasek Holdings and Shin Corp which continue to trickle from Bangkok, it is impossible for Singaporeans not to take notice.

The transaction has not only provoked outrage among the Thai people, leading to the souring of relations between Singapore and Thailand.

This reinforces the Singapore Democrats' stand that the Government has to get out of being directly involved in business as it arouses, not without reason, suspicion in the countries in which it makes deals.

In addition, with the questionable performance of the Temasek-linked companies and some high profile debacles, including

- The sinking of Micropolis which cost Singaporeans $630 million

- The ill-advised acquisition of Optus by SingTel which stands to face a write-down of between $5 billion to $8 billion,

- And the present eruption of the Shin Corp deal in which due diligence was not exercised which may yet incur a loss of up to $3 billion

it is clear that Madam Ho Ching, wife of PM Lee Hsien Loong, has failed as head of Temasek. Her decision to buy into Shin Corp has even provoked a criminal investigation into the deal in Thailand.

And while Mr Thaksin Shinawatra and his family are laughing all the way to the bank, Temasek has lost the hard-earned money of Singaporeans which now looks unrecoverable.

While all these developments have taken place, the Government and the company continue to remain tight-lipped apart from the few platitudes offered by the Prime Minister that serve no purpose or have any meaning.

In light of all this the SDP calls on Madam Ho Ching to resign as chief executive of Temasek Holdings.

In addition, in the interest of transparency and accountability Singapore should hold its own public inquiry into the affair and have Temasek come clean about all the related matters. There are reports that the non-transparent deal was influenced by members of the Lee family.

If Temasek is indeed a commercial entity that adheres to the corporate code of conduct, then it will make itself transparent to its shareholders, that is, Singaporeans.

Singaporeans must be given all the information to determine for themselves if there were any wrong-doings by all the players involved.

Chee Soon Juan
Secretary-General
Singapore Democratic Party

Labels: Chee Soon Juan, Mdm Ho Ching, sdp, singapore, Temasek

posted by Nutcracker @ 6:53 pm