Singapore Temasek Foundation silences the cynics
Its projects in Asia make a difference that goes beyond any PR exercise
By CHUANG PECK MING
JUST a week shy of Temasek Foundation’s first anniversary, Temasek Holdings, which started the $500 million foundation to help people in Asia, was again in the news. Last Friday, an Indonesian court threw out the Singapore investment company’s appeal against a ruling that it had breached the country’s anti-monopoly law in a case involving the two largest Indonesian telecom operators.
Unlike a similar dispute in Thailand about a year ago, the proceedings this time were more civilised. The Thai episode saw public protests against Temasek’s investments in a telecommunication company - Shin Corporation - owned by then Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his family. The protests culminated in the Thaksin government’s ouster. It was soon after this that Temasek Foundation was formally set up.
The new Thai government subsequently declared that Temasek’s stake in Shin was ‘just business’, backing away from earlier claims that Singapore could use Shin’s assets to spy on the military.
But Temasek’s deep pockets and aggressive overseas investments in recent years have been a constant source of concern for nationalists in a number of countries - a concern magnified by Temasek’s link to the Singapore government.
Launching Temasek Foundation was thought to be a move that would ’soften’ Temasek’s image, win the hearts and minds of the people in countries where Temasek has sunk money, and make its investments more acceptable.
Temasek has denied this from the start. Its chairman S Dhanabalan said at the launch of the foundation on May 16, 2007: ‘Just as we have both benefited from and contributed to Singapore’s success through our investments since the 1970s, we hope to similarly benefit from and contribute to Asia’s growth and development as a prosperous and stable region, through our role as a long-term investor in Asia and through our contributions as a corporate citizen.’
Still, a year after the foundation was rolled out, after dispensing some $16 million in 14 educational, health and research projects in the region, the question is still asked - was Temasek Foundation started to take the sting out of Temasek’s investment activity, and is the foundation’s work a public relations exercise for Temasek?
Temasek Foundation’s chief executive officer, Benedict Cheong, points out that Temasek had the foundation in mind five years ago, long before its troubles with Shin Corp in Thailand. But a cynic may yet counter that the foundation was just an idea earlier - and Temasek was only nudged to act after its nasty experience with Shin, which prompted it to do something about its image.
But actions speak louder than words. The foundation’s deeds in the past year - and its plans to do more in the coming year, spending up to $22 million - should go a long way to silence the cynics.
While dishing out only a fraction of what it could have given out - up to $50 million yearly - Mr Cheong, formerly CEO of the National Council of Social Service, and his lean team of seven staffers have worked with partners to get the most out of the money spent in the past year.
Whether it is training educators in Manila, grooming nurses and teachers in Hainan, or bringing students in the region together in exchange programmes, Temasek Foundation never lost sight of its mission - to develop people, build bridges between them, build institutions of excellence through good governance and ethics, and rebuild lives and livelihoods hit by natural disasters.
These are projects that are more than PR exercise - they will make a difference to the lives of people, especially those in the less developed part of Asia.
‘If we only want publicity, we get more of it if we focus on children and old folks,’ Mr Cheong says.
Too much PR, in fact, will come in the way of the foundation’s efforts to contribute to development in the region, he says.
The foundation’s guiding philosophy is essentially capacity-building - that is, ‘teaching people to fish rather than giving them fish’ - and ensuring that the lessons cascade down far and wide. Thus its emphasis on funding training health and education trainers.
Mr Cheong stresses that the foundation’s approach is to listen to the people it helps - and then work with them as partners. To be prescriptive would be to turn them off and lose their cooperation.
The foundation itself does not take directions from Temasek, even though the money comes from the returns on its investments. Temasek Foundation has an independent board; none of its members are from Temasek.
Indeed, most of the foundation’s work in the past year was in countries where Temasek has few investments - the first country it went into was the Philippines. Mr Cheong says Temasek Foundation has some projects coming up in Indonesia, but this will happen long after the fate of Temasek’s appeal is decided by the courts there.
Source : Business Times - 16 May 2008
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