Aug 18, 2009
S'pore Parliament
No goodwill for Goodyear
FORMER chief executive-to-be Mr Charles Goodyear received no goodwill payment for his four months' work at Temasek Holdings the Finance Minister revealed in Parliament.
But after 25 minutes of grilling, the House emerged none the wiser over what exactly the strategic differences were that led to his sudden departure.
Members of Parliament threw question after question at Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam asking him to get Temasek to share with the public what went on behind the scences but he would not budge.
He said that disclosing the information would serve no strategic purpose and that was not unlike the actios of other publicly-listed companies in the private sector.
'People do want to know, there is curiosity, it is a matter of public interest. That is not sufficent reason to disclose information. It is not sufficent that there be curiosty and interest that you want to disclose information,' he said in response to questioning frfom Mr Low Thia Kiang, opposition MP for Hougang.
He reiterated that the words in Temasek's statement to the public were carefully chosen and the Government would not add to that.
In July, Temasek had announced that Mr Goodyear would be leaving the organisation due to unresolved strategic differences.
Mr Tharman also said that hiccup in succession planning was a dent to Temasek's reputation. 'It is a very visible dent in the fender, no damage to bodyparts, no damage to the axle, no damage to the engine.'
S'pore Parliament
No goodwill for Goodyear
FORMER chief executive-to-be Mr Charles Goodyear received no goodwill payment for his four months' work at Temasek Holdings the Finance Minister revealed in Parliament.
But after 25 minutes of grilling, the House emerged none the wiser over what exactly the strategic differences were that led to his sudden departure.
Members of Parliament threw question after question at Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam asking him to get Temasek to share with the public what went on behind the scences but he would not budge.
He said that disclosing the information would serve no strategic purpose and that was not unlike the actios of other publicly-listed companies in the private sector.
'People do want to know, there is curiosity, it is a matter of public interest. That is not sufficent reason to disclose information. It is not sufficent that there be curiosty and interest that you want to disclose information,' he said in response to questioning frfom Mr Low Thia Kiang, opposition MP for Hougang.
He reiterated that the words in Temasek's statement to the public were carefully chosen and the Government would not add to that.
In July, Temasek had announced that Mr Goodyear would be leaving the organisation due to unresolved strategic differences.
Mr Tharman also said that hiccup in succession planning was a dent to Temasek's reputation. 'It is a very visible dent in the fender, no damage to bodyparts, no damage to the axle, no damage to the engine.'