Sad day for Singapore

[myo539]

The last I heard, Merill Lynch lost $15b in the last quarter of 2008. UBS also lost a few billion. Citibank, which she bought $24 per share in 2007, lost $21 within a year.

What profit were you talking about?

Again you miss the point - investment by Temasek is for the long haul, and not for short term speculative profit. This has been repeated time and again and was one of the cardinal principles of Temasek. May be Dr T Tan was speaking to the deaf.

Those who seek instant self-gratification are doomed to fail in the long run. If you don't live long enough, may be your children will reap the benefits of Temasek investment.

 

[1sickpuppy]

1. I don't think Mdm Ho is a local but a FT too. I heard she is a Malaysian from Malacca but feel free to correct me if I am wong.
2. In desperation people are grabbing what they think can save them. Its obvious with such great lost Mdm Ho is not a life saver but rather a dead weight. Hence the only thing that was floating out there and reachable was a Goodyear tire. So any sane man would do is cut off the dead weight from the sinking ship and grabb the life float

 

[The_Latest_H]

Again you miss the point - investment by Temasek is for the long haul, and not for short term speculative profit. This has been repeated time and again and was one of the cardinal principle of Temasek.

Those who seek instant self-gratification are doomed to fail in the long run. If you don't live long enough, may be your children will reap the benefits of Temasek investment.

Temasek is supposed to manage the stat boards and the companies which are in charge of industries where private sector cannot do because of high costs and low profitability, such as public transportation and public utilities.

That is their main priority. Not investing in citibank, or in Merill Lynch. Don't you not get it? Don't you not understand what is the meaning of priorities that are apolitical and not because of the ruling party? Temasek is supposed to manage things on behalf of the country, which is beyond politics.

The investment in these failing banks were clearly done because of political reasons- and because of this, they have failed in their duties in ensuring that Temasek remains a domestic state-owned company for domestic reasons. Never it should have gone overseas in the first place. It remains and should only remain in charge of three main industries and purposes at home and at home only: public transportation, public utilities, and public landline telephone communication. The rest is left for the government ministries to manage within the public sector. The rest is up for the private sector to manage within a set of common-sense regulations.

In short, Temasek- AND GIC- shouldn't be involved in overseas investments in the first place. The reserves should have been left in the MAS and Finance ministry or in a new Reserve central bank. Management of the funds, including CPF- for domestic purposes- should be left up to the respective people: foreign reserves for Central bank managment, and for the Finance minstry, mainly for locals; CPF to the CPF board with clear cut rules that CPF should not be used for Temasek and GIC purposes. It should remain in the CPF funds for domestic uses.

 

[newyorker88]

Temasek is supposed to manage the stat boards and the companies which are in charge of industries where private sector cannot do because of high costs and low profitability, such as public transportation and public utilities.

. It should remain in the CPF funds for domestic uses.

I see the $$ invested overseas as "protetion money" paid to Uncle SAM to protect Singkee land against her neighbours, due to big mouths who dont know how to talk properly but offend others at the slightest possibility.

 

[scroobal]

Again you miss the point - investment by Temasek is for the long haul, and not for short term speculative profit. This has been repeated time and again and was one of the cardinal principles of Temasek. May be Dr T Tan was speaking to the deaf.

The investment in Merill, Citibank and UBS has evaporated. The long term investment argument was put forth immediately after the slide anymore. Not anymore. Even Temasek will not state somethinga as erroneous as this.

You got to stop misrepresenting the facts or citing extreme examples that are illogical.

If you do not understand, talk to those that you can guide you. Tony Tan must also be speaking to the dumb for what you have written.

 

[kakowi]

...self censorship in action...

 

[jw5]

You either can't read or don't know what is happenning. People are celeberating Ho Ching's exit for obvious reasons ranging from conflict of interest to investment debacles but no one is celeberating Goodyear's appointment. There are 2 different issues. Life cannot be as simple as that.

It shows the failure of the scholarship system where talent is recognised and nutured early. No other country has invested so much and got little in returns. So bad is the performance that a country's sovereign fund is in the hands of a foreigner. After 35 years of investment, not one tree has borne fruit.

Not many people are aware that the Civil Service has placed its talents in the private sector including MNCs to carry out work just like any other employer and these are done for longer than one year. Yet no results.

Goodyear walked away between $60 to $100Million fron BHP. His base pay will be $3M without even performance pay kicking in.

Bro scroobal
It's very sad, but frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.

 

[leetahbar]

there is no clear cut transparency in tamasick's account.

it's usually in either of these 2 words: MAKE MONEY OR LOSE MONEY.

they exaggerate on the MAKE MONEY glamour but stinge on the accountability of the LOSE MONEY shame. and by the way, this phrase LONG TERM is getting very vague. 10 yrs is long term....100 yrs is also long term. question is: how much is it left in their piggybank? and how much is left in our piggy bank - the cpf?

 

[Hope]

Again you miss the point - investment by Temasek is for the long haul, and not for short term speculative profit. This has been repeated time and again and was one of the cardinal principles of Temasek. May be Dr T Tan was speaking to the deaf.

Those who seek instant self-gratification are doomed to fail in the long run. If you don't live long enough, may be your children will reap the benefits of Temasek investment.

I agree with Mr Seah that you do not talk any sense.

Yala,long term investment.

6631.1

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/7/focus/3204879&sec=focus
Unease over nation抯 assets
Insight Down South
By SEAH CHIANG NEE

The need to dip into foreign reserves for part of a S$20.4bil (RM49.1bil) stimulus package raises questions on the government抯 global investment policy.

AS RECESSION deepens and foreign investment values tumble, the government is facing rising public pressure for information on just how badly the national reserves are faring.

Singaporeans are becoming more anxious about not knowing how much their collective savings have been lost � or tied up � in troubled investments as a result of the global market collapse.

The amount of losses has not been disclosed, except in the most general way, but market analysts believe that they are in the region of many tens of billions of dollars.

The people抯 unease, which has been building up for a year, took a recent turn for the worse when the government dipped into the reserves for part of a S$20.4bil (RM49.1bil) stimulus package.

It is the first time in history that Singapore has done so, drawing out S$4.9bil (RM11.8bil), a drop in the ocean compared with total reserves believed to be more than US$200bil (RM725bil).

This was followed by a Bloomberg interview in which Singapore抯 Finance Minister revealed that US$24bil (RM87bil) was invested in three of the West抯 worst hit banks in the past 14 months.

The banks were UBS AG (Switzerland抯 largest) and America抯 Citigroup and Merrill Lynch, which was subsequently taken over by Bank of America.

Decimated, their values are still falling. Other invested equities have fallen sharply, too.

揥e haven抰 seen the worst yet,� warned minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, indicating more trouble ahead for Singapore抯 bank investments.

At a time when recession-hit Singaporeans � especially the growing unemployed � needed financial help, the reminder that US$24bil (RM87bil) of their assets had been invested abroad was jarring.

揟his amount is more than the S$20.4bil (RM49.1bil) 慠esilience Package� unveiled in the Budget...� said online commentator Eugene Yeo.

揟he obvious question that comes to mind is: If Temasek and GIC (Government Investment Corpora梩ion) had not invested so much money, would we have needed to dip into our reserves?� he asked in WayangParty.com.

Using the reserves to alleviate hardship had been a frequent cry here. Instead of being greeted with relief, the move is highlighting something the government doesn抰 want made common knowledge � the state抯 declining assets.

How much of the reserves do we have left, some asked. One precise question is: 揌ow much of the bad investments had been lost � or is irrecoverable � and what are the plans to protect the rest?�

In an apparent response, the authorities have assured people that state investors had reduced equities, and increasing cash to 7% of the total.

The issue of reserves worry many Singaporeans � particularly founding leader Lee Kuan Yew � as the republic抯 worst ever recession deepens.

Reserves are Singapore抯 life-line. Its growth has kept pace with the country抯 rapid progress during the 43 years since independence.

Lee and his thrifty colleagues had been instrumental in building up much of the current reserves, virtually brick by brick in the past and almost treating them as sacrosanct.

But in the past decade, this caution had given way to a more aggressive mega-billion dollar investment policy in an effort to increase the rate of returns.

The timing and the sense of anticipation have been poor. However, the importance Lee had attached to accumulating national savings was based on sound principles.

Without natural resources and being excessively dependent on the world for trade, Singapore has always regarded building up strong reserves as crucial for survival.

By and large Singaporeans go along with this. The complaint, however, is over the excessive collection of revenue � through indirect taxes and increased costs � to make it happen.

Now, ironically, it is the severe nature of the current global crisis that shows how important savings are to Singapore.

Without it, this city state could have gone under. It has, in fact, allowed Singapore to gear up for a strong bounce back when the world recovers.

Just how strong is Singapore financially?

The official reserves are managed by GIC and Temasek Holdings. GIC had invested US$100bil (RM362.5bil) of the foreign reserves abroad, Reuters reported last April.

(Morgan Stanley, however, said in February that GIC was the world抯 third-largest sovereign wealth fund with US$330bil (RM1,196bil) in assets under management, behind Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, with US$875bil (RM3,172bil), and Norway抯 Government Pension Fund, with US$380bil (RM1,377bil).)

Temasek, headed by the prime minister抯 wife Ho Ching, has a S$164bil (RM394.6bil) portfolio, Reuters reported.

(According to Morgan Stanley, Temasek manages S$159.2bil (RM382.6bil) and is the world抯 seventh-largest sovereign wealth fund.)

Last year, the government defended these US and European banks as good strategic investments that it intended to keep for 30 years.

But some of their fundamentals had so badly deteriorated in recent months that such talk no longer resounds.

Merrill Lynch has closed and was taken into the Bank of America, which is finding its troubles run so deep that it needs the US government to help with the merger.

And Citigroup is only a pale self of what Singapore had purchased, after selling off many major assets and reverting back to being a bank.

揑t抯 like buying a Rolls Royce but getting a Mini-Minor,� said a trader.

Today, few well-informed Singapo梤eans accept the argument that they are a good buy or will be sound, credible long-term investments.

The banking industry in the world is undergoing big changes, with the future looking less than certain.

In a few years� time the recession will blow over, almost everyone is sure.

But no one can be equally sure that even when it happens Singapore can recover from its investment mistakes, even years after that.

I hope and pray that � as a Singaporean � events will prove me wrong.

 

[lolabunny]

Bro scroobal
It's very sad, but frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.

Isn't that what Rhett Butler said to Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind?

Who says lines like that these days??

 

[newyorker88]

I agree with Mr Seah that you do not talk any sense.

Yala,long term investment.

6631.1


I hope and pray that � as a Singaporean � events will prove me wrong.

Long term investments? What a joke.

 

[War Criminal]

Again you miss the point - investment by Temasek is for the long haul, and not for short term speculative profit. This has been repeated time and again and was one of the cardinal principles of Temasek. May be Dr T Tan was speaking to the deaf.

That was a good laugh.

Dont need to explain further others have already started tearing him to pieces

 

[guavatree]

temple thief old faggot BobDog talk about transparency ... LOL

there is no clear cut transparency in tamasick's account.

unemployed parasite old fart faggot fake monk PAP dog Bob Sim Kheng Hwee,

temple thief, swindler, fraudster, cheat, con-artist, liar, hypocrite, deceiver, all rolled into one!

sucking PAP lanjiaos also got transparency meh?

LOL

 

[VIBGYOR]

Some forummers here are rejoicing because the very humble but capable Ho Ching has resigned from billion dollar Temasek.

actually forummers here have no control over the management decisions at Temasek, your question should be better directed at your master, Lee Kuan Yew!

 

[kuntakinte]

Bow...wow...wow...wow..bow...bow...wow...

Let me interpret (I am trying to learn to speak your "language")....

Do you wack your children when they did well and score well in Primary 1 and fail all the way through Primary 2 to Primary 6 ??

What good does it do to gain millions $$$ and lose BILLIONS $$$

Madam Ho paid for her mistake,6 years in the post and lost S$60 billion,scare or not?
QUOTE]

When Temasek makes money, no one cares a hoot about Ho Ching.

Do you wack your children when they fail their exams, but when they score As, you just keep quiet?

 

[leetahbar]

Long term investments? What a joke.

instead of LONG TERM, lau lee would be LONG GONE.

 

[gsh]

It is scary that our reserve is run now by a foreigner.

I do not think anyone has the skills not clout to handle all the politics and the "old boys" club and mentality inside Temasek except Ho Ching.

Ho Ching may have lost about 30% of our total investment last year. But in perspective, most people have lost more than 40% and even Warren Buffet lost more than 35% of his investment.

The trouble is that her short term failures are being amplified.

I agree that many of her timings were extremely poor. Managing that huge an amount of money is difficult but we have actually seen the money grow above market over the years.

The key is transparency which is lacking. Again, with the mentality of Singaporeans as exhibited by the forum here, Singapore is not ready.

 

[Seee3]

The system failed because of the selection process for scholars. They were looking for candidates who can "fixed" others and not for brains that can fixed a problem.