SPEECH

25 June 2004

SPEECH BY MS HO CHING AT THE TEMASEK TURNS 30 STAFF EVENT

Friends, colleagues,

Thirty years is a generation. A lot of things change, although nowadays we live longer than 30 years. Hopefully, in another 20 years, all of us will be looking forward to a 120-year lifespan.

What we have in Temasek today is really, the fruits of the labour and the foresight of our predecessors – the people who have founded Temasek, the people who have run Temasek companies. They gave their hearts, they gave their minds, they gave their sweat, they gave their tears to build largely, the businesses in our group. And we have been lucky to inherit this strong institution, a Singapore institution built by our earlier generation.

Our responsibility as inheritors is to continue to lay the foundations and to build for our next generation. In other words, take Temasek beyond Singapore. In the next 30 years, Temask must transform yet again, to become a formidable Asian equity-house, operating in Asia, as well as the world. That is our challenge and our responsibility.

This will take courage, this will take humility, this will take capability, brains, hands, brawns; this will take tenacity and creative innovation. As we build we also must remember our roots.

The roots of Singapore are the roots of the world. The success of Singapore is built on the success of people coming from all over the world, trying to make a living for themselves. It is built on a collective contribution of tenacious talents – each of them just simply trying to earn an honest living for themselves, for their families, for their children.

So these values of Singapore are the values of integrity, of meritocracy, and also of a pragmatic realism. For sure we look at the world with idealism. We want to build this, we want to build this, we want to create the best for our children, we want to create a world that’s peaceful, that’s stable, that’s friendly, that gives fair opportunities for everybody. But we also have to be pragmatic, and be realistic; that this is a world that’s also not a perfect world; that we have to live with it and we have to navigate our way around. But at the end, what we are hoping to build is to contribute in our way to a world and a society that is multi-cultural, that’s multi-racial and that’s inclusive. So the challenge for us in Temasek at the same time, as we move towards this global world where everybody has a part, where everybody has a share, is to build a multi-national and an international team within Temasek and leave a legacy behind for our successors - a highly-competitive, highly-capable, highly-reputable and bold Asian institution. Hopefully, our successors, 30 years later, will continue to build from that foundation, to turn Temasek yet again into a global institution. So from Singapore, to Asia and to the world.

A lot has happened over the last few years. We’ve stepped up the pace of change ourselves. Our TLCs also have stepped up the pace of change. Today we’ve lots of young people, working hand in hand with our veterans, some of whom have given a good part of twenty years to Temasek.

So I want to say a big ‘thank you’ to all of you, to all our people, young and old, senior and junior. It’s been a tough year, tough period especially over the last two years, with lots of changes and tonnes of opportunities and of course, tonnes of work. Many of you have been pushing like crazy, and getting stretched and getting over-worked, or so I’ve been told. But I’m glad. I’m glad that our people do take time out to get married. To have kids, and they do take time out to spend time with their family and their friends. And I think that’s important.

I want to take this opportunity today to congratulate all of you, not just on the 30th anniversary, but also for the results and achievements that we’ve had; and also to congratulate all of you for the transformation of Temasek, particularly over the last two years. Every transaction for Temasek must not only deliver value, but should also push the boundaries and establish new learning points for ourselves and for our markets. I’m glad we have delivered, whether it’s working with PSA or NOL or other companies, or whether it’s our own direct investments. I’m proud to be part of the team, I am very happy to have the opportunity to work with so many of you – educated, able, pushing, energetic. Everyone in Temasek counts. And for sure, we want to continue to build a Temasek which everyone can also count on.