Kenneth Jeyaretnam to Reuters: Unusual that no heads rolled after gigantic losses by GIC and Temasek Holdings
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/0...-gigantic-losses-by-gic-and-temasek-holdings/
March 15, 2010 by admin
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Written by Our Correspondent
In an interview with Reuters, Reform Party’s Secretary-General Kenneth Jeyaretnam expressed his surprise that no heads were rolled despite the massive losses incurred by GIC and Temasek Holdings during the financial crisis.
“It is unusual that we have seen big losses during the financial crisis yet no heads appear to have rolled among senior management,” he said.
GIC reportedly lost around 59 billion Singapore dollars (US$41.6 billion) in the fiscal year ended March, according to a report by Wall Street Journal last September.
It also suffered a paper loss of nearly $10 billion dollars when its stake in Swiss bank UBS was converted to shares last Friday.
The disastrous losses have caused some disquiet and unhappiness among Singaporeans who questioned why the Singapore government continues to remain “secretive” on the real extent of the losses.
Though GIC and Temasek Holdings like to portray themselves as private investment funds, they do not follow the practice in the private sector where such losses will usually result in wholesale changes in the senior management.
Lee Kuan Yew remains the Chairman of GIC while his daughter-in-law Ho Ching heads Temasek Holdings. Lee is a lawyer by training and Ho is an engineer.
Kenneth reiterated the privatization of GIC and Temasek Holdings during the interview to allow more transparency.
“Obviously if they were privatised and listed on the stock market then they will have to ensure higher standards of disclosure,” he added.
Kenneth is the elder son of late opposition leader Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam who continues to be held in high regard by many Singaporeans for his dogged determination in fighting for the rights of ordinary Singaporeans in the face of all odds.
A hedge fund manager by profession, he graduated with double first-class honors in economics from Cambridge University.
Besides privatizing the two sovereign wealth funds, Kenneth also proposed a wider healthcare system to deal with an ageing population.
“I don’t think Singapore can avoid moving towards some form of universal health insurance. We’ve got to start treating health as an investment good rather than just a cost or a welfare drain on the economy.”
The PAP has always eschewed providing more social welfare benefits to Singaporeans out of the perennial fear of creating a “crutch mentality” in the citizenry and yet it can afford to lose billions of dollars of reserves in failed overseas investments without blinking an eyelid.
As expected, the Reuters interview conducted on 12 March 2010 was not reported in the mainstream media which has been censoring news about the opposition parties and leaders to create the erroneous public impression that they are inactive and dormant.
