The Temasek Foundation was established in May 2007 and aims to support building of human capacity, promotion of governance and the provision of disaster relief.

Independently managed and staffed with its own board, the Foundation committed close to S$20 million to 35 programmes in 11 countries, with an emphasis on building expertise in vocational education and health care, strengthening regulatory frameworks and enhancing public management capabilities.

For example, TF supported a programme in China to provide community health care training to health care professionals, who will serve at the “Fujian (Xiamen) – Singapore Friendship Polyclinic”, the province’s first primary care clinic. A second programme trained nurses in China’s Guangdong province to manage community health care issues such as tobacco addiction. Similar projects were undertaken in Bangladesh, where some 345 health care professionals were trained to provide sustainable and integrated eye care services to poor communities in Dhaka.

In addition, TF engaged in direct disaster relief around the region. Last year, it sponsored 1,000 portable water-filter kits to provide drinking water to families in the Philippines and Vietnam affected by Typhoon Ketsana.