“As a fund manager, you are focused on maximising returns,” says Temasek’s Head of Tax, Belinda Chan. “But when you run philanthropic programmes, you’re concerned with maximising social impact.”

The two functions demand distinct mindsets – and skill sets, she explains. Yet, before 2006, charities and philanthropic organisations had to manage both functions to qualify for tax benefits on charitable donations.

This posed a challenge for Temasek as it sought to contribute menaingfully to the community.

Since the early 2000s, the company has set aside a portion of its returns above its risk-adjusted cost of capital for charitable initiatives. However, the dilemma persisted: how could these funds be managed and deployed so they achieved both financial growth and tangible social impact?

The task of finding a viable structure fell on Belinda and her team.

Maximising financial and social returns

Originally from Malaysia, Belinda was raised in Australia, where she pursued a double degree in accounting and law. She quickly found her niche in tax law, working at Ernst & Young. “As a tax lawyer, you spend a lot of time reading legislation. And when you understand the implications of that legislation, you can see where change is needed, and then advocate for that change,” she says.

“It may sound crazy – that I enjoy reading legislation,” she laughs, “but for me, it’s a genuine passion. I love what I do.”

An enticing offer from a former boss led her to relocate to Singapore in 1995, and in 2006, she transitioned from her role as Head of Tax for South Asia at UBS to become Tax Director at Temasek. 

“Back then, Temasek was an organisation of about 250 people. Everyone knew everyone, but we were expanding rapidly,” she recalls. “New teams were being set up – not just the tax team, but a treasury team, a corporate finance team, and on the investment side, Private Equity Funds Investment (PEFI) teams – Temasek wanted dedicated teams to manage its growing portfolio.” It was a hectic time for the tax team, she says, navigating the complex landscape of cross-border taxes as Temasek expanded its footprint overseas, and ensuring the company’s assets were ring-fenced.

As Temasek’s operations grew, so did its community contributions, and the need for a robust system to manage and deploy these funds. “We recognised the best person to manage the funds was not necessarily the best person to manage the community programmes. What we needed was a structure that separated fund management from programme management,” she says. “And then we needed the fund manager to be eligible for the tax deduction for donations – which generally wasn’t how tax deductibility for charitable donations was legislatively construed.”

Belinda found herself part of a team that included representatives from the tax, legal and finance teams, as well as then-Chief Executive Officer Ho Ching and former Chief Financial Officer Leong Wai Leng, rallying behind a structure that would better address the distinct functions of philanthropic organisations, and also enhance Singapore’s attractiveness as a philanthropic hub.

“As Asia developed and wealth increased, philanthropy would follow,” she says. “When people grow their wealth, it’s a natural progression for them to want to give back to society. We needed to be ready for that shift.”

For 18 months, the team engaged with multiple stakeholders, from the Ministry of Finance to the Commissioner of Charities. “We wrote multiple papers justifying why this change was necessary, particularly if we wanted Singapore to attract global philanthropy,” she says. This effort eventually resulted in the introduction of the Grantmaker Scheme. Under the scheme, approved grantmakers are eligible for tax deductions on donations, and the funds can be deployed to a separate programme manager.

“This professionalised the non-profit sector, giving other Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) the flexibility to set up in Singapore and operate in a way that maximised both financial and social returns,” she says.

Within Temasek, the new model led to the creation of Temasek Trust and Temasek Foundation in 2007. Temasek Trust serves as a steward for Temasek’s philanthropic assets, ensuring these funds are invested responsibly and directed to where they can make the most difference. Meanwhile, Temasek Foundation drives programmes that seek to create positive outcomes in Singapore and Asia by building health, climate, and social and community resilience.

“For me, there was a strong sense of professional achievement,” says Belinda. “It’s why I am at Temasek, it has the willingness to push boundaries, and to figure out a structure that works.”

Belinda’s philosophy – “Do your job fearlessly” – has become her guiding principle, encouraging her team to push boundaries and embrace challenges without fear. "If you let fear hold you back, you're no longer doing the job." she says.

The ripple effect

Together with geopolitical factors, the policy change has contributed to the rise in the number of NPOs establishing themselves in Singapore. “I think the Grantmaker Scheme resonated with a lot of NPOs, and has been a catalyst for drawing others here,” Belinda says. While tax can seem technical, its implications can be wide-ranging, in this case, creating an ecosystem that can sustain and grow the impact of philanthropy.

For her, this work goes hand in hand with Temasek’s broader commitment to community and society. It’s the foundation of its social licence to operate, she says.

 “At the heart of it, it’s about ensuring the impact we leave behind is meaningful and lasts for generations.”

There was a mix of curiosity and anticipation in the air as the management of Adyen, a rising Dutch payments company, and Temasek’s Financial Services team took their seats in a conference room in the heart of Amsterdam. The questions were many. Each was well-established in their respective markets, but their knowledge of the other – and the potential synergies between them – were less explored.

It was 2014, and Temasek was looking to break into the rapidly expanding digital payments space while growing its European footprint. Adyen, a next-generation payments company focused on seamlessly enabling electronic payments for its merchant clients and their customers, was a promising prospect.

“It felt groundbreaking on many fronts,” recalls then-Director of Financial Services Connie Chan, who led the investment team. “We had been closely monitoring the increasing penetration of digital payments, especially given the rapid growth of e-commerce. With its differentiated technology platform, the experience of its co-founders, and strong track record, Adyen checked all the boxes.” On its part, Temasek was well-placed to provide the capital, connections, and capabilities to support Adyen’s growth.

Being one of its first forays into early-stage companies, Temasek went in with a modest initial investment of S$50 million (€35 million) in 2014, valuing the company at US$1.5 billion. Three years later, in 2017, it scaled up its commitment, convinced by Adyen’s strong fundamentals and continued growth prospects.

“Over time, we saw its potential to break out and be a real winner in the payments category, so we more than doubled down,” says Connie.

In 2018, Adyen went public on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange, raising US$1.1 billion at a US$8.3 billion valuation in an IPO that was oversubscribed several times over. Today, the company has a market capitalisation of over US$45 billion.

A calculated leap

When Connie left investment banking to join Temasek in 2013, the emphasis was still largely on traditional financial services sectors like banks in Asia. As digitisation swept across sectors, the team began to push towards new horizons.

Connie seized the opportunity to develop Temasek’s financial services portfolio by taking an “entrepreneurial” approach. Her boss at the time, Png Chin Yee – now Temasek’s CFO – put Europe on her agenda, with the goal of diversifying portfolio exposure to developed markets. Connie began to ladder up her knowledge and connections, actively seeking out investments that aligned with Temasek’s strategy.

It was a transformative time for Temasek, she says. The company was still deciding on its approach to early-stage investments, assessing when and how to invest in earlier-stage companies with solid prospects. “It was very refreshing, having a blank canvas. We were charting a path, creating a strategy, and building a network. Part of the job was to establish Temasek as a trusted partner that brought value to the founders and management teams.”

Adyen stood out with its track record, innovative platform, and strong grasp of the evolving landscape, combined with a client base that included global digital giants like Facebook, Uber, Spotify, and Airbnb. “It is a company built for purpose and that offers a seamless omnichannel proposition, which means being able to integrate payments across online, offline, and mobile platforms in many markets across the globe for its merchant clients,” says Connie. This was a crucial differentiator as many payment companies grappled with legacy payment infrastructure.

Beyond the product, it was a meeting of minds.

“They weren’t just focused on immediate gains, but on positioning the company for the long term. That resonated strongly with Temasek,” she says.

What also resonated was the sense of ownership its employees had, and the emphasis on transparency and direct communication. “They are much bigger today, but they still live by the principles that led to their success, like continuous learning, working as one team, and even simple things like picking up the phone to talk instead of sending lengthy emails,” she says.

Getting in early with Adyen turned out to be mutually beneficial. It gave Temasek valuable insights into developments in the payments industry and a clear idea of how they could impact – or enable – other companies in its portfolio. Meanwhile, Temasek’s reputation in Asia, its extensive ecosystem, and global reach helped Adyen gain a foothold in the region.

In 2019, Singapore Airlines became one of Adyen’s largest airline customers, simplifying payment processes on its website and app.

“Adyen shared their global ambitions, and we were able to make those referrals and introductions, including to our portfolio companies,” says Connie. “Seeing how far they have come today, I take pride in Temasek’s recognition of their vision, and its commitment to supporting its growth.”

A new future for finance

Temasek’s investment in Adyen paved the way for more strategic moves into the payments and fintech space.

“This investment set a new path, bringing into focus the potential of other asset-light businesses in the financial sector. It has been a constant evolution,” explains Connie, who now heads the Financial Services team.

Diversifying into financial sectors outside of banks has not only uplifted returns, but also bolstered the resilience of Temasek’s portfolio. “That means we are better able to weather different business cycles and achieve more stable returns."

It has been satisfying to see the immense growth achieved by the company since Temasek’s initial investment in 2014, when Adyen’s annual processed volumes were $30 billion compared to $680 billion in just the first half of 2024, says Connie. More importantly, she says, Adyen is a company that impacts people’s lives daily. 

“When I go to pay for something and see an Adyen terminal, or when I make a payment online and see that it is powered by Adyen, it’s a reminder that our capital empowers financial solutions that touch everyday lives.”

In his first few years at Temasek, Yeoh Keat Chuan, better known as KC, “lived and breathed cybersecurity”.

“More and more companies were digitalising, and cybersecurity was an obvious growth area,” recalls KC, now Head of Enterprise Development for Temasek’s Portfolio Development Group (PDG). The PDG focuses on building and nurturing new ventures and developing innovative solutions to key global challenges. “An equally important consideration was ensuring our portfolio companies had access to the cybersecurity capabilities they needed to be adequately protected in an evolving threat landscape.”

In 2018, he stepped into the role of Interim CEO of Ensign InfoSecurity, a venture established by Temasek to provide 24/7 cybersecurity services. At the same time, he double-hatted within the Enterprise Development Group (EDG) leading efforts to build Istari, a global cybersecurity investment platform.

While Ensign provided operational cybersecurity services from systems integration to real-time monitoring, Istari’s team of “Jedis” focused on strategy and identifying growth stage companies with cutting-edge innovations to invest in.

For KC, the two roles offered clear synergies. “For that period of time, being so focused on cybersecurity made it easier to see how the pieces fit together.”

The evolving landscape of digital defence/Defending the digital realm

KC’s ability to quickly grasp industries that were new to him was honed over a 23-year career with the Economic Development Board (EDB), where he moved between sectors ranging from biomedical sciences and aerospace to media and communication. His approach was straightforward but effective: “Read widely. Speak to people”. It served him well when he joined Temasek in 2017 and found himself navigating the rapidly evolving world of cybersecurity.

“The attack surface had expanded significantly,” KC explains. “More companies were shifting to the cloud and digitalising their business processes, and their supply chains, including smaller, less-protected companies, became points of vulnerability. Meanwhile, cybercriminals had access to increasingly sophisticated tools, especially with the rise of AI.”

Temasek’s early investments in cybersecurity funds gave KC a unique window into the industry. “You see what’s catching their attention, and talk directly with the people running the funds to understand the trends, challenges, and opportunities [in the space],” he says.

“We had seen very few cyber companies succeed as parts of a larger entity,” he explains. “[In these cases], cybersecurity services were offered alongside other products, which meant they weren’t fully focused on protecting their clients. That was the problem statement.”

This led to the 2018 merger of the cybersecurity businesses of portfolio companies Certis and StarHub to form Ensign as a pure-play cybersecurity services company.

Ensign was built on three core offerings: systems integration, round-the-clock managed security services through a 24/7 Security Operations Center (SOC), and advisory consulting, which included incident response. A fourth area focused on growing their international business. This comprehensive suite of services, supported by an in-house research lab, meant that clients could rely on Ensign for both the technical implementation and strategic aspects of cybersecurity, across their local and global operations.

Delivering these services required a specialised workforce, a resource in notoriously short supply in the industry.

“We started with about 500 people and now have over 800,” KC says. “Building scale in cybersecurity is tough. Business is not highly profitable unless you reach a certain level, but talent is scarce and expensive. Being a pure-play cybersecurity company, people naturally looked to us because we’re specialised.”

While Ensign focused on operational cybersecurity services, primarily in the Asia-Pacific region, Istari took on a broader, more strategic role. “Unlike physical attacks, where you have to travel over land and water, cyberattacks take place in milliseconds,” says KC. “Istari was designed to help enterprises address cybersecurity as a global challenge.”

Istari provides consulting and advisory services, while also developing a portfolio of early-stage cybersecurity companies through strategic investments. “The idea is to be able to bring innovative solutions to Singapore and Asia, so they can work together with Ensign to provide our portfolio companies with comprehensive defence.”

Its Compass Programme is central to this effort, bringing together Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) from around the world to exchange insights and best practices, keeping enterprises a step ahead of evolving threats.

“The intersection of Ensign’s operational expertise and Istari’s thought leadership makes for a unique combination and offering,” says KC. “We’re not just reacting to threats – we’re anticipating them and working with enterprises to develop bespoke cyber solutions.”

Staying ahead of the curve

In 2020, KC returned to Temasek briefly before moving to head Temus, a new portfolio company set up to provide digital transformation services. In July this year, he returned to head Enterprise Development, now merged with the Portfolio Development Group. He oversees early-stage companies within Temasek’s portfolio, including Ensign and Istari.

Reflecting on his journey, KC lands on the importance of flexibility, especially in rapidly evolving sectors. “I have a favourite saying from Mike Tyson: Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face,” he says. “You can’t fall in love with a strategy. The strategy that works is the one that survives the test of the market. If it needs to change, change it sooner rather than later”. It’s a mindset that he will continue to apply in his new role. 

“Temasek’s foresight in setting up Enterprise Development was crucial,” KC reflects. “It wasn’t just about addressing current needs but looking ahead. It’s one of the few companies with the willingness – or mandate – to invest in building capabilities ahead of demand.”

It’s what keeps him motivated, KC says. “I’m excited about building what will hopefully be the next generation of portfolio companies that will not only lend resilience to Temasek’s portfolio, but also Singapore’s economic landscape.”

As she prepared to step down as CEO of Singapore Technologies (ST) in the early 2000s, Ho Ching had a very different future in mind – early retirement. But S Dhanabalan, then Chairman of Temasek, called to convince her that “me time” could wait.

“I think it was because I had once told him that Temasek should be doing what we were doing in ST. That was the arrogance of youth,” she laughs.

During her 14 years at ST, the electrical engineer helped transform a diverse portfolio of companies, reimagining, consolidating, and turning around businesses.   

It was precisely the kind of bold imagination and risk-taking that Dhanabalan felt Temasek needed to be an active investor. It took some convincing, but in January 2002, Ho Ching joined Temasek’s Board, first as Director, and then Executive Director, before becoming CEO in 2004.

Instead of simply charging forward, she spent her first year at Temasek pulling box files and manila folders from Temasek’s filing registry. She ploughed through decades of meeting minutes and Board papers, and uncovered a history defined by continuous change and evolution.

“When you go to a new place, you have got to respect the institution and its people, and try to understand where they’re coming from,” she explains. “What came through clearly was a picture of a young company searching for a meaningful role. There was a strong sense of people wanting to do better, do good, and rise to the challenge. That was, to me, the DNA of Temasek.” This resonated with her.

On this foundation, she would build a culture of continuous learning, experimentation and adaptation. This relentless commitment to staying ahead of the curve would become a hallmark of her 17-year tenure as Temasek’s CEO, and underpin her style of decision-making and nurturing talent.

Normalising flux

Ho Ching’s first task as CEO was to ignite the ambition to double Temasek’s asset base by the turn of the decade, an audacious goal of “Temasek 2010”, or T2010.

Rather than a prescriptive roadmap, Ho Ching prioritised building a culture of innovation, an openness to embracing challenges, and the courage to seize opportunities and test boundaries.

“We set ourselves a target of having a ‘new’ Temasek every three years – it was ambitious and unsettling, but it was a way to adapt and remain relevant. It made people comfortable with the idea of change, and stepping out of their comfort zones.”

“Even as we did the day-to-day, we had an idea of the longer-term horizon that we were navigating towards. We knew Asia was ready to take off and could feel that pulse, that potential,” she says.

Ho Ching urged what she calls “peeling the onion” to progressively build trust by explaining what Temasek did, and why. Temasek made public its portfolio performance for the first time in 2004, and annually thereafter.      

“To invest outside Singapore, we need to be transparent about who and what we are, so having this annual review was important,” she says. “It is an engagement with the Singapore public, but it is also an engagement with the outside world.”

A sustainable blueprint for success

By the turn of the decade, Temasek had embraced emerging Asia, with offices in China and India, and dealt with the fallout from the 2008 global financial crisis.

It also saw promising new technologies emerging in the US and Europe. To capitalise on these global trends, Temasek embarked on T2020, its second 10-year ambition, and grew to become a trusted international investment house.

“All our plans follow the practice of very seriously reviewing what comes next. The world is changing – and very fast. Asia, itself, is changing quickly. There will be shifting forces, from geopolitics to technology. We need to keep pace and, ideally, anticipate changes and place ourselves ahead of them,” she says.

This included recognising the importance of sustainability for long-term resilience. Ho Ching argued passionately for incorporating environmental considerations into investment decisions, in addition to people and governance factors.

“I think of Temasek as an intergenerational investor, which means we have a responsibility towards people who may not be born yet, or who may not be in your organisation,” she says, adding that this meant Temasek had to act proactively on the risks and opportunities presented by climate change.

Through its annual Ecosperity conference, launched in 2014, Temasek championed the twinning of ecological and prosperity goals. Operationally, it factored a carbon price into its investment decisions, and drove portfolio decarbonisation efforts. In 2019, Temasek set an ambitious target to halve net carbon emissions attributable to its investment portfolio by 2030 compared to 2010 levels, and aim towards net zero emissions by 2050.  

“If a country like Singapore and a company like Temasek didn’t make a start, then few others would. So let’s do what we can – and if by that, we can inspire others to do more, we would have done something,” Ho Ching says.

It’s no different from how Temasek acts as a community steward, anticipating needs and focusing its resources and strengths towards addressing them, she explains.

Even when a mysterious pneumonia outbreak in early 2020 seemed like a distant threat to Singapore, Temasek took action. “Most of us think linearly, but this looked like it could be an exponential challenge – cases could explode from one to two to four within days, and to hundreds within weeks. We needed to be prepared,” she says.

Ho Ching urged the team to look “five steps ahead” in anticipating runaway pressures on the healthcare sector. By the time patient numbers surged, a blueprint was ready. Within six days, two Singapore Expo halls were converted into a medical-grade care facility with hundreds of cubicles for patients. This was swiftly expanded to over 8,500 cubicle-beds across 10 halls. 

With the right resources in place, Temasek could get help to where it was most needed. A S$40 million Temasek Emergency Preparedness Fund (T-PREP), established in 2014, meant critical items like surgical masks, hand sanitisers, and oximeters could be quickly procured for the public. It also put diagnostic and oxygen equipment into the hands of healthcare workers, both in Singapore and in neighbouring countries.

“We were thinking ahead,” she says. “If you only start looking for solutions at the point of need, you’re already too late.”

“We were thinking ahead,” she says. “If you only start looking for solutions at the point of need, you’re already too late.”

A legacy of leadership

By the time Ho Ching handed the reins to incoming CEO Dilhan Pillay in October 2021, Temasek’s net portfolio value topped S$380 billion, up from S$90 billion in 2004. What began as a local holding company had grown into a reputable investment company. Temasek had also expanded its interests into new sectors such as life sciences and non-bank financial services; sustainability was embedded in both its operations and investment decisions.

But her most memorable Temasek moment came a year after she retired to become chairman of Temasek Trust. Under Dilhan’s leadership, Temasek had embarked on a company exercise to crystallise what the firm stood for. It landed on the purpose ‘So Every Generation Prospers’.

“Temasek staff, whether in Singapore or New York, Mumbai or Beijing, unanimously committed to future generations, to something larger than themselves. That’s the core of Temasek – the institution, the people it attracts, and the people it has nurtured,” she marvels.

It was a purpose that resonated with the aspirations in the manila folders she read when she first joined.

“I never knew exactly what the ‘new’ Temasek would be, just that it always wanted to do more, do better, and with the larger picture in mind, from day one,” she reflects.

“What new animal do we want to create? I hope this ceaseless search for relevance remains – it will help keep Temasek agile and adaptable, with its eye on the horizon, even as it evolves and strives for a greater tomorrow.”

Nguyet Bui remembers the years when she would find solace in school, despite the bitter winter cold that came in through the shutterless windows of her classroom. 

It was the early 1980s, and the modest single-storey structure on the outskirts of Hanoi was typical of schools in North Vietnam, where resources to fix anything were in short supply. Even when the rain leaked through the roof, dripping on their desks, she stayed focused on her studies.

“The war with the US had ended in 1975, but we were facing economic sanctions,” recalls Nguyet, now Office Manager (Investment) at Temasek’s Hanoi office. “Vietnam was closed to the outside world, and the cities and provinces in the north, where we lived, were very poor. My grandparents and parents constantly reminded us that education was the key to rising above poverty. It changed my life.” 

Despite electricity being available “only occasionally”, Nguyet was determined to make it through the gruelling entrance exams for post-Secondary education, and went on to graduate from the Hanoi University of Foreign Studies in 1996.

Today, she helps provide others with the same transformative opportunity through the VietSeeds project, which Temasek has funded since 2015 as part of its direct community support for its overseas offices. Some 500 Temasek-funded scholarships have been awarded to date – mostly to students from rural provinces.

“With the right help and support, they can chart a better future for themselves and their communities,” she says.

Delivering Sustained Impact

Nguyet credits her desire to keep learning for her job at Temasek today. Studying Russian at university helped her bridge the gap to English – the two languages share phonetic elements and several loanwords, she says. It opened up opportunities for her with foreign companies entering Vietnam. 

When Temasek opened an office in Hanoi in January 2008, she was its first hire. 

Nguyet managed all the administrative tasks, from finding and setting up Temasek’s Hai Ba Trung Street premises to supporting her investment colleagues as the company expanded its footprint in sectors such as technology, strategic infrastructure and logistics. These sectors aligned closely with Vietnam's national development goals, as did education, which became a key focus of Temasek’s outreach initiatives in the country, overseen by Nguyet. 

In 2015, a colleague suggested VietSeeds as a potential community initiative for the Hanoi office. At the time, VietSeeds, founded in 2011, was a fledgling organisation seeking sponsors who shared its mission: Grow a Seed, Change a Life, Transform a Nation. By supporting high-performing college students who lacked the financial means to pursue higher education, VietSeeds hoped to break the cycle of poverty.  

Nguyet spoke to its founders, management and past scholars, and quickly recognised its potential. “I was impressed by VietSeeds’ track record and knew that Temasek could make a real difference,” she says. The first year Temasek came on board, it sponsored about a fifth of the 170 applicants VietSeeds accepted that year. 

The support extends beyond tuition fees, covering living costs, English and digital skills training, as well as creating student communities to help scholars navigate urban life and academic pressures. During company offsites, staff volunteers from Temasek’s Singapore office have mentored VietSeeds undergraduates, running seminars on idea generation and helping to prepare them for job interviews. “It means they get the support they need to do well and to start building networks that lead to better jobs and better lives,” says Nguyet.

For the past nine years, Nguyet has attended annual Graduation and Appreciation ceremonies organised for Temasek’s “seeds”, and holds many of their stories close. 

“I remember one student who worked as a tutor to earn extra money while studying. She once told me that without the scholarship, she would have ended up as a factory worker,” says Nguyet. “After graduating, she joined VietSeeds and now manages the northern region, helping others like her to succeed.”

“The Temasek scholarship is life-changing for these students – they are capable and determined, despite their financial difficulties. I have developed close relationships with many of them, and it makes me truly happy when I see their growth, and how much their lives have changed.” 

Fuelling bigger dreams

Besides helping hundreds of Vietnamese students pursue their dreams of higher education, Temasek’s community funding has gone towards building better schools for rural communities in the country. The firm has also hosted VietSeeds’ “top seeds” – the highest performing scholars – at its Singapore headquarters.

“Visiting Singapore – and Temasek – really expands their minds. They see the level of development and return to Vietnam with a higher sense of purpose and even [more ambitious] goals,” she says. “It’s not just about getting a degree, but the contributions they can make to their country, community, and to future generations who share their backgrounds – and their dreams.”

Temasek’s partnership has also helped VietSeeds enhance its impact reporting, while catalysing interest and further support, adds Nguyet. 

“When I visit rural areas, it reminds me of my own youth. These young people are innocent and full of energy. Together, VietSeeds and Temasek can help them build a different future through education, and create an impact that will resonate for generations.”

“Being a part of that makes me very proud to work for Temasek.”

It was after hours in March 2020, when Loy Kiet Ying, then-Director of Temasek’s Transportation and Logistics investment group, was called back to the office.

As COVID-19 swept across the globe, and nations, including Singapore, closed their borders, airlines faced unprecedented upheaval. Flights were grounded and revenues plummeted, yet financial obligations – and the need for liquidity to meet them – remained.  At Temasek’s corporate headquarters, Kiet Ying stepped into a meeting with Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) management and Temasek’s senior leadership.

Even as the airline organised emergency flights to bring Singapore citizens and residents home, its management was preparing to announce a $15 billion rights issue, and reached out to Temasek, its majority shareholder, to underwrite the issue. This meant that Temasek would commit to purchasing any shares and mandatory convertible bonds left unsubscribed, guaranteeing that vital funding would be secured.  

“Although it was a significant investment, SIA is one of the world’s strongest airline brands, and even if it took time, we expected air travel to return. Our focus was to ensure SIA had the resources to weather the crisis, and position itself both for a strong recovery and growth beyond the pandemic,” says Kiet Ying.

 “We secured internal approvals within 24 hours,” she recalls. “The adrenaline rush in those critical moments is something I’ll not forget.” 

Investing in recovery

Kiet Ying’s connection to SIA runs deep – her father was a senior systems analyst with the airline for more than 20 years, and she grew up flying almost exclusively with it. “Since I was a child, I’ve looked forward to flying on SIA. Every flight has been a memorable experience.”

In 2010, she joined Temasek, gaining experience in derivatives, financial services, and the Investment Group Office, before moving to the Transportation and Logistics Investment Group in 2019. Just months later, she found herself in intense discussions with SIA’s management, as both sides closely monitored the rapidly evolving COVID-19 crisis. “The minute borders started to lock down, things escalated quickly,” she says, recalling the days – and nights – spent mapping out multiple scenarios, and hypothesising a range of outcomes. “No one knew how long this was going to last.”

Despite the uncertainty, both sides kept their focus on long-term goals. “We were aware that SIA was in the middle of a fleet renewal cycle – a significant, multi-year capital commitment,” she says. “We also knew the new generation aircraft was key to SIA’s continued leadership.” The new aircraft would not only enhance SIA’s competitiveness, but reduce carbon emissions in line with the airline’s sustainability goals, and Temasek’s broader commitment of halving its 2010 emissions by 2030, and achieving net zero by 2050.

Meanwhile, the airline’s management took the opportunity to drive initiatives that would sharpen its competitive edge – from developing the airline’s digital capabilities and improving its productivity to upskilling its staff and renewing and maintaining its aircraft and facilities.

Throughout, SIA’s leadership remained focused on preserving the airline’s core resources – its pilots, crew, and an operational fleet – ensuring it remained ready for recovery, Kiet Ying notes. “SIA’s employees have always been a key differentiator. Retaining these employees with years of training and experience ensured it maintained its leadership in product and service excellence.”

The rights issue in May 2020 and June 2021 reinforced SIA’s balance sheet and boosted investor confidence. SIA went on to raise a further $8 billion, “signalling strong market confidence that SIA would be able to navigate the crisis,” says Kiet Ying.

Meanwhile, Temasek worked closely with SIA on scenario planning. Beyond the immediate crisis, Temasek and SIA considered potential industry shifts. “We were thinking ahead — what would aviation and air travel look like after the pandemic?”   

A strengthened alliance

The collaboration during those critical months deepened the long-standing relationship between Temasek and SIA, says Kiet Ying. “We worked together to navigate the worst of times, and emerged stronger.”

Beyond the rights issue, both sides have also engaged on a wide range of topics, both during and since the pandemic, including sustainability, capital structure, and digital transformation.

Their collaboration extended to engaging with the broader ecosystem – the airport and its service providers, and regulators, she says. “COVID-19 didn’t just impact the airline, it affected Singapore’s connectivity and business environment, which in turn had a significant impact on other Temasek portfolio companies in Singapore.”

Recognising the value of strong partnerships, Temasek established the Portfolio Development Group (PDG) in 2020 to work closely with key portfolio companies on long-term sustainable value. In 2022, Kiet Ying assumed the role of PDG director.

The commitment to partnership and resilience remains central to Temasek’s strategy, she says. “Temasek’s approach goes beyond just investing; it's about building enduring partnerships to create sustainable value. We co-create solutions that drive growth and enhance long-term competitive advantages, ultimately delivering value to Temasek as a shareholder.”

“We wanted this process to be authentic, driven by our people,” says Livia Chng, Director of Strategy and Impact for Temasek Foundation. “So we brought everyone together – from the impact teams to corporate functions – every voice that makes up Temasek Foundation.”   

The inclusive approach set the tone for the eight-month effort that began in 2023 to craft a purpose statement that would unify the Foundation’s diverse efforts. It marked a pivotal moment, ​building upon the synergies created by the integration of ​​seven Temasek philanthropic entities into one Temasek Foundation. 

While Temasek drives growth through financial investments, Temasek Foundation drives programmes that seek to create positive outcomes in Singapore and Asia through health, climate, and social and community resilience. It has​ supported over 1,600 programmes and benefitted 3.7 million lives since 2007. 

“Our work is purposeful, and the community impact is clear, but we felt it was time to formally articulate what we stood for,” says Livia. 

The process began with a simple question. “We asked ourselves what defines our work,” she says. Words like “lives”, “impact”, “long-term”, and “empowering” dominated, reflecting the priorities of the Foundation’s staff: to create, sustain and scale positive impact, equipping beneficiaries to help themselves, and in turn others, not just for today, but for future generations. 

That laid the groundwork for the Temasek Foundation’s purpose statement: “Inspiring Lives for Every Generation.” 

Crafting the language of change

Livia’s journey in the Temasek ecosystem began in 2018, when she joined Temasek’s Community Stewardship team, driven by a strong desire to make a meaningful impact. Founding Re/Fresh Flowers, a social impact organisation that repurposes used flowers for hospice patients in 2016 prompted her to re-evaluate what truly mattered to her, and was pivotal in her transition from the financial sector to philanthropy, she says.

She was tasked with engaging and growing the Temasek non-profit ecosystem, which included Temasek Foundation, as well as Temasek Trust, Temasek Shophouse, and Mandai Nature. She also participated in focus groups as Temasek defined its own purpose statement: So Every Generation Prospers.

When COVID-19 struck, she experienced first-hand its power in unifying diverse teams and partners in getting local, regional and international initiatives off the ground. “The pandemic reinforced the importance of having a common purpose that drives everyone towards the same goal,” she says. 

This experience cemented her belief in the need for such a purpose when she left Temasek to join Temasek Foundation’s Strategy and Impact team in 2023. She believed that clearly defined, shared goals would not only inspire, but drive sustained long-term impact across the diverse impact areas championed by Temasek Foundation, including health, climate action, and social and community resilience. “Unless you can explain why you exist in a simple, compelling way, it’s hard to capture what you stand for,” she says. 

The initiative gained momentum when it became the focus of a strategy session in ​​January 2024, involving all staff of Temasek Foundation. “We wanted to take a ground-up approach,” she explains. “Even when the management shared their perspectives, these were discussed collectively in groups, with every opinion valued and respected.” By capturing feedback verbatim and facilitating open discussions, Temasek Foundation ensured that its purpose statement was something everyone could stand behind.   

A commitment to changing lives

What truly differentiates Temasek Foundation from other Corporate Social Responsibility efforts is its unwavering commitment to enabling and multiplying long-term community impact, says Livia. “It struck me profoundly because, for the first time, I was closer to the ground, not just in an office, seeing the tangible impact of our work on the lives of people in the communities around us.”  

This commitment is not only embedded in multi-year projects, but in ensuring pilots go beyond proving concepts. “Our focus isn’t just to test ideas, but to engage with partners who can scale innovative solutions, particularly in underserved areas,” she says.

One standout programme is the community milk bank piloted in 2016 with KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), which provides pasteurised breast milk to vulnerable and premature infants to optimise healthy development. To date, some 6,000 babies in neonatal intensive care units across three hospitals – KKH, National University Hospital, and Singapore General Hospital - have benefitted from the milk bank. There are plans for a nationwide rollout by 2025, and ongoing discussions to scale the initiative regionally, Livia says. 

“We saw a gap, and wanted to find an innovative way to not only support mothers and infants, but get the community involved. We partnered with KKH, and when this pilot proved its value, KKH was equipped to scale it, launching one of the world’s first donor human milk freezer locker systems to facilitate 24/7 collection and dispensing of milk,” she explains.

Inspiring Lives for Every Generation is a collective expression of what Temasek Foundation does and serves as a cornerstone for its approach to philanthropy, she says.  

“Knowing that you’re helping to give a ‘hand-up’, even if the benefits take time to unfold, is what keeps me going,” says Livia. “It’s about stewarding resources in a way that contributes meaningfully, today – and for generations to come.”

To Cindy Sim, her brother has always been more than his diagnosis. 

As a five-year-old, she watched Sim Kah Lim, older by a year, turn the stairwell of their HDB flat into vivid murals. As a teen, he landed a job hand-painting cinema billboards, and dreamt of having his own art exhibition. Yet, despite his undeniable talent, his diagnosis of schizophrenia at age 15 reduced him to a clinical label, leaving Cindy deeply disappointed. “Schizophrenia is just a term,” she insists. “To me, he is just talkative – unless he’s painting, because then he’s 100 per cent focused.”

Her frustration grew with each rejection from art galleries unable – or unwilling – to see past the label. 

The turning point came in 2018, when Temasek staff reached out with a proposition. They wanted to showcase Kah Lim’s work in One of Us, an exhibition series by Temasek’s staff-led volunteer initiative, T-Touch, aimed at challenging the stigma that so often surrounds mental health. The exhibition would give Kah Lim a platform to display his talent and share his story. 

The initiative resonated deeply with Cindy, amplifying a cause she had long advocated for. 

“Temasek gave Kah Lim a chance to be seen,” she says. “It wasn’t just about hanging his work in a gallery. They made him part of a story that says having a mental health challenge doesn’t make you less capable or valuable.”

Breaking barriers

Kah Lim’s talent emerged early. “Even before he started going to school, he was drawing,” Cindy recalls. “He would draw on the floor, on the walls, on anything. He could see something once and then replicate it perfectly from memory.” Relatives who recognised his talent were soon asking him to draw intricate dragons and Chinese Gods, she laughs.  

But even as his artistic abilities flourished, his mental health struggles increased. His schizophrenia diagnosis at 15 marked the beginning of a life spent in and out of the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).

​​Cindy stepped in as his protector, a role that soon evolved into fierce advocacy. “I thought to myself, what is there to hide? There are artists who have mental health issues, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t do extraordinary things. This is who he is, and I’m proud of him.”  

In a community where mental illness is often swept under the rug, Cindy’s determination became a quiet but persistent force: she refused to allow Kah Lim’s diagnosis to define – or limit – him. 

Supporting his passion, however, was not easy. She juggled multiple jobs to supply him with paper, ink, and brushes​​. ​Eventually, she transitioned into a career in medical sales, but her biggest challenge remained helping others see Kah Lim’s talent. “Our family always believed in his potential, but back then, schizophrenia was so misunderstood. It was a tough journey for us.” 

One of Us

When Temasek first approached Cindy, she was cautiously optimistic. One of Us not only offered visibility for Kah Lim, but also promised broader conversations about mental health. “Temasek supported us by saying, why not let him try,” Cindy recalls. 

The six-week-long exhibition, held in Temasek’s lobby and later at Temasek Shophouse, grew to include more artists, including Daren Lauchengco and Faith Wong, who also struggled with mental health challenges. Their work spanned paintings, ink illustrations and modelmaking, with narratives framed in the context of the artists’ lived experiences.

The recognition Kah Lim received from his work was transformative. His art began to sell, gaining traction and respect in spaces that had previously been closed to him. Once confined to family walls, his work now hangs in prestigious venues like Goshen Art Gallery, Ministry of Health (MOH), and Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay.  “The first thing Kah Lim did when his paintings sold was go to an art shop and buy even more supplies,” Cindy laughs.   

As Kah Lim’s confidence grew, so did Cindy’s role, from sister and advocate to artist manager, facilitating collaborations and commissions on his behalf. One notable commission came from former President Halimah Yacob for her Chinese New Year postcard: a mixed-media painting of the Istana’s front gate. “He spotted it while we were walking around [the Istana], and painted it from memory when he got home,” Cindy remembers. 

A canvas for change 

Today, Kah Lim continues to receive commissions, including from the Istana. But Cindy’s vision goes beyond Kah Lim’s success. “I hope for a future where mental health conditions like schizophrenia are understood and accepted, and where people make space for those living with such challenges”.  

The journey, she believes, has already begun.  

Through initiatives like One of Us, Temasek is making strides in shifting societal perceptions, showing that a person’s diagnosis is just one part of their story, she says. “You have to start somewhere and Temasek is in the position to make an impact.”  

“When they start something, others are sure to follow. And as more people step in, mental illness won’t be a label anymore – it will just be another part of life.” 

“Ten years ago, we were just a handful of people in New York,” Pierce Scranton reflects. “Today, we have some 100 people in the Americas, and assets north of 20 per cent of Temasek's overall portfolio.”

From his office on the 8th-floor of Washington’s Homer Building, Temasek’s Deputy Head of North America and Managing Director of International Relations has had a front-row seat to the company’s remarkable growth in the US, the largest recipient of Temasek’s capital over the last seven years.

Plans to invest a further US$30 billion over the next five years will see the US remain the leading destination for Temasek’s investment dollars, and position the company as a dynamic player in the world’s deepest and most competitive capital market.

“As long as we continue to approach the market with the same level of commitment and understanding, the future looks very bright,” says Pierce.

Navigating complex terrain

Pierce is no stranger to high-stakes environments.

Before joining Temasek, he held several notable positions in US politics and government relations, including as Executive Director for Global Government Relations & Public Policy with JPMorgan Chase. By 2017, he was ready for a new challenge. “I had heard of Temasek, knew its reputation, and was interested in the opportunity to do something entrepreneurial,” he says.

At the time, Temasek was expanding its US footprint. Its New York office had been up and running for three years, and the company was in the process of opening a second office in San Francisco.

Meanwhile, the global trade and investment landscape was shifting, with tightening restrictions and heightened regulatory scrutiny. Temasek recognised the need for an on-the-ground presence to anticipate and understand the impact of local policies on its portfolio. Having already established a dedicated institutional relations team in China, it now looked to set up similar teams in key capitals in Europe and the US.

Pierce’s deep political and policy expertise made him a natural fit to lead the Washington DC office as Managing Director for Institutional Relations.

The early days were intense, he recalls, coinciding with debates over reforms to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which screens potentially sensitive foreign investments. “Shortly after coming on board, it became clear we needed to develop a strategy on how we would manage the risks that CFIUS reforms might represent,” he says.

Understanding how CFIUS works and using that understanding to structure deals is essential for foreign investors, says Pierce. “It’s critical to engage with the government transparently, and ensure they understand who you are and what your intentions are.” By clearly outlining its boundaries and maintaining transparency, Temasek has earned a reputation as a trusted investor, he says.

“Temasek’s reputation is obviously something that has been 50 years in the making, but it precedes me everywhere I go, and is an enormous asset when talking to policymakers who are concerned about geopolitical risks from international investors.”

Initially, Pierce focused on understanding issues that potentially impacted Temasek or the industries relevant to it. As he became more familiar with Temasek’s portfolio companies and investments, his role expanded to include identifying policy or political issues that may affect the larger Temasek ecosystem.

“Over time, I started working more globally,” he says. “Investments from our teams in India, China, Singapore, or Europe can trigger CFIUS reviews if there’s a US nexus. When this happens, our team quickly assesses the transaction risks and potential sensitivities, then determines how to help structure the deal.”

The Washington office quickly proved itself an indispensable resource within the Temasek ecosystem. “People began calling us for assistance, rather than us reaching out to see if there were any concerns,” he says.

As Temasek’s US footprint grows, with investments in high-growth industries from AI and healthcare to financial services, so has the challenge to ramp up policy expertise across diverse sectors. “As long-term investors, we often have the luxury of taking deep dives into each issue, which I truly appreciate.”

Growing for generations

In 2023, Pierce took on the additional role of Deputy Head, North America. Looking back, he says that Temasek’s growth in the country has not just been about numbers. “I’ve watched the company grow into a truly global, sophisticated investor across all aspects of the capital spectrum, whether public or private, early or late stage, growth equity, credit, or funds.”

Temasek’s success, he believes, lies equally in its long-term vision and commitment to sustainable growth.

“We have one of the most unique mandates, which is to grow for generations,” he says. “Everywhere I go, I have a good story to tell – how we’re trying to help companies grow, create jobs, add wealth, help societies, as well as solve big problems like climate change and curing diseases. That’s what makes Temasek stand out – and it’s something I’ve been very proud to be part of.”

As Temasek continues to deepen its presence in the US, Pierce remains optimistic about the road ahead. 

 “We’ve reached another inflection point. The US will be a growth engine for years to come.”

On the morning of October 27, 2022, the nation awoke to a sea of blue. Over 700 stores, major malls, MRT stations – even buses – were draped in Pantone 2727C, the signature hue of yuu Rewards Club.  

Various teams behind the launch had worked through the night, peeling back massive white sheets from posters and walls for the big reveal, as others tested QR codes and barcodes of the yuu app with point-of-sale machines, remembers Sng Ren Yeong, then-CEO of minden.ai. The Temasek venture had developed yuu Singapore in a strategic partnership with regional retail conglomerate DFI Retail Group.  

“We wanted to deliver surprise and delight – and despite the challenges of delivering at that scale, across multiple locations, and overnight – that’s exactly what we did,” he says.  

The beauty of yuu is that it integrates several brands on a single intuitive platform, says Ren Yeong. “Temasek wanted yuu to meet real consumer needs, so it partnered with brands they engaged with in their daily lives. For those brands, it provided a way to boost consumer engagement and drive sales.” In just 100 days, 1 million people had signed up, earning and redeeming points across popular brands like Cold Storage, Guardian, 7-Eleven, BreadTalk and SingTel.  

But the value of yuu runs deeper than just rewards. As more transactions flow through the system, yuu uses AI and machine learning to learn and adapt, personalising offers and ​benefits for clients, and unlocking long-term value for businesses.  

 “It has been a process of discovery, running different models to see what can create the largest impact for both the consumer and the business,” says Ren Yeong. 

 “Seeing consumers’ positive reactions, the buzz created, that was fantastic.” 

Delivering impact through AI

The idea for yuu goes back to 2018, when Temasek was considering how foundational technologies like AI, Blockchain, Cybersecurity and Digital Services ​could transform its portfolio ​businesses.​

As the potential for data to fuel AI became clearer, Temasek’s Deputy CEO Chia Song Hwee issued a team-wide challenge: create projects that could facilitate data collaboration between partners and create new revenue opportunities for all.

Ren Yeong, who had developed a love for statistics and game theory while studying economics at the London School of Economics, jumped right in. The career leap he had made in 2012 – from the military and then a hedge fund into Temasek’s Portfolio Management team as an Associate Director – had also ​forced an understanding of how to “break open” a sector for a closer look at what worked and what didn’t.

He began exploring options for how data collaborations could be facilitated, with shared benefits. Replacing “siloed and broken” loyalty points systems with a unified, smart, and secure alternative seemed a promising place to start.

While it began as a side project, the potential of AI soon ignited a consuming interest, and by 2020, Ren Yeong was intrigued enough to move to Temasek’s nascent and multidisciplinary “AI Pod” as a Director. He became Managing Director a year-and-a-half later.

“AI was still really at the fringe then – developments like ChatGPT, which would push AI into public consciousness, would only happen much later. But I was curious about the business impact AI could deliver, and was drawn to the idea of creating next-generation companies.”

He ended up doing just that when he agreed to double-hat as minden.ai’s CEO in April 2022, working with its team to bring yuu Singapore, its flagship product, to life six months later.

“We had a tight timeline, a small team, and a big challenge. It was a period of high tension, not least because technology prefers phased roll-outs to ‘big bang’ launches,” he laughs. 

In a tight symphony, contracts were locked in, marketing mechanics were put into place, and comedic contractor Phua Chua Kang was brought on board to deliver the campaign’s “earworm-worthy” sonic loop of “I want nobody, nobody but yuu!”.

Closer to the launch, “secret” town halls were held to excite outlet staff, who proudly donned yuu’s signature blue t-shirts, and filmed their own versions of the “yuu dance” – the steps of which became a social media phenomenon in their own right. 

“There was a lot of unity behind yuu Singapore when it launched. And zero glitches on the technical side,” Ren Yeong remembers. 

Today, yuu has some 1.7 million members, can be used across over 1,000 outlets in Singapore, and has brought on new partners that include Gojek, foodpanda and Great Eastern. The team now hopes to bring in even more brands, and is assessing the potential of scaling regionally.

“It’s still a work in progress. The world of AI and machine learning is changing so fast that we meet almost every week to discuss how we can experiment further and explore new business models that could bring value to consumers and businesses.”

Beyond the blue

Ren Yeong, who handed the reins of minden.ai to Chen Peng in September 2023, is now back with the team he still calls “the Pod”. He continues to oversee minden.ai’s evolution, as well as that of Aicadium, which partners with portfolio companies to scale AI, and Resaro.ai, an AI assurance firm. He also champions AI investments and the build-out of AI capabilities across Temasek and its portfolio.

What drives him now is the thrill of being on the “AI inflection point”.

“We are in the early innings of an AI platform shift… In the near future, AI will be so ubiquitous it will be assumed. So how do we move faster, experiment with it, and [leverage] new business models that emerge with AI’s proliferation? How do we turn AI into a force for economic and social good while deploying it in a safe and assured manner?

“The innovative human spirit that resides within Temasek is a foundation that we can harness to create next-generation businesses while building the capabilities of their future leaders. Sitting where I am, we’re literally watching the future unfold. I am sure there will be even more exciting opportunities in the next 50 years.”

It was intended as a “heads-up” on a developing trend, says Franziska Zimmermann. 

It was January 2019, during the annual ‘T-Huddle’ – Temasek’s leadership summit – that the Director of Sustainability & Climate Change Strategy made her presentation. “Investors were increasingly being held accountable for the carbon emissions associated with their investment portfolios,” she says. “We wanted to brief senior management on this development.”

Instead, her presentation sparked an unprecedented decision: to target a 50% reduction in the net carbon emissions attributable to Temasek’s investment portfolio by 2030, compared to 2010 levels, and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. 

“We didn’t know yet how we would achieve this,” Franziska recalls, “but​ we knew that this was where we needed to get to.” ​ 

The decision marked a significant shift. “We weren’t just committing to a target; we were sending a powerful signal, both internally and externally.”

Putting the planet in focus

Sustainability has been a consistent theme in Franziska’s life. 

“I was born on Earth Day, so I guess you could say it’s a calling,” she laughs. Growing up in a small Swiss village, Franziska spent her days roaming the surrounding forests. “You learn what the environment means, how it relates to you, your community, and your survival.” Her teenage years, marked by environmental catastrophes close to home – Chernobyl, chemical spills, and acid rain – underscored these critical lessons.

As a law student, she did her Master’s thesis on environmental sustainability, and it remained a common thread in a career that spanned public and private-sector companies across Europe and Asia. “I felt it was something worth fighting for,” she says.  

Franziska joined Temasek’s Strategic and Public Affairs team in 2015, coincidentally, the year the Paris Agreement – the global pact to curb climate change – was signed. Temasek was growing its presence in Europe and was looking for someone who could translate policy into business impact. Responsible investing was gaining traction at the time, she says. “I remember my then-boss, Gary Ang saying to me: ‘Well Franziska, you’re passionate about the environment, why don't you look at whether this is something we should be tracking more closely’.”

“I did my research, spoke to people, and began sending updates to senior management and the organisation whenever there was a development in the sustainability and climate space,” she recalls. She also took charge of Ecosperity, then a half-day conference that brought Temasek’s portfolio companies together to advance the twinning of environmental sustainability with economic development. 

The 2016 haze added impetus to Temasek’s sustainability initiatives. As forests in Indonesia burned, Singapore grappled with the health and economic impacts, prompting intense media scrutiny on investors backing the companies responsible. While Temasek was not involved, the crisis led to a reassessment of potential risks within its investments. "We needed to consider the types of businesses we wanted to invest in and establish clear boundaries,” says Franziska. 

The realisation that sustainability needed to be a core consideration in evaluating investment opportunities led to the establishment of a project team to develop the frameworks to enable this.  

“We co-developed the frameworks with the investment teams to strike the right balance between rigour and practicality​​​​​​,” she recalls. By 2017, the frameworks had been integrated internally and communicated externally, solidifying sustainability as a permanent feature within the organisation. 

Meanwhile, Temasek was advancing several other key initiatives. In 2017, it established a sustainability team to test and mainstream sustainability strategies, investments and solutions within the company. A dedicated decarbonisation-focused investment platform, incubated by the team, would later be spun off as GenZero, with a mandate to accelerate decarbonisation through strategic investments and partnerships. Over the years, Ecosperity had also expanded into a global sustainability conference, attracting prominent leaders from the public and non-governmental sectors, captains of industry, and the academic community. The week-long conference engages participants in collaborative efforts to tackle the ongoing climate crisis and promote sustainable growth across Asia. 

“It was a sign of maturity, of Temasek recognising that its influence extended beyond investing money, and that its voice, perspective, and convening power mattered and could make a difference,” says Franziska. 

​​By this time​, ​Temasek’s​ Sustainability​ and​ ​Stewardship ​Group, ​first announced in 2016, had gained visibility and traction as a ​department in its own right. “This paved the way for us to bring together all these organic initiatives into a cohesive strategy.”

Ultimately, it laid the groundwork for Franziska’s presentation at the T-Huddle in January 2019, and Temasek’s bold commitment. 

Making good on green ambitions

Looking back, Franziska is struck by how far Temasek has come in just a decade. For two consecutive years, in 2023 and 2024, the company was recognised by the Global Sovereign Fund as a leader in governance and sustainability. In 2024, it also released its inaugural sustainability report, sharing its goals, practices and performance with the aim of fostering trust and engaging in meaningful dialogue on the topic with key stakeholders. 

“Sustainability is at the core of everything we do, and one of four strategic pillars of our T2030 10-year strategy,” she says. The cultural shift permeates all levels of the organisation, influencing daily operations and long-term planning. “Every leader within the organisation considers how they can contribute within their area of responsibility. We’ve come a long way.” 

“We know that to be successful as an investor, we have to operate in an environment that’s healthy, where nature is intact and society thrives. Seeing our organisation boldly commit to that has been truly gratifying.” 

On Eddy Ho’s desk, a lone scientific journal sits incongruously among investment tomes, a stark reminder of a career “pivot” he made in the early days of the pandemic.

Temasek’s Director of Investments (Mobility and Logistics) recalls spending many evenings buried in the 1,480-page Block’s Disinfection, Sterilization, and Preservation journal, delving into the properties of disinfectants.

“It’s not my usual reading, and a bit dry,” laughs the 36-year-old, who was then part of a four-person team tasked with finding a local solution to the global shortage of hand sanitisers. The wrestling with supply chains was a stark contrast to his 11-year career that had, until then, been focused on weighing up investments in industrials, partnering with portfolio companies, and business-building in the agri-food and emerging technology spaces.

As soon as Singapore reported local transmission of COVID-19 in early February 2020, panic-buying set in, leaving shelves bare. With supply chains disrupted, the focus turned to creating a viable alternative.

“We needed a solution that was evidence-based, safe, and scalable,” remembers Eddy, an accountancy graduate more used to analysing returns than the science of germ warfare. “In the end, we decided to push for a non-alcoholic sanitiser because repeated use of an alcohol-based sanitiser can cause chapped skin.”

Temasek’s team of unlikely alchemists worked fast, combing the island for chemical suppliers, scientists, formulators and certified labs that could create and test various formulations for efficacy. The next challenge: finding a quick and sustainable way to get the sanitisers into every hand, across the country.

A novel solution was hatched in a unit within a Yishun factory home to warehousing and storage provider SSW Logistics, a Temasek portfolio company; manual mixing of the concentrate with water at island-wide distribution points; and getting people to “Bring Your Own Bottle” for a 500ml fill – an approach that gave the #BYOBclean initiative its name.

By March 2020, just weeks after #BYOBclean began, the first batch of complimentary, zero-alcohol sanitiser had reached over 600,000 Singapore households via distribution set-ups at 109 community clubs and 16 CapitaLand malls.

It was gratifying, says Eddy, who spent the first day of distribution at an Ang Mo Kio community centre and the next six months moving between other centres, even as he held up his day job in Temasek’s Enterprise Development Group. He found himself deploying similar skills though – looking at operational challenges from every angle and seeking out novel solutions.

“We had thought through every single detail, from its effectiveness against different viruses, to dyeing it purple [so it was easily identifiable as sanitiser].

“Seeing the long queues of people, and how grateful they were to have it, I could see that our efforts were worth it,” he says. “It was very fulfilling.”

Meanwhile, the creative wheels behind #BYOBclean kept turning. Insights gleaned by Eddy’s team fed into other ideas, including specially designed vending machines that automated the mixing and dispensing of the sanitiser, making distribution safer and less labour-intensive.

By the end of the pandemic, Temasek and its partners had dispensed 1.4 million litres of hand sanitisers to local and international communities. 

For Eddy, seeing colleagues step out of their comfort zones to volunteer across COVID-19 work streams reminded him of why he left investment banking for Temasek back in 2013 – so he could deliver in more ways than just generating returns.

“Most of us were investment professionals called up to do things that we might not naturally have been good at. But we pulled together and figured it out, whether producing sanitisers, procuring masks or getting ventilators to where they were needed.”

“We had a common goal. There was an urgency to do something and Temasek has always been able to pull people together and channel energies to where they are most needed. I was proud to have played a role in that.”  

These days, Yvonne Tay is as much at home behind her desk at Temasek’s philanthropic arm, as she is a few blocks down, in a hard hat and work boots, overseeing the meticulous restoration of a row of heritage shophouses.

“It’s a complex process,” says the General Manager of Temasek Shophouse, who is leading the project to extend the social impact hub into three adjacent shophouses. When complete, the extension will triple the space housing Temasek’s philanthropic ecosystem, and provide a greater number of social entrepreneurs, charities and ground-up initiatives with the resources to connect, collaborate and catalyse solutions to social and environmental challenges.

But the project is not just about square footage. “We’re pushing the boundaries of innovation and sustainability,” she says. “We’re maximising their efficiency with mechanical and electrical engineering design, and providing for hybrid cooling, and we are also looking at overall occupant well-being, from air and lighting quality to the snacks in our pantry and the water in our filtration system.”

“Our goal is for Temasek Shophouse to not just drive positive social impact, but be a living example of sustainable, liveable urban solutions.”

From passion to profession

The year 2018 marked a turning point for Yvonne. Taking a course on Politics, Business and the Common Good in the UK, she was struck by a question posed by her professor. “If you're rethinking your career,” he challenged, “what about ensuring you do good while you make a living?”

After 15 years in the fast-paced world of commercial television with Fox International Channels, “it was a eureka moment,” she says. Volunteering had been a consistent part of her life, but the possibility of integrating social impact into her “9 to 6” had never truly occurred.

Serendipitously, she learned about Temasek Trust and its nascent social impact hub. “The drawings for Temasek Shophouse were underway, and they were looking for someone to head the project,” she recalls. A two-hour conversation with then-CEO, Cheo Hock Kuan, had her firmly on board.

The idea was to bring changemakers under the same roof, and provide a space – and opportunities – for collaboration, co-working, and knowledge exchange, she says. To that end, Temasek Shophouse would house Temasek Trust, Temasek Foundation, and Stewardship Asia, as well as coworking partners like Asia-focused impact investor. Other spaces would allow people passionate about giving back to meet, host events or workshops, and draw in the public. Ultimately, it aspired to be the foundation for an ecosystem centred around social impact.

“In 2018, a social impact hub was still a novel concept. No one really knew how to take that idea and make it come alive,” she says. “Were we a co-working space? Another community centre? We also had to think of the kind of tenants and events we wanted to bring in.” These needed to be aligned with the Shophouse’s mission.

“I remember going to meet the owners of Foreword Coffee,” she says. “ I had to wait for an hour, but it was an interesting hour observing how they put differently-abled people on the front lines and taught them so patiently. I knew even before speaking to them that they were the right people to invite into our space.”

The team also experimented with promoting biodiversity, including rehousing a beehive found in Mandai on the Shophouse’s rooftop, and creating a ten-metre-high Art Deco-inspired ‘green wall’ that forms its centrepiece.

“I remember wondering at one point whether we had bitten off more than we could chew,” she laughs. "But then I realised that we had to walk the talk and integrate our values into every aspect of the Shophouse.

The June 2019 opening was a culmination of months of hard work. “The night before, there was a lot of anxiety – there were so many moving parts,” recalls Yvonne. “But there was also a lot of pride.” To celebrate the launch, the team lit the garden with fairy lights, held a ‘Trash to Fash’ fashion show featuring recycled materials, and created an exhibition called “[Not-So] Convenience Store”, showcasing ‘inconvenient’ but sustainable alternatives to everyday products.

The months that followed were a whirlwind of activity around ‘placemaking’. In this, Yvonne drew on her experience programming channels and building “sticky communities” around themes. “In 2023 alone, we hosted 130 events – that's one every three days,” she says.

By the time it closed for renovation in December 2023, Temasek Shophouse had engaged with more than 110,000 people and 120 partners, and put its support behind issues from sustainability to mental wellness to impact investing.

When complete, the extended shophouse will provide changemakers with more facilities for creating impact. “Smaller charities often lack the resources to invest in a production studio, so we’ve invested in one for them. We also have rooms they can use for conferences, retreats, or board meetings,” she says.

“Many social enterprises describe Temasek Shophouse as a space that has given them a turbo boost – I love that term!” says Yvonne. “With more space, we can expand our reach and impact, host larger events and touch more lives.”

Old buildings, new purpose   

With the opening of the expanded Temasek Shophouse slated for 2025, much of Yvonne’s focus is on the restoration and developing future plans. “We have set a very high bar for ourselves,” she acknowledges. “The vision is to create a hub that not only honours heritage and celebrates communities but also fosters a regenerative future.”

Reflecting on the journey, she notes how the hub has evolved from a novel concept to a thriving ecosystem. “With the support of our fast-growing community, our initial uncertainty has evolved into a quiet confidence that we are making a lasting impact,” she says.

“It ties in perfectly with Temasek’s ethos, So Every Generation Prospers. To truly make a difference, our impact should not just be for the present, but sustained for generations to come.”

It began without any fanfare; just a familiar name quietly appearing on social media platforms, first Twitter – now X – then Facebook. Over time, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok ​were also ​added to the list.

“Temasek was no longer a small investment company that could fly under the radar, and social media was not something that could be ignored,” says Stephen Forshaw, then-Head of Public Affairs. “As the firm grew, more people were paying attention to us, so our communication strategy had to evolve. We decided to tell our story, in our own voice.”

It was the early 2010s, and few corporations had made the leap into social media. Of those who had, some had made more than a few digital stumbles, leaving a trail of awkward interactions and deleted posts in their wake. 

Despite this, Temasek remained convinced of both the potential and necessity to engage on social media. It offered a unique opportunity to speak directly to its audience – to tell them who Temasek was and how it pursued its objectives. When the challenge – dubbed Project Nike – was put to the team, they embraced the spirit embodied by the sportswear giant’s tagline to “Just Do It”, Stephen recalls. However, the team didn’t simply launch from the starting block. They opted for a thoughtful approach, testing ideas and building on what worked. 

“We focused on doing it well,” says Stephen. “We knew that once we started, there would be no turning back. We would have to continue populating our social media channels with a steady stream of content, and that content had to be interesting and informative.”

A high point came when its growing base of followers began not just commenting on, but sharing its content. “I remember the first time we got a share. There was a bit of excitement,” Stephen says. “It marked a shift. Our audience was beginning to respond, and even if they were sometimes provocative, they were engaged. To us, it was meaningful, because it was genuine.” 

Today, Temasek has over 250,000 followers on its social platforms.

“One thing Temasek has always been very good at is recognising ​quickly ​when things are changing,” he says. “The firm identifies trends and acts on them. That’s what we did here.” 

From ​reactive to proactive​

Stephen, a veteran communicator who had worked for brands like Singapore Airlines and Microsoft, joined Temasek in 2011. It was a time of massive change – the firm was rapidly growing, both in size and portfolio, and its focus had shifted from emerging Asia to the world.

However, beyond its role as an investor, little was known about Temasek, and that needed to change, he says.

“We had to make our narrative clear – who we were, what we did, and why. A lot of our media engagement was transaction-based, but there was so much more we could say about what we stood for as a forward-looking institution, and all we did for the communities we worked with as a trusted steward.”

Over the next few years, he built a digital newsroom within Temasek and grew its social media team, which soon included former journalists, visual storytellers, and marketing and analytics professionals. They shaped how Temasek spoke about itself, and worked closely with teams across the firm, from investment and technology to community stewardship and talent development, to develop content that was worth sharing. 

As Temasek built its social media presence, it also listened intently – engaging with those who commented, and responding when misinformation was spread. 

It was empowering – the firm had a chance to tell stories not just about doing well, but also about how it was doing right and doing good. By the time the 2018 Temasek Review (TR) was launched, it was “social first” rather than “social follows”, says Stephen.

“We had videos, photos, infographics, animations, and charts online, all of which helped to bring the Temasek story to life. We achieved more reach than we had ever had. Our audience was taken on a journey that allowed them to not just understand our financial results but the values we embodied and the mission we were driving towards. It was clearly making a difference to what people understood about Temasek.”

Temasek continues to make a concerted effort to take its audience behind the numbers of its annual disclosure exercise, explaining the thinking behind investments, discussing significant trends, and demonstrating the impact of Temasek’s community initiatives.

The power of connection 

By the time Stephen left the firm and moved to Australia in 2022, public communication had become a critical part of Temasek’s personality and the way it did business. 

“There will never be a shortage of critics, and criticism is something we should listen to and learn from,” he says. “However, we’ve created a channel that allows us to engage, ensuring that the public has a greater understanding of what Temasek does and can form its own views, and is reassured that even at the most challenging times, it will step up and support the community in ways that are distinctive and genuine.”

That was apparent in efforts made during crises like the ​​2014 haze and the COVID-19 pandemic, and in its purpose statement, So Every Generation Prospers, which Stephen helped crystallise between 2020 and 2021. 

“These four words embody what Temasek, as a firm, and all its people, stand for. They connect all three pillars of what the firm does into one overriding ambition. Prosperity is about more than just returns. It's about sustainability, community health, living standards, social cohesiveness, and leaving no one behind. It reinforces the notion that social prosperity is on par with financial prosperity. What Temasek does has real meaning, both financially and for communities.”

This is a story Stephen hopes Temasek will keep telling. 

“Demystifying an organisation like Temasek does not happen overnight. It takes constant engagement, strong storytelling and being open about what Temasek does. It’s a journey – and one I was really happy to be a part of.      

Mark Lim may be Temasek's Chief Digital Officer, but catch him in a free moment and he’s more likely to be engrossed in a video about behavioural science than fancy algorithms.  

“Digital transformation is as much about people as it is about technology,” he says. “However sophisticated or innovative a tech tool might be, it’s of no use if people don’t use it or if it doesn’t solve their problems.” 

Championing user needs has been a driving force for Mark since he co-founded the Government Digital Services (GDS) department of the then-Infocomm Development Authority in 2010. There, he drew on software development strategies more typical of tech giants like Apple and Meta to fundamentally change how people interacted with the government. 

His team’s progressive approach resulted in the quick and successful deployment of many citizen-facing web and mobile apps, such as the national digital identity app SingPass Mobile, the community first responders app MyResponder, and the first National Library Board app, among others. It attracted Temasek’s attention. 

By 2017, Temasek had grown into a global investment powerhouse and was seeking to unlock more possibilities through digital transformation. GDS’ gregarious Director, who passionately advocated for empathetic and data-driven design, and automation for software testing, seemed the right person to to lead it. 

Transformation, scaled  

Mark moved to Temasek at the start of 2018, with a mandate to empower its teams through the use of the “triple A” – automation, analytics and AI.  

The 2010s had witnessed a massive digital tidal wave sweep the globe, fuelled by the convergence of 4G networks and cloud computing, empowering organisations with the infrastructure they needed to innovate and scale. Meanwhile, the mobile revolution had put user-centric design in the spotlight, paving the way for disruptive AI and Big Data to revolutionise business operations and human interactions. For Temasek, the challenge lay in effectively integrating these advancements into its existing workflow. 

Mark and his team of three started by conversing with their colleagues across various job functions, to get a comprehensive understanding of the firm’s investment, talent management, and communication needs before considering what needed to be kept, bought, or built.  

They then turned their attention to scaling Temasek’s secure cloud platform to enable innovation, and harnessing the potential of data lakes for analytics, collaboration, and data-driven decision-making. They also began rapidly scaling up digital applications and automation tools that would help free up their colleagues from manual “legwork”, allowing them to focus on “brain work” instead, explains Mark. 

Complex as the task was, his approachability and knack for translating complex ideas into relatable concepts helped get various teams on the same page.  

For instance, he is a strong proponent of what he calls the kueh lapis (layer cake) approach, breaking complex technology builds into smaller layers, testing and making adjustments along the way to ensure the final product is secure and serves its purpose “deliciously”.  

That was how Winnow, an internal investment platform key to Temasek’s digital infrastructure, was developed — and continues to evolve. 

The “super app”, which borrows its name from the agricultural process where chaff is blown away to yield valuable grain, similarly gleans high-quality internal and external data, insights and intelligence on the investments Temasek is considering, including ESG – or Environmental, Social and Governance – factors. Winnow enables Temasek’s global teams to make faster, better-informed and more meaningful decisions.  

“From the start, we had daily “screen reviews” – a stand-up meeting with investment teams, identifying the right workflows and solutions, and then building them in. Issues were addressed and features were added along the way.  

“That’s why the adoption rate is so high. We’ve built it together, ground up, and we all own it. It solves problems, adds value, and most importantly, it’s a platform they love to use,” he says. As importantly, the iterative process helped foster trust and break down human-technology silos.  

And when Temasek’s workforce came to include AI-driven digital “employees”, they all got names. “I wanted people to feel like they were a part of the team. I remind them if they bump into Heidi or Bobby in the pantry, to please be nice and not discriminate against automation,” he laughs. 

Fostering a culture of transformation  

Underpinning Temasek’s digital evolution has been a strengthened focus on raising digital fluency and arming all employees with new digital skill sets through brown bag sessions, hackathons, and micro-learning videos.

The Digital Technology team has also created secure sandboxes in which “citizen developers” can self-serve from a selection of digital tools to build applications on low- or no-code platforms. Their colleagues can, for instance, create automation tools or data visualisations that they can then incorporate into their work processes.

“We’re like condo owners. There are guardrails so our systems remain safe and secure, but beyond that, our colleagues can customise their individual units to suit their requirements. That’s how you scale digital transformation – it’s not just one team pushing it through. Everyone can do it.”

“Today, when introducing something new, no one says no. They say ‘show me how’,” says Mark. 

It is a real indication of how far Temasek has come, he adds. Ultimately, it means building a workforce that is comfortable with change, engaged with technology, and more likely to embrace new ideas and drive further innovation. 

“It really is all about inspiring and empowerment and ensuring that ​​no one gets left behind. The world is always changing, the jobs of today will change, new roles will emerge, and we’re ensuring that our people – across our ecosystem –  keep moving forward. 

“That’s how we will keep riding the digital wave, and not be disrupted by it.”

The first Community Day Huang Zijuan volunteered for, the skies opened up.  

“It was pouring,” recalls Temasek’s Director, Investment (Life Sciences), now a committee member of the staff-led volunteering initiative, T-Touch. Still, the carnival organised in June 2010 at Mindsville@Napiri, a facility for persons with learning disabilities, went off without a hitch. “Everyone just chipped in to do whatever it took… we were all quite spent by the end of the day,” she laughs.  

Community Day, held annually to mark the anniversary of Temasek’s incorporation on June 25, 1974, is one of dozens of T-Touch volunteer programmes Zijuan has been involved in, and one of hundreds driven by Temasek staff around the world – individually, in groups, and company-wide.   

“In every country that Temasek has an office, T-Touch is very much part of who we are,” she says. “We want to make a difference to the communities we work in.”  

“Each one of us plays a small part. When everything comes together and you look at it as a whole, it's pretty impressive.”  

No one left behind 

A Temasek scholar, Zijuan’s Involvement in T-Touch began soon after she joined the company in 2006, and deepened through her 18-year career. “I just found myself at a meeting and never left,” she laughs.  

An associate with the financial services team, Zijuan moved to the life sciences team in 2011, and then to the Enterprise Development Group in 2013, where she focused on building businesses in the life sciences space, including healthcare platform Sheares Healthcare. In April this year, she rejoined the life sciences team, covering platform companies including ClavystBio, a life sciences investor and venture builder. 

Through the years, she has witnessed the evolution of T-Touch, first as a volunteer, and now as a member of its eight-person committee which manages queries, finances and project approvals. “As Temasek has grown, our staff count has increased, so we’re doing more, and on a larger scale,” she says. Some things, however, have stayed the same. “I still see people go out of their way to contribute, regardless of how busy they may be.”  

One of the ways T-Touch organises itself is through ‘House Adopts Home’, where staff members are organised into seven house teams, each supporting a different charity home. “It's our way of engaging charities for the long term, to build deep bonds, and really know their needs,” says Zijuan. Twenty-three years after it was formed in 2001, T-Touch continues to support its very first charity, Singapore Leprosy Relief Association Home (SILRA), now part of Surya Nursing Home. 

T-Touch also supports what it calls the Thousand Flowers Projects, where Temasek staff are encouraged to support causes they are passionate about. 

“If a colleague supports a cause and needs funding, we have funding they can tap. If they need publicity to recruit staff volunteers, we can help, and if they need partners, we can connect them. The idea is to catalyse the causes that our staff feel passionate about,” she says.  

Often, these are causes that typically fall through the cracks.    

Zijuan recalls how the first Chairman of T-Touch, Lim Kim Hwee, collaborated with Yellow Ribbon to help ex-offenders find work. Project Naked Chef saw a group of inmates trained to work in the food and beverage industry, where demand for talent was high. “Once a week, a trainer went into the prison and taught a group of inmates culinary skills. Some eventually graduated with a certificate in basic culinary skills,” she says. Later efforts trained inmates for jobs as divers to clean tanks at the River Safari, and provided bursaries for further studies. One ex-offender is now a practising lawyer.  

“We try to push the envelope to create solutions to problems that we see,” she says. 

For Zijuan, the programme’s enduring strength is that it is staff-driven, allowing them to champion causes they are truly passionate about, from brainstorming ideas to securing funding. Temasek fosters this spirit, matching staff donations one-for-one, for example, and providing employees with volunteer leave.    

“When there is a culture where volunteerism is actively encouraged and supported, and there is firm belief in the value of giving back, we can really make a difference.” 

The ripple effect 

To mark Temasek’s 50th anniversary this year, staff volunteers joined forces with Temasek Trust, Temasek Foundation, Temasek Trust Asset Management and several Temasek portfolio companies to make Community Day truly special. Under the theme United for Good, they came together to support ​four beneficiary groups.

“Each year, we put in a lot of effort curating an engaging programme for our beneficiaries. This year being our 50th anniversary, we had different activities across multiple locations. The smiles on the faces of our beneficiaries were a powerful testament to our staff’s dedication to the community,” says Zijuan.

This dedication is at the very core of T-Touch's philosophy. 

​​“If you look at our logo, you’ll see many dots, spreading out,” she says. “The idea is that the actions of one person can have an impact on many.”  

“Together, we’re helping to improve the lives of people in the communities we live and work in, and making a difference to their futures. That’s our vision – Today towards Tomorrow.” 

By the time GenZero was officially launched in June 2022 with Frederick Teo at its helm, both the company and its Chief Executive Officer had been honing their climate credentials for several years.  

The decarbonisation-focused investment platform traces its beginnings to 2017, when Temasek established a dedicated sustainability team as a “test bed” for sustainability-focused strategies, investments and solutions.  

“The idea was to mainstream these capabilities within Temasek,” recalls Frederick, who moved from his roles in portfolio management and leading business continuity to helm the Sustainability Solutions team​.  

“That’s where the Carbon Solutions Platform (CSP), now known as GenZero, began. It was basically being incubated in ‘stealth mode’,” he laughs.  

While Temasek stepped up investments across sectors supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy, CSP aimed to accelerate decarbonisation through strategic investments. This was driven both by the urgency for solutions to the escalating climate crisis, and Temasek's broader commitment to sustainability. With climate solutions still nascent, the platform was envisioned as an independent entity, he says. “To be truly effective, we believed it needed to have that flexibility and agility.”  

For Frederick, transitioning to GenZero after 12 years on the “mothership” was a big step. It was also an opportunity to “build something exciting, mission-oriented and intellectually challenging”. 

“Ultimately, it is something I believe will have a meaningful and lasting impact.” 

Steering towards a carbon-neutral future 

Frederick joined Temasek’s portfolio management team in 2010 covering assets in the Telecommunications, Media and Technology sectors. This meant navigating investments in a landscape disrupted by 4G data and the rapid growth of Netflix, WhatsApp and Zoom. He rose to take on a leadership position within the team, while also helming sustainability and community initiatives. This included executing a nationwide delivery of N95 mask kits to kickstart a campaign on emergency preparedness by Temasek Foundation. ​​“The idea of building resilience – learning from adversity and emerging stronger – resonated with me,” he says. 

When the opportunity arose in 2017 to spearhead solutions for clean energy, urban sustainability, and climate and nature as part of the new Sustainability team, he took it. “Climate change, although not well understood at that time, presented a clear challenge requiring urgent action. It threatened our planet’s ecosystem, impacting the lives and livelihoods of millions,” he explains.  

As Managing Director for Sustainable Solutions, Frederick became the driving force behind long-term projects tackling the climate challenges faced by Temasek and its portfolio companies. These included addressing emissions in hard-to-decarbonise sectors like aviation. 

A key initiative in partnership with Singapore Airlines (SIA) and the Civil Aviation of Singapore (CAAS), took off at Changi Airport in early 2022. For almost two years, SIA and Scoot flights were fuelled with a blend of conventional and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), a biofuel that reduces carbon emissions by up to 80 per cent. The pilot validated SAF’s integration into Changi Airport’s operations, as well as SAF credits as a novel solution to offset the higher costs.  

Separately, he also led efforts to establish a carbon markets ecosystem with the creation of Climate Impact X (CIX), a global carbon credit marketplace. “We saw carbon credits as a way of channelling finance into innovative climate solutions, and lowering the green premium,” he says. “So CIX was conceived with DBS Bank, the Singapore Exchange, and Standard Chartered.”  

The birth of GenZero

By mid-2022, CSP had matured, with CIX among its partners and a portfolio that included investments in advanced biofuels, sustainable agriculture and forest restoration. This paved the way for its official launch as GenZero, with Frederick as its CEO. 

The initial months were hectic, he recalls, and focused on establishing GenZero’s mission, mandate, and strategy. “We needed to articulate what we stood for, and why,” he explains. “If our mission was to accelerate global decarbonisation, then the question was how?”  

It led to the identification of three broad focus areas: nature-based solutions, technology-based solutions, and carbon ecosystem enablers. “And then we had to organise ourselves to execute that strategy,” he says.  

Beyond a strategic blueprint, he focused on building a strong team. Frederick credits his time at Temasek for shaping his approach to talent. “Temasek is its people,” he says, “and those people share a certain mindset: the courage to innovate, resilience in the face of setbacks, and the tenacity to bounce back and try again.” 

“For those of us privileged to be in a leadership role, it’s about nurturing the next generation to carry this legacy forward. Wherever we go, we bring this piece of DNA with us.” 

A journey requiring courage

Under Frederick’s leadership, GenZero has become a significant force in driving global decarbonisation efforts.  

​“We are a fully-fledged investment company with the ability to convene leading climate stakeholders from across the globe. We share best practices and networks to scale impactful solutions, provide deep carbon markets expertise, and curate thought leadership content. This allows us to unlock pain points and accelerate positive climate action.” 

Looking ahead, he believes that future success hinges on the same qualities that have propelled GenZero thus far: a willingness to be bold, innovate, and forge new paths. 

“It's like placing stones across a riverbed, paving the way for a crossing. Laying the stones isn't enough. You need the courage to step onto them and complete the journey,” he says. “We need to be strategic and smart, but we can't afford to be paralysed by uncertainty.” 

Ultimately, he says, the focus remains on the long game: ensuring GenZero’s work protects ​the future – ​​for generations. 

It was late 2019 when reports of an uptick in atypical pneumonia cases began to intensify. A doctor by training, it sent “shivers” down Fidah Alsagoff’s spine.

“Memories of SARS, when hospital workers lost friends and colleagues, were still fresh,” recalls the Vice Chairman of Temasek’s Life Sciences team. “Alarm bells started ringing.”

By Chinese New Year the following year, the chilling reality of COVID-19 had set in. Temasek began considering the implications of the novel coronavirus from various angles, dusting off contingency plans from its experience of SARS and Bird Flu, and brainstorming ways it could help broader communities – before the virus got the upper hand.

The investment firm tapped its network of allies in Singapore and around the world for everything from masks and swabs to ventilators and oxygenators, and explored how it could help propel much-needed innovation. Fidah, who would later receive the Public Service Star for spearheading Temasek’s pandemic efforts, led the various work streams, tapping close to two decades of medical training and healthcare management experience.

He saw the company’s response to the pandemic as a “fundamental expression” of its values. "Helping people just because you can may not be typical of investment companies, but it is very much part of Temasek’s DNA."

A doctor’s pivot

For Fidah, who studied medicine at the National University of Singapore, it mirrored the epiphany he had in 1989, when he was considering training to become a surgeon. “All I had ever wanted since I was 11 was to become a doctor, but it was really the underprivileged I wanted to help – and general surgery wasn’t going to do much for them,” he says.

It led him in the direction of public health, and after graduating, he took his knowledge of community medicine first to a charity, serving as its Medical Director, and then to public hospital administration. Seeking a deeper understanding of the business aspects of hospital administration, he decided to pursue an MBA. 

Immersed in discussions around value creation, he knew he wanted to improve patient outcomes on a larger scale. At the time, Temasek was growing its interest in the life sciences and was looking to hire for deep domain expertise.

“I got lucky – Temasek took a bet on me,” laughs Fidah, who joined in 2008 to lead and grow the life sciences team globally. He double hatted as joint head of the firm’s Enterprise Development Group, helping to identify areas of growth and drive the commercialisation of innovation.

From the start, a major focus of the life sciences team was therapeutics. “Biotech was emerging, and it was both compelling and satisfying when investments in these companies not only delivered solid returns, but ended up helping patients. In early 2020, we invested in a fairly unknown company developing next-generation vaccines, and needed funding for the final phase of testing,” he remembers.

That company, BioNtech, a pioneer in messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, went on to co-develop one of the most widely used COVID-19 vaccines in the world.

Unending search for solutions

The effort to stay on top of the pandemic was relentless on all fronts, says Fidah, from testing and diagnosis to protection and prevention.

“As we watched the situation unfold, we tried to figure out where the next crisis would be. When there was a global shortage of nasopharyngeal swabs, Temasek collaborated with research institutes, hospitals, and small and medium enterprises to design, validate, and manufacture the swabs,” he says. “Without swabs, diagnostic kits were useless.”

Fidah and his team tapped Temasek’s ecosystem for diagnostics equipment, ventilators, and other supplies and support. Portfolio companies including PSA International and Surbana Jurong helped create makeshift medical care facilities and isolation centres preemptively, while Singapore Airlines got supplies to where they were most desperately needed.

“What helped were the relationships we had built over the years. You can’t make a friend only when you need one,” says Fidah.

Close to two-thirds of Temasek’s staff also stepped up as volunteers, some trading corporate garb for PPE to conduct daily swabs for migrant workers. Others rallied behind other initiatives, including distributing masks and sanitisers across the island, says Fidah. Another team packed and addressed boxes with these COVID essentials to keep Temasek’s global teams safe as they, too, did their part in helping the communities around them.

“We realised that when you deal with a pervasive invader like Covid 19, the solution is beyond the capacity of any single agency. It demanded collective action.”

United by purpose

Over the course of the pandemic, Temasek distributed over 35 million reusable masks and 146 million surgical and N95 masks, 1.3 million oximeters, and over 1.27 million litres of hand sanitiser in Singapore alone. It also provided some 40 countries, including many of Singapore’s neighbours, with essential medical supplies, including test kits, lab equipment, and personal protective equipment (PPE).

For Fidah, the experience fostered a deep respect for his colleagues, who tirelessly volunteered without lifting a foot off the pedal of their “day jobs”.

“Business had slowed, but we still had to deliver on our core mandate. I remember our former CEO Ho Ching once saying: ‘We hold money in trust and have to ensure we’re robust – not just in a single time and place, but for generations’.”

It was an ethic embraced across the company, as Fidah and his colleagues went from investment professionals to COVID-19 warriors and back.

“COVID-19 was an existential moment for the present generation. There were no arguments, just collective resolve. This is how Temasek will always be – constantly finding ways to remain relevant and fulfil our role as stewards.

“The desire to see that every generation prospers is not a tagline. It is who we are.”

Two years after he helped establish Temasek’s New York office in 2014, Chua Eu Jin found himself back on American soil – this time in a different capacity.

As Temasek set up a second investment office in San Francisco, its newly appointed Managing Director for Institutional Relations headed to Washington, DC, to set up a stakeholder engagement office.

“As we grew our US footprint, it was also important to create a better understanding of Temasek with governments, regulators, think tanks, even other investors,” says Eu Jin. “Our job is to persuade them, through evidence – and hopefully some charm,” he adds with a laugh, “that they can trust us, and welcome us because we're good and trustworthy capital.”

He spent the next three years getting the Washington office off the ground, and between 2022 and 2023, set up the same function in the EU capital, Brussels. These offices complement teams in Beijing and Singapore.

For the global team, it’s a job that’s never quite done. “Governments and civil servants keep rotating, and Temasek is changing and evolving, so there's a need to constantly tend the garden,” says Eu Jin.

Still, it is a challenge he embraces.

“Understanding the concerns of a regulator – why they say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ – requires delving into the historical and cultural facts that underpin their perception of you,” he says. “Sometimes, no matter how logical your argument, they still won’t budge. Then it’s about finding common ground, and identifying how the value we bring aligns with their priorities.”

“That’s what makes the policy side so challenging – and so engaging.” 

Growing beyond borders

A seasoned lawyer, Eu Jin joined Temasek in 2007, fresh from a five-year stint in China, where he worked on cross-border transactions. “I found it energising and wanted to do it full time at a company that was international or had those ambitions,” he says.

At the time, Temasek had begun to move beyond Singapore, with offices in India, Vietnam and China. Beyond those markets, investments outside Singapore required transaction teams to fly out. “Right from the start, the scope of the work was truly exciting – one week I could be in Europe, and the next, in China,” he recalls.

By the early 2010s, lingering caution from the 2008 global financial crisis was giving way to optimism, fuelled by the growing potential of the technology and life sciences sectors, particularly in innovation hubs like the US and Europe. To capitalise on those trends, Temasek embarked on T2020, a ten-year strategy to transform itself into a global investor by the turn of the decade.

The opening of Temasek’s London office in February 2014 marked the beginning of a global expansion that would see new investment offices in New York (2014), San Francisco (2017), Shenzhen (2020), and Paris (2023), supported by institutional relations teams in Singapore, Beijing, Washington DC and Brussels.

“Temasek has always prioritised transparency and credibility,” he says. “When restrictions tightened, and regulatory scrutiny increased globally in the mid-2010s, we saw a need for dedicated teams that could anticipate and understand the implications of geopolitical risks and policy developments on investment activities.”

In 2015, Eu Jin transitioned from his legal role to a new Institutional Relations role. “I’ve always been drawn to the policy side of M&A,” he admits. “I’m genuinely interested in engaging with foreign governments, understanding their concerns, and advocating for investment opportunities. It felt like a natural extension of my personal interests in politics, history and culture.”

A key challenge of the job, he says, is explaining that while Temasek is owned by the Singapore government, it operates on strictly commercial principles. “Many countries have regulations requiring heightened scrutiny when there's ownership. We need to clarify that what may intuitively seem state-led is really not, in our case.”

“The challenge is that this is unique to Singapore’s economic model, and when you're the only unicorn in the forest, people have to trust you before they believe you. So a lot of our work is engagement, presenting ourselves in an open and transparent manner that gives them confidence in us.” 

Another aspect of the job is participating in public consultations on proposed policies, anticipating challenges and offering a perspective.

Much of the work is about keeping doors open and relationships warm, he says. “There is no hero charging into the fire. We don't take curtain calls. Simply put, we do our work, and try to do it well.”

A serendipitous fit

Since returning from Brussels at the beginning of 2024, Eu Jin’s focus has shifted to Southeast Asia, fostering relationships in key markets in the region. “Since our strategy is to invest more in the region, the engagement function has to run in parallel with that,” he says. He estimates he currently spends a third of his year on the road.

Reflecting on his 17 years in Temasek, he feels immense gratitude. “I often ask myself if it was a coincidence that the very things I found interesting and invigorating just happened to be the same things I found in my work at Temasek.”

“Maybe it was kismet. But I am very grateful for it.”

It was the fallout from the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers that prompted Temasek’s entry into the retail bond market, recalls Director of Investor Relations, Chong Hui Min.

When the global financial services company collapsed, investors in Singapore, many of whom were elderly and less educated, lost millions from investments in ‘Lehman Minibonds’, a risky structured product that had been marketed as a safe investment.

“Many people didn’t understand that ‘Lehman Minibonds’ were not actually bonds, but structured financial products. They thought they were buying safe ‘plain vanilla’ bonds, and ended up losing money,” says Hui Min. Temasek's then-CEO Ho Ching saw a need for safer investment options for individual investors. “That’s how the idea of a retail bond offering began.”  

While Temasek had been issuing institutional bonds since 2005, it would not be until 2016 that the introduction of the Exemption for Offers of Straight Debentures would pave the way for the retail offering, and work on Temasek’s first retail bond would begin.  

For Hui Min, who played a pivotal role in both the public consultations that led to the new regulations, and in the Temasek Bond issuance team, it has been a continuous learning journey. Until she joined Temasek in June 2009, the engineering and economics graduate had no experience in debt capital markets. “It was a steep learning curve at the start,” she laughs.

Empowering informed investing

“From the beginning, clarity was our mantra,” says Hui Min. “We wanted investors to understand exactly what was being offered.”

At a formidable 300-plus pages, the Offering Circular was a daunting read. To supplement this, the team created a concise 10-page “Offering Overview” that summarised the key points of the offering in clear, simple language, ensuring it would be easy even for a layman to understand. While investors still had to read the full circular, the team wanted to ensure they felt empowered, not intimidated.

Another priority was to reach as broad an audience as possible.

Advertising materials, translated into all four national languages, were distributed across platforms, including newspapers, radio, and a range of digital channels. “We had informational and engaging social media posts, explainer videos to simplify complex topics, and infographics with visual summaries. We also had a GIF that could be shared on WhatsApp,” says Hui Min. She remembers the radio ad becoming a familiar soundtrack on her drives home from work during the week of the offer. “Hearing it out there...it was very rewarding.”

Seminars to engage retail investors on the bond issuance were held at Suntec City and the Singapore Exchange Auditorium, catering to various schedules with after-office, lunchtime, and even Saturday morning sessions. Attendees could hear directly from Temasek’s senior management, ask questions, and pick up printed materials, which were also available at the branches of three major banks. 

“We were running something like a logistics distribution centre – we worked with the banks on how many sets of the offering materials they needed delivered, and which branches would get the materials first since there were limited delivery vehicles.”

Among other things, the advertisements and brochures explained the critical step of setting up a Central Depository Account (CDP), which would ‘hold’ the bond. The team worked with the Singapore Exchange which went out of its way to ensure that everyone who went to its service centre walked out with a CDP account.

Communication remained open throughout the application period, where both the Temasek Investor Relations team and call centres at the three local banks fielded questions from the public. “We aimed to be thorough,” Hui Min says. "We weren't sure how many people might be new investors, so our approach was to over-communicate and make it as easy as possible to apply.”

The application window finally opened on October 17, 2018. “It was very satisfying to see the culmination of all the work we had been doing.”

A fulfilling journey

In the end, the $500 million bond received 50,000 applications and was over eight times oversubscribed, a testament to the strong market demand for quality retail bonds.

Looking back, Hui Min feels immense pride. “It was a long journey and a lot of hard work, but seeing the bond issue through was incredibly fulfilling. So many people contributed, and I am really grateful to have worked alongside such amazing colleagues and partners on this milestone.” 

Beyond raising capital, the bond provided retail investors with a safer investment option, fulfilling the intention set nearly a decade ago. “I know of friends and relatives who benefited from their investment in our bond,” says Hui Min. “In a way, it contributed to their personal investment journey and helped them lay the foundation for a more secure future, often not just for themselves, but for their families. It ties directly back to Temasek's purpose: So Every Generation Prospers.”

Next year, construction will kick off for a 350-bed Manipal Hospital in Rajarhat, a fast-growing suburb on the outskirts of Kolkata. The new hospital will be one of several built from the ground up, to bring quality healthcare to underserved communities across India. 

A year after Temasek acquired a majority stake in Manipal Health Enterprises, expansion plans leveraging its financial acumen and Manipal’s healthcare expertise are well underway. “We are putting the capital to work,” says Ved Kalanoria, a Director with Temasek’s Investment Group (India) , who played a key role in closing – and now overseeing – the largest deal  in India’s healthcare sector.

“Building a robust healthcare network is a commitment that will take time to mature,” he admits, “but this is not a three or four-year bet for us, we are here for the long term.” 

Finalised in April 2023, the deal reflects Temasek’s strategic focus on investing in structural trends shaping the future. One such trend - longer lifespans – accounts for  the growing demand for quality healthcare in India.

For Ved, Temasek’s majority position brings a significant change in perspective. “Having a small stake in a company with a shorter time horizon in mind is a different experience – emotionally – from being the largest shareholder and building a business for the long term" says Ved. “Every decision you make is made with an owner's mindset.

“Your role is more involved, more entrepreneurial, and more engaged.”

Building for generations

By the time he joined Temasek in 2012, Ved had spent seven years in advisory and investing, including with Merrill Lynch and Rothschild.

“I was looking for an opportunity where I could be part of a small, agile team building up businesses in India and investing for the long-term.”

At the time, Temasek’s Mumbai office was transitioning to new leadership. Long-term investments, along with the idea of creating growth platforms, were emerging as key strategic focal points.

“In sectors  we believe capital would be a differentiator, we were willing to take more concentrated bets,” explains Ved. “We were willing to roll up our sleeves, and be more involved.” 

India’s growing healthcare sector was a prime candidate. While demand for quality healthcare was growing, supply was sorely lacking. “We saw a large role for the private sector,” he says. “We invested in a few assets, minority stakes initially, and they generated good returns.”

Manipal Hospitals was an attractive asset with a strong value system. It was a well-known brand, with a well-respected founder and a legacy of care spanning three generations. In 2017, Sheares Healthcare, a wholly-owned Temasek subsidiary, took an 18% stake in the company. “The idea was to first understand the business better,” says Ved.

By then, the Bengalaru-based healthcare provider had grown from a single hospital in Karnataka in 1958 to a network of 15 hospitals across five states. With the 2017 capital injection, Manipal’s network grew to 29 hospitals in 16 cities to become a pan-India healthcare provider, and was poised for even greater expansion.

To fuel this next stage of growth, the founding-family sought to bring onboard a long-term partner. It was then that Temasek approached them with the idea of acquiring a controlling interest in Manipal Hospitals, and working collaboratively with the family and management team to further build out the business.

Manipal’s experience over the previous six years with Sheares Healthcare, combined with its understanding of Temasek as a broader institution, paved the way for the transaction, says Ved.

“The Manipal brand has been in India for decades, and the family wanted to ensure that they passed the legacy to the right custodian,” he says. “We were committed to holding the platform for the long term, and working with the family to maintain the brand that they had built up over three generations. Perhaps more importantly, we shared their vision of high-quality, accessible, and affordable healthcare.”

The desire to see the healthcare brand continue to make a positive impact for generations resonated with Temasek’s own purpose: So Every Generation Prospers.

“In that, we were completely aligned.” 

Thinking globally, healing locally

With the reshuffling in Manipal’s shareholding, the partnership dynamic has evolved.

“Our engagement has intensified,” says Ved.The role that both he and Temasek now assume entails working with an owner’s mindset. “ We ensure the organisation has the people and processes with the right DNA,” he says, “and we trust them to run the business.”

As a global entity, Temasek also acts as a bridge to the rest of the world. “Healthcare is inherently local,” Ved acknowledges, “but as a global player, we can connect Manipal to best practices and cutting-edge technologies from around the world.”

Ved remembers when his grandfather’s medication was delivered in unlabelled and unsealed pouches. It is a far cry from the secure, barcoded packaging today, traceable to the exact manufacturing facility and date. “The best of what is available in Asia, and probably the world, is now available here in India.”

The key, he says, is supporting the right teams with the foresight to navigate the future. In that, investors like Temasek play a crucial role. “If you take away Temasek and its patient capital, some of this asset creation and some of this technology would not have been possible.”

A year ago, Eliza Foo was on a dusty road to Parinche village in central India’s Maharashtra state, on her way to meet Kamal Khumbar, known locally as “nani” (grandma).

“She’s a force of power,” says the Director of Impact Investing at Temasek. “Not only has she grown the family’s provision shop business and expanded their dairy farm, she has empowered other women by hiring them, and put her children into school.”

The Khumbar family is one of 97,000 rural households across India that have received loans of up to US$5000 from Temasek-backed company, SarvaGram,  which provides financial and productivity solutions to rural India. Temasek’s 2022 investment extends SarvaGram’s reach and impact, and brings it closer to its ambition of uplifting a million households and five million lives.

For Eliza, Kamal’s success reaffirms the impetus behind the investment: that doing well and doing good can go hand-in-hand. “You really see the multiplier effect of capital. When you invest in impact funds and businesses, it flows down, and you see tangible outcomes not just financially, but in communities and families.”  

As Temasek’s impact spreads further into emerging markets, including India, Indonesia and Africa, the rural roads and landscapes of these countries have become familiar terrain for Eliza. “Meeting the families, you see the difference you make. It’s a powerful reminder that our work matters.” 

A Move to impact

An investment banker and private equity professional, Eliza moved to Temasek in 2018 to lead its new sustainability investing and financing team.

“It was a bold move by the leadership,” she says. “Targeting net zero carbon emissions attributable to our portfolio by 2050 was very ambitious. Many wondered how we would achieve this target, but Ho Ching, who was CEO then, and Dilhan Pillay, our current CEO were clear that this was important, and that we had to lead the way.”

“To me, that is true leadership. Today, sustainability is embedded in everything we do.”

It was the same bold spirit that led to the creation of a dedicated Impact Investing team in 2020, to focus on investments that generate measurable social and environmental impact alongside financial returns. Eliza views this as an extension of Temasek's sustainability pillar, which integrates environmental, social and governance factors into investment decisions. “If you want true sustainability, then building community resilience must be part of it,” she argues. A passion for impact investing saw her jump at the opportunity to be part of the then three-person team tasked with getting the initiative off the ground.

“For the first year, I was still in my sustainability investing role and was double-hatting. We just worked on this whenever we could,” she recalls. As COVID-19 spread across the globe, and much-needed capital left emerging markets, it became clear where the team needed to focus its efforts. “We wanted to support the underserved in emerging markets. This included investing in leading impact funds and companies, while simultaneously building our own capabilities and leadership in the space.”

There were significant challenges, from gaps in impact data and benchmarks and the lack of impact capabilities to scepticism – was it actually possible to achieve financial returns

Temasek’s extensive network played a crucial role. “It opened doors for collaboration,” Eliza says. “We connected with the leading players in the impact space – we probably met around 200 impact funds – to benchmark best practices.”

The team gained insights into the companies that impact funds invested in, how they differentiated themselves, measured their impact, and achieved their outcomes. “There was a lot of learning from speaking to others and looking at what they were doing,” she says.

By investing in strategic partners like LeapFrog Investments and ABC Impact, and through direct and co-investments, like SarvaGram, Temasek’s Impact Investing team is driving positive impact in emerging markets.

“Some investors may see these spaces as risky,” Eliza says, “but we’re familiar with these geographies. It allows us to identify strong partners, opportunities and business models, and puts us in a unique position to catalyse positive change,” she says.

The team also looks to catalyse the impact investing ecosystem through thought leadership and capability-building initiatives.

As focused as she was on the impact she was having thousands of miles away, Eliza was taken by surprise by the impact she was having closer to home.

“My daughter’s teacher asked her class what they wanted to be when they grew up – and she said she wanted to be an impact investor,” she laughs. “I’m not sure she knows exactly what I do, but she knows it makes a difference, and that inspires her.”

Purpose, realised

Four years after it launched, Temasek’s Impact Investing team remains a lean, six-member unit, but it is already gaining recognition for its achievements. Most recently, Temasek was voted Limited Partner of the Year (Climate) at the New Private Markets Awards 2023.

“It was strong validation, and confirmed our efforts were being directed in the right way,” says Eliza. She acknowledges that there is still more to be done to demonstrate through real-life cases that returns and impact do not have to be mutually exclusive.

To do this, the team, like Eliza, spends considerable time on the ground, gathering data and insights. It’s a job not only intrinsically linked to Temasek’s purpose – ensuring that every generation prospers – but also to the personal purpose of those in the small, tightly-knit group.

“We all feel very strongly about impact investing, and there’s a lot of energy that comes with that,” she says. “I can confidently say that we have one of the most passionate teams in Temasek.”

The stillness of Temasek’s office at The Atrium@Orchard was broken by the rustle of paper and intermittent conversation coming from a 9th-floor room. Around a conference table, Amar Singh and his team meticulously wrapped packages in brown paper, labelling them with the names and home addresses of their overseas colleagues.

The packages that day were bound for the UK. Inside each one was a precious stash of masks and hand sanitisers, desperately needed supplies as COVID-19 swept across the globe.

As Temasek ramped up its efforts to help millions in Singapore and around the world – from providing test kits and ventilators to supporting vaccine development and joining swabbing teams on the ground – Amar and his small army of staff volunteers were in a race of their own – keeping Temasek staff safe while they were doing it.

“They needed everything, and they needed it now,” recalls the now-retired Assistant Vice President of Administration, who oversaw Security and Workplace Health & Safety during his time in Temasek.

As the world went into lockdown in 2020, Amar and his team joined 30 to 40 other representatives from various COVID-19 workstreams across Temasek’s offices in daily virtual meetings.

A new corporate outpost

After a lifetime spent in the military, Amar, then 55, was not entirely sure what to expect from his move to the corporate sector. When he joined Temasek in 2013, he was surprised to find that they shared a core value: building a resilient ecosystem.

“When I operated in the military, I was wearing a uniform and had a name tag. At Temasek, I did the same job, just without the uniform,” he says. “Keeping people safe is an operation, and you need to make sure that both the formal structures – the systems and processes – and the informal structures, from relationships to trust, are in place.”

Looking back at his first few weeks on the job, the former Senior Warrant Officer with the Singapore Armed Forces recalls how “strange” it felt. “I was a military guy in the corporate world. But I just tried to chit-chat with everyone so I would be approachable when things went wrong.”

Amar joined Temasek as it was restructuring its Business Continuity Management teams. Workplace safety and security were consolidated into a dedicated unit that would shield Temasek’s teams and operations from disruptions. 

Beyond daily tasks and supporting internal and external events, the team of three ensured contingency plans, like those created in the wake of the 2003 SARS epidemic and the 2009 H1N1 pandemic remained up to date. When transboundary haze choked the region in 2013 and again in 2015, they had N95 masks stockpiled and ready.

“Business continuity is like oxygen. You can't see it, taste it, smell it or feel it, but it's vital for survival,” he says.

The team also handled travel risks and logistics, and ensured that Temasek offices around the world maintained the same safety and security standards as its Singapore HQ. “Different countries have different protocols, cultures and regulations. We had to calibrate our plans to fit each environment so they could be deployed whenever the button was pushed,” explains Amar.

When COVID-19 hit, that button got quite a workout, and every protocol was put to the test, he recalls.

“We had checklists and recovery plans that Temasek had created with consultants that kicked into action.”

When everyone eventually returned to the office, Amar’s sturdy presence remained a familiar fixture, as he strode through corridors and meeting rooms with practised efficiency, his trained eye seeking out potential concerns or hazards, and ensuring spaces remained secure. 

Sometimes, Amar found himself handling things that weren’t quite his day job, including redirecting unexpected visitors who showed up at Temasek’s front door with their PR applications.

“It’s really all about finding solutions,” he says. “Whatever happens, you figured it out. How can you make big things small, and small things disappear? The key is never to let small problems turn into big fires.”

Where people come first

As he settles into “real retirement”, Amar says Temasek’s response to COVID-19 – a crisis that tested every country, company, and individual – is what will always remain with him. He goes back time and again to the “Staff Care Packs” he was charged with packing, and how they evolved as the pandemic lingered. 

“We started with a small pack – masks, sanitisers, test kits – then we started adding more to it. Even our former CEO, Ms Ho Ching, stepped in to make sure all staff got iodine gargle and pulse oximeters. From a small package, it became a hamper,” he laughs.

To him, it truly embodied the spirit of leaving no man behind.

“People really take top priority at Temasek. It’s a company that actually walks the talk – it means what it says, and then it really does it.”

The first time he stepped into Temasek’s sixth-floor reception, Lim Boon Heng’s attention was held by a framed quote on the wall: “We must do things today with tomorrow very clearly in our minds.”

It had been delivered by S Rajaratnam, Singapore’s founding Foreign Minister in his 1966 National Day Message. But that day in 2012, it served as a reminder for the newly appointed Director to Temasek‘s Board of why he was there, and what was at stake.

“I benefited greatly from the work of past generations, and now, we have to do the same – navigate the challenges we face with the future in mind.”

It proved especially poignant when a few years in, Temasek sought his input on a platform that could facilitate dialogue and collaboration between key stakeholders shaping Singapore's workforce. The concept behind the Temasek Tripartite Conversations (TTC) was simple: as the pace of change picks up, solid relationships would be key in navigating the ensuing complexities with mutually beneficial outcomes in mind.

“If we could have a meal and get to know one another, we could facilitate a common understanding and a foundation for future discussion,” explains.

What he brought to the table was 30 years of facilitating similar conversations as Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.

“I have been – and still am – a bridge.”

An investment in potential

The decision to join Temasek – and then to assume the role of its fourth Chairman a year later – were not decisions Lim had taken lightly. When the naval architect was offered the opportunity to make the move from Neptune Orient Lines to join politics in the early 1980s, he had spent about a day thinking about it. He mulled this move to Temasek for over a month.

“I knew little about investing at that time,” he laughs, “but Temasek had enough good people who did. What I did know about was how to operate a company, and I understood people. My time with NTUC and in politics helped me understand their hopes, aspirations and fears – and focus on how their lives could be made better.

“At Temasek, that purpose continued.”

He recalls one of the earliest conversations he had with former CEO Ho Ching about TTC, when she drew on Temasek’s experience with helping to restructure Singapore’s power generation companies at the turn of the decade. The various parties had to work through manpower priorities that sometimes pulled in different directions, and embrace the need for change. She was convinced that Temasek could play the role of “facilitator” in other contexts.

In 2017, the TTC was launched as a closed-door “makan session”. Since then, it has struck up critical and varied conversations over dinner, durians, and drinks, on topics ranging from the impact of technological disruption to emerging “green jobs” created by climate action. As he kicked off the conversations each year, Lim rallied union representatives, corporate leaders and policymakers to candidly exchange insights and explore perspectives – and they did.

The relationships formed proved invaluable as parties in embattled sectors like air transport came together to preserve jobs, cut costs, and reskill and upskill workers when COVID-19 sent shockwaves through the economy in 2020.

“Relationships have to be built all the time, not only when you have a crisis or when you have to make a transformative change,” says Lim. “When you are having an ongoing conversation, facilitating change becomes much easier.

TTC provides a platform for these conversations to take place.

“When you look at the news and what’s going on around the world, a lot of labour conflicts arise because of a lack of communication, and it really is not necessary to repeat those mistakes...You can go further when there is already trust between the various parties.”

Driving sustainable success

As TTC continues to evolve, it has embraced even hotter topics. Most recently, these have centred around the debates – and escalating anxieties – over emerging technologies like Generative AI. For Lim, some of the arguments have been all too familiar.

He remembers how, in the 1980s, when Singapore was embarking on computerisation, workers resisted the expensive and unfamiliar machines that they were convinced would take over their jobs. A task force came up with a 10-part course to win over wary public sector workers.

“In the first lesson, we learnt to use the keyboard, and in the second, everyone played Pacman. After that, no one was scared anymore,” he laughs.

The reality is that technology will continue to race forward, and the world of work will only keep changing, he says. Doing its part to facilitate the conversations that allow both companies and communities to thrive is how Temasek can remain true to those important words on its wall, says Lim.

It also ensures that the work Temasek does lives up to its purpose.

“So Every Generation Prospers are four beautiful words that express what we hope our work will achieve. That’s our North Star.

“It is something that every generation of workers at Temasek will have to think about… so we continue to create a bright future for both current and future generations.”

From his vantage point in Champoluc, a ski village in North Italy’s Val d'Ayas, Clemente Castellucci contemplates the snow-covered slopes he has skied on since he was a boy.

“The mountain environment has changed drastically over the last 20 years. I remember where the glacier ended when I was a child, and I can see where it ends now – it’s scary, and it’s sad,” says the 32-year-old, a Vice President with Temasek’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) team in London. “The question is how can we change, or at least slow down, the effects we are seeing.”

He believes that climate technology will play a key role, one that Temasek’s London office is ideally positioned to support and scale.

It’s a sweet spot where potential and resources meet. Europe, Clemente points out, is at the forefront of decarbonisation and climate innovation. “There are many businesses, local and global, large and small, that are trying to enable the energy transition,” he says. “But to have an impact, they need resources. This aligns perfectly with Temasek’s goal to drive the planet closer towards climate resilience.”

For Clemente, who faithfully returns to the slopes of Champoluc each Christmas, it is a goal that resonates. “It has personal meaning to me, but it does not only impact my life. It will impact the lives of generations to come.”

Fighting for the future

A former investment banker with Morgan Stanley, Clemente joined Temasek in 2017 as the company began shaping its portfolio around four structural trends: digitisation, future of consumption, longer lifespans and sustainable living. A core focus of the last is climate resilience.

“It acts as a filter at the top of the funnel to help narrow down the opportunities that make sense for us,” he says. “The purpose is not only to generate sustainable returns, but also to support companies that we believe can have a long-term impact on real-world challenges, and help them grow.”      

One of these is Danish company Topsoe, a family-owned chemical business that Temasek invested in in 2019. “Since our investment, the business has evolved significantly, and has developed the expertise and products to be a global leader in carbon emission reduction technologies. They are among the first in Europe to build production capacity for Solid Oxide Electrolyser Cells (SOEC), a technology needed for the production of green hydrogen. It’s a big task they are taking on,” he says. “I believe they found in Temasek an investor that shares their vision and purpose.”

Especially in climate-related investments, the patient nature of Temasek’s capital plays a key role, says Clemente.

“We can be very optimistic about how the energy transition will go, but the truth is that the timeline can be affected by external factors we have no control over, from public policies to geopolitical friction. Temasek’s long-term horizon and ability to weather short-term bumps and headwinds puts it in a unique position to support promising technologies,” he says. Additionally, it opens up the playing field, giving companies like Topsoe access to an ecosystem of companies – and potential partners.   

What has struck Clemente most is the real-world impact of the work he does.

 “It’s not only about five-year returns, which you do need to keep in mind and obtain, it’s the idea that we are providing catalytic capital – capital that can help the companies we invest in develop and create solutions that lead to a better world.”

Many of the investee companies are leaders in addressing global challenges, he says. “It is exciting to partner with businesses that work relentlessly and with passion to shape a better world for future generations.”

Playing the long game

In the decade since the opening of the London office in 2014, understanding of what Temasek does and can offer has grown.

“We’ve really developed our ‘brand’ across the region,” says Clemente. “When I first joined Temasek, not everyone in Europe fully understood our investment approach. Fast forward to today, the financial ecosystem and the companies we interact with have a good understanding of our vision and targets. They know we are a focused investor – we know what we want to invest in, and we take a patient approach in waiting for the right opportunities to become actionable.” 

While a financial mindset is “a strict requirement and necessity”, there are additional “layers” aligned to the purpose and vision Temasek has as an institution – and that Clemente has of the future.

“It adds a layer of complexity, but at the same time it makes the work more rewarding, and more meaningful.”

In a third-floor office overlooking Paris’ famed Avenue de l’Opera, Raphaël Boulanger walked briskly through the meeting rooms, testing all systems, from microphones to WiFi reception.

For more than a year, the Assistant Vice President with Temasek’s Investment Group (EMEA) had been part of a team of three tussling with budgets, locations, contracts and renovations to ready the 650 sqm, two-storey space for its 2023 opening. On that late June afternoon, he was conducting the final checks.

The Paris office, Temasek’s third in Europe and 13th in the world, is part of the firm’s strategy to strengthen its global network and increase the resilience of its portfolio. Working with its London and Brussels offices, Paris will enhance Temasek’s ability to seize opportunities across the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

“We’ll basically be one team in three offices, which means that any team member can travel to any one of our offices to be closer to whatever they happen to be working on, whether potential investment targets or sourcing talent. It's completely agnostic,” says Raphaël.

For the 30-year-old Paris native, back home after six years in London, bringing Temasek into his home country has been “incredible”. “I didn't realise how much work it would be, but it’s something I am very proud of.”

The French connection

When Raphaël first joined Temasek as an intern in 2016, the London office – the firm’s first in Europe – had been up for just a year and a half.

“The first day I came in was the day the British voted for Brexit. Everyone was shocked, and I tried to settle in my corner and read my staff book – because that’s what you do as a first-day intern,” he laughs.

Despite ripples resulting from the vote, Temasek was in growth mode. “It was diversifying its portfolio into Europe and other Western markets, so there was a high level of capital deployment by the team. It was a pretty exciting period to be there,” he recalls.

The region presented opportunities that would allow Temasek to leverage emerging trends, he points out. “Europe has been at the forefront of the energy transition for a number of decades, for instance, and is a key area for innovation and development of energy transition solutions. It’s also one of the regions where a lot of fundamental research is taking place.”

A year later, when Raphaël returned with Master’s degrees in Engineering and Business to formally begin his career as an investment associate for the European team, the office was expanding. “There were more hires, including at mid-level and senior level. Not long after my return, Nicolas Meier came in as a director, covering the German region, which we didn't have before. Soon after that, Uwe Krueger joined as head of Europe,” he recalls.

Between then and 2023, the London office would double in strength to 50 people.

“Now I work alongside colleagues of diverse backgrounds, nationalities, and focus. We have finance specialists, experts in geopolitics and microeconomics, and someone I used to sit next to was formerly a journalist. We have different investment interests. Yet, we were all under one roof, going in the same direction.”

Raphaël, himself, moved quickly from running analyses and drawing up charts to sourcing for opportunities and then, managing portfolios. A short posting to Singapore in 2019, to be part of a blockchain “pod”, reignited the “scientist” in him, and back in Europe, he corralled two colleagues to start a “hobby work stream” on quantum computing, “mapping the different technologies so we could keep an eye on developments and be ready to move quickly,” he says.

The opportunity came when Temasek started to formalise its investment strategy in disruptive technologies in 2020. In 2022, Raphaël moved to cover emerging technologies for the Europe region, with quantum computing as a large focus. “I spend a lot of time sourcing opportunities in the sector, visiting labs, benchmarking, talking to venture capital funds.” Last year, he was involved in the €100 million funding round led by Temasek for French startup PASQAL – believed to be the biggest private funding round for a quantum computer startup in Europe.

As the opportunities in the market grew, Temasek’s presence has grown in tandem. In 2020, it opened an office in Brussels to focus on institutional relationships within the EU, and shortly after, began planning for a third European location that would enhance its access to deal flow, partnership opportunities, and the talent pool across the region.

Paris ticked all the boxes, while also placing Temasek physically closer to its portfolio companies in the EU, and in 2022, Raphaël joined the team tasked with getting Temasek’s third European office up and running.

An eye on the future

Today, Raphaël regularly makes the two-hour train ride across the “chunnel” to London, moving fluidly between the two offices.

To him, that enlarged reach reflects Temasek’s constant push to encompass more sectors, markets, and companies at various maturity levels, and so remain a step ahead. It is what gives the firm its “differentiated DNA”, he says.

“With Temasek, I can help foster the innovation and business models that allow us to transform lives and revolutionise economies,” he says. “I am really looking forward to this new chapter in Europe.” 

Four years after being drawn into Temasek's COVID-19 efforts, two things remain etched in her mind: the bone-deep exhaustion and an immense sense of satisfaction from having made a difference.

“We were working hours on end, day in, day out. The COVID-19 virus didn't take weekends off, so neither did we,” recalls Dr Cheryl Tan, an Assistant Vice President in Temasek’s life sciences team. Looking back, she counts those 18 months – her first with the company – among the most meaningful in her life. “Meaningful, but exhausting,” she laughs.

A doctor in Australia for six years, Cheryl returned home in April 2020 to join Temasek as an investment associate. “I was looking for a way to have a bigger impact on healthcare, not just one patient at a time,” she says. By the time she landed in the city-state, COVID-19 was raging, and Temasek had stepped up to support the country’s fight against the deadly virus.

Besides initiatives through its philanthropic entities including Temasek Foundation, Temasek had partnered with government agencies, institutes of higher learning, research bodies and medical companies to research and develop solutions that could prevent virus transmission or enhance treatment. It was also supporting several medical trials.

Cheryl hit the ground running, joining the swabbing teams when COVID-19 ran rampant in Singapore’s foreign worker dormitories, “usually in two shifts, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon”. The rest of her day was spent evaluating key global developments, helming a clinical trial, and making sense of the results.

She was struck by how Temasek was able to mobilise its network of partners and portfolio companies to design, test and develop desperately needed medical supplies, from nasal swabs to mobile ventilators.

“I realised very quickly that Temasek wasn’t your typical investment company, concerned only about numbers. It was making an impact, and because it had a strong global network, its impact was also global,” she says.

“That global impact on healthcare, that is what I want to be part of.”

Catalysing innovation

Sitting behind her desk today, the opportunity to have an impact remains, she says.

Temasek’s COVID-19 response was not created in a day. It was founded on years of investment in life sciences and promising innovations, and relationships and capacities that came together to deliver the supplies and support that Singapore, and many other countries in the region, needed. “For example, Temasek has been invested in Thermo Fisher Scientific since 2014, and when there was a severe lack of lab equipment, they helped supply the equipment directly to Singapore labs,” she recalls. “That’s just one example. It comes down to taking a long-term view on investments, building strong relationships, and keeping future potential impacts in mind. For life sciences, you see the outcome much more clearly, because you are essentially impacting generations – yours, and the ones after.”

Her first months in her “normal job”, were spent deepening her financial knowledge and becoming more familiar with Temasek’s investments across the different life sciences subsectors, from vaccines and medical services, to diagnostics and related tools. As a doctor, Cheryl had been on the receiving end of innovations filtering down from companies to the public healthcare system. “Witnessing the role that Temasek played in forming the connection between the innovators and the surgeon holding that scalpel really opened my eyes.”

When evaluating potential investments, Cheryl brings the perspective of a doctor to the table. With lives at stake, the medicine and healthcare industries tend to stick to tried-and-tested solutions, unless there is a real need for change, she says. “The mentality is always, if it ain’t broke, why fix it? So, the question is always, are you creating a test that fills a need?

“That's where I come in – to ask the right questions and make sure that we're investing in things doctors will use and that patients need.”

Beyond her “official role”, Cheryl has become the unofficial “go-to medical advisor” as well. “If there are any mishaps or accidents at work, I'm the first aid person,” she laughs.

More patients a minute

When she first moved to Singapore and Temasek, Cheryl was unsure of how the career change would pan out. “I didn’t know how I would fit in, and which direction I wanted my career to move in,” she says. The impact Temasek had during the COVID-19 pandemic, and moving forward, with its life sciences investments, has made an indelible impression. 

“I miss operating on people, the feeling you get when you save a life with your own hands,” she says, “but this is on a whole different scale. You don’t get the immediate gratification, but you reach a lot more people and help create a lot more impact over the same period of time.”

“I can’t say that one is better than the other, you need both cogs for the wheel to turn, but for me, the chance to help more patients per minute, that’s where I want to be.”

For all the hype that surrounds it, medical innovation is more a slow burn than flashy breakthroughs, says Michelle Evaristo.

“It’s a series of small increments that lead to milestones,” explains the Chief Operating Officer of Temasek-owned life sciences investor and venture builder, ClavystBio. “What we do is provide founders and entrepreneurs with the necessary resources to bring their products, whether new medicines, therapies, or treatments, to market.

“And because we work so closely with them, we live and breathe their successes and setbacks.”

Seconded from Temasek in 2022, Michelle’s work on ClavystBio began much earlier. As a director of Temasek’s Enterprise Development Group (EDG), she led a cross-functional team that identified a gap – and commercial opportunity – to accelerate the commercialisation of breakthrough healthcare innovations in Singapore.

It is a long process that many investors shy away from, she says. “It takes time to move a product from concept to market, and conviction to ride the ups and downs. But you don’t lose sight of what you’re trying to do, and you keep your eye on the long game.”

It’s what Temasek means when it talks about generational investing, she says.

“My proudest moments are when my children ask me what I do. I tell them that I'm helping to bring new cures closer so they can live happier, healthier and fuller lives.”

The ecosystem advantage

A former Credit Suisse investment banker, Michelle joined Temasek in 2010, first in an investment role, then in the Investment Group Office, “part of the backbone that people don’t necessarily see when you’re talking about an investment company.” She spent five years working on strategy, portfolio analysis and construction, and policies and procedures, before moving to EDG in 2018, keen to apply the investment and operational skill sets that she had acquired in her previous roles.

“EDG is Temasek’s ‘building engine’, and when you’re looking at building a platform from scratch, you’re looking for certain system gaps,” she says. “We saw that the universities in Singapore had a rich base of translatable ideas, but that these were slow to progress into commercial opportunities.”

 The question for Michelle and her team was if this could be accelerated, and if there was a commercial opportunity here for Temasek.

“The answer was a definitive yes,” says Michelle, who led the team and seized the opportunity to help set up and operate ClavystBio. “I wanted to see the idea come to fruition, and have a hand in building it as a business.”

Her resolve was strengthened when COVID-19 hit in 2020. Pregnant with her third child in the midst of one of the worst pandemics, Michelle found herself more hopeful than fearful. “Global trade had been cut off, and Singapore had to turn to innovation, from test kits to mobile laboratories,” she recalls. “Temasek’s concerted efforts to bring much needed innovations to market demonstrated how quickly we could change the trajectory of health.”

Even as the pandemic persisted, work on ClavystBio continued. “We really started from the ground up – building up the systems, processes, people and key capabilities within the team,” recalls Michelle.

From a two-person virtual office in January 2022, ClavystBio is today an 18-person strong company headquartered at Node 1, a 15,000 sq ft  collaboration space at Singapore Science Park, a stone’s throw from the National University of Singapore, the National University Hospital, and the life sciences ecosystem at Biopolis. The intention, Michelle says, is to provide promising life sciences companies with the necessary resources to launch and grow their ideas – and space is one such resource. Life sciences companies that have “graduated” from incubators can plug and play at Node 1, taking advantage of the communal facilities, shared and private laboratories, and offices as they progress to their next milestones.

“One thing that we are really good at in Temasek is what I call ‘ecosystem investing’, the way we companies that complement each other, and foster partnerships across the industry,” she says. “At ClavystBio, we can tap into that expertise and leverage those partnerships.”

Node 1 is now home to five of ClavystBio’s 11 portfolio companies and partners, and where researchers, scientists and like-minded investors inch closer towards commercialising breakthrough innovations. Its portfolio companies tackle areas ranging from early diagnosis of Alzheimer's and dementia, and better postoperative pain management, to new ways to treat inflammation and infectious and metabolic diseases.

“We want to be the go-to partner for investing and venture building in life sciences in Singapore, supporting companies as they commercialise and globalise life-saving – and life-changing – medical solutions.”

Co-creating change

Michelle counts her time at ClavystBio as a high point of her career, and something that has also made her a better investor. “You tend to think of investing as primarily a numbers-driven process, but having built a business, you want to go deeper, and understand intimately the operations, people and capabilities of the company that help achieve the returns you are looking for.” 

Michelle is looking forward to more opportunities in Temasek and ClavsytBio to build and grow companies that address global needs and have an impact on society.

“It is not very often in your career that you are given the opportunity to co-create the impact that you want to see, not just for your generation, but for generations to come.”

“Each day is a chance to make a difference.”

“What we’re screening for,” says Delaine Cheong, “is motivation and grit.”

Run by Temasek-backed Temus, the four-month technology boot camp Step IT Up (SIU) provides those with no technology background an opportunity to transition into the digital economy, with guaranteed placements for “graduates” at the digital transformation firm or one of its clients.

“Breaking into a new area is never easy,” says the 40-year-old investment professional, currently seconded from Temasek to Temus as its Director of Special Projects. “They need to be passionate and interested, and they need to really want this. My job is to ensure the most deserving applicants get this opportunity.”

It is a steep climb – and one that Delaine is no stranger to. Her own 16-year career with Temasek has taken several twists and turns, and landed her in places where she had to “start from scratch”.

“You have to quickly pivot and figure out what needs to be done, test it out, course correct, and then try again. Temasek gives us the opportunity – and then trusts that we can do it,” she says.

That same belief in human potential forms the foundation of Step IT Up.

Building ventures, from the inside

Delaine began her Temasek career in 2007, doing “bread-and-butter” investments in traditional industries like financial services, technology, media, and telecommunications. Her journey since then has mirrored the company’s broadening focus.

Drawn to the newer areas Temasek explored, she moved to its Innovations team in 2014 to learn about early-stage investments, and played a role in enabling the company to move quickly into nascent businesses with promise. Five years later, she joined the firm’s Enterprise Development Group (EDG), where she focused on growing new business platforms and companies in critical areas such as digital and cybersecurity. She then moved to her current role at Temus.

“Every few years, I saw a different part of the investing landscape, which I truly appreciated. Now, I wanted to dive deeper and understand how operations were actually run,” she says. “As investors, we can tell a company they should hire more people, but what does it take to hire more people or manage attrition in reality? If we are going to help ventures succeed, we need to understand how they work.” 

Fittingly, she walked straight into a talent quandary at Temus. 

Set up by Temasek in partnership with global digital services firm UST in 2021, the startup helps companies take their digitisation plans from concept to reality, accelerating digital transformation in the Temasek ecosystem as well as the broader marketplace. Part of this includes building the talent pipeline to support those ambitions.

Alongside her role of growing the year-old startup through mergers and acquisitions, Delaine was tasked with getting a talent conversion programme off the ground. 

“We needed more people, but the technology market was tight,” she recalls. “Rather than compete for computer science graduates, we decided to create an alternative talent acquisition channel.” Training people who had no background in technology but wanted to transition into entry-level roles in specific technical specialisations was doable – after all, Temus’ partner UST had been doing it globally for 10 years. 

The curriculum is tightly focused on in-demand skills, like software development, training them for specific roles, “and then they plug and play”, explains Delaine.

The pool of potential talent turned out to be vast. The first two runs on basic coding attracted 1,700 people for 40 available slots. The third, to fill 20 Digital Business Analyst positions, drew over 1,200 applications.

A “blind” online qualifying test serve​d​ as a meritocratic gatekeeper, screening for abilities such as analytical skills, mathematics, and comprehension. Anyone who passed, regardless of professional or educational background, qualified for an interview. 

“It did not matter where the participants came from. We wanted to enable people with the right attitude and aptitude to transition into technology. That was the mission of Step IT Up,” Delaine explains.

Among Temus’ “Transformers” who have earned their place in the digital marketplace are a former ​optometrist who now creates insurtech products, an ex-journalist who develops applications, and a stay-at-home mum who will soon call herself a digital business analyst.

“These are people from diverse backgrounds, educational levels, occupations, and generations, all trying to get into the technology space,” she says. “I remember one trainee who was very passionate about technology but was worried because he didn’t have a degree. He worked incredibly hard, coming in early and staying late, and turned out to be one of our top performers. The day he graduated, he gave me a big hug.”

“It is one of the most meaningful things I have done, catalysing a change in someone’s life.”

Returns on human potential

Through future runs of SIU, which will zoom in on in-demand tech-related skills, Temus hopes to hire, place, and train 400 tech professionals by 2025.

In April this year, Delaine rejoins Temasek’s EDG team, where she will continue to help build critical capabilities and local talent pipelines.               

“Temasek has always been very forward looking, identifying white spaces that make sense to move into, and creating localised capabilities critical for the next stage of development,” she says. “Over and above that, I think the enterprise building mandate – to build the next generation of portfolio companies – is what differentiates Temasek from many investment houses out there."

Temus will remain part of her portfolio, and she hopes to apply the SIU model of matching passion with access and opportunity to other companies in Temasek’s ecosystem.

“I have seen people who are truly appreciative of the opportunity, and they show it by really giving back in terms of effort. That’s what struck me the most, that the most valuable investment we can make is in human potential.”

Igniting a Passion for Lifelong Learning

Five years into her role in Learning & Talent Development, Christine Ng realised that Temasek’s rapid growth and increasingly diverse workforce presented a unique training challenge.

By 2016, the firm had grown to more than 600 employees in eight countries, says the 46-year-old, then an Associate Director for Organisation & People. The department was juggling the training needs of people across “different time zones, different levels, and different specialisations”.

“We needed something that was flexible, and yet allow us to achieve our training goals,” says Christine. “Learning at Temasek is not simply about updating functional or leadership competencies. What we want to do is create a mindset geared towards continuous learning, which then creates a ripple effect that benefits not just the company, but future generations of employees, and the communities we engage with.”

She believed that developing a strong learning strategy and curriculum in-house, then working with vendors to deliver it, could be the answer. 

“Being on the inside, we could appreciate the cultural and intergenerational differences,” she says. “On an individual level, we were well-placed to look beyond skills to motivation and what gave an individual purpose. This ensured the learning programmes we delivered would be relevant and responsive to our diverse workforce.”

Empowered to learn

She made her case – and got the go-ahead.

“Not a lot of places will give you the space to explore new approaches. Temasek does,” she says. “When it believes something could benefit the company, and if it’s practical and executable, they’ll let you try. They give you that space, and it’s something I really value.”

Over the next few months, she recruited a team of learning professionals, and began work on redesigning its approach to learning.

This included options for self-paced online learning and both in-person and virtual courses. “That really helped when the pandemic hit in 2020, since people could continue learning virtually, despite closed offices and closed borders,” she recalls. “We also created programmes for mental wellness, which was a global problem during the lockdowns.”

It comes back to flexibility, she says. “We constantly rethink our programmes and how we deliver them. Some of the things we do today may not be as relevant or exciting for future generations, for instance, so we need to be able to evolve with changing needs.”

Christine sees the learning approach she helped bring about as her “single biggest contribution to the company” to date. “I am really proud to say that even when our employees leave, they reach out to ask for training recommendations because they found the programmes beneficial and impactful.”

As a Director in the team, her focus over the last few years has been on integrating various online learning platforms, and incorporating skills that will ensure Temasek’s staff is future-ready, including in the areas of cybersecurity, AI and machine learning.

Most recently, the team rolled out “learning roadmaps”.  

“Temasek creates many opportunities to learn, but there is such a thing as too many choices. Roadmaps help employees define and visualise their individual learning journeys,” says Christine.

No limits to learning

Learning is not confined to job-related training. The company’s annual CEO Learning Challenge, for instance, encourages employees to acquire new and relevant skills, such as data science, music, dance or a new language.

“I decided to learn Cambodian from a Khmer lecturer from the University of Hawaii because I was doing volunteer work in Cambodia at that time,” says Christine, who has worked for years to improve lives in the country, both with her church group and T-Touch, through which Temasek supports employee-driven volunteer initiatives.

She recalls appealing to T-Touch when the country suffered one of its worst droughts in 2016. “They didn’t have access to clean water, and now even those water resources were drying up,” she says. With its support, she raised funds within the company to buy and transport desperately needed water filters to Siem Reap.

“It’s the same principle as when we got the go-ahead to create our learning strategy in house: When Temasek believes your suggestions really help the community or your colleagues, they will let you try,” she says. Christine’s learning journey continues in her new role in HR Compliance.

“The company does not limit what you can learn. They provide various opportunities for you to learn something new, even if it is not in your area of work. If you are passionate about learning, Temasek will support you. The point is that you keep on learning.”

As soon as Leroy Lim finished his pitch for 20/20: The Temasek Short Film Project, he felt the $20,000 funding and mentorship opportunity slip out of reach.

“Everyone was silent. It was a terrible script,” he laughs, recalling the fictionalised drama his team put forward during the 2015 audition.

The initiative, funded by Temasek, paired aspiring filmmakers with veterans to help bring their ideas to life. The judging panel that day included award-winning Singaporean director Wee Li Lin. It was she who saw potential in their idea and began interrogating him on what inspired the storyline.

“We had rehearsed the script and the production notes meticulously – but we had not prepared for the type of questions she was asking,” recalls the 32-year-old. But as they peeled back the fiction to reveal the personal narrative underneath, they landed on an idea worth nurturing – of an autistic boy that Leroy knew from church, who tested his patience and faith with his endless loop of questions and unfiltered declarations.

“I Believe", a 16-minute short film inspired by the duo’s friendship, became 20/20’s most-watched entry, garnering over 280,000 views and hundreds of comments across various social platforms. In 2016, it was screened at the AS Film Festival in Italy.

Unleashing true potential

That fateful audition encapsulated the spirit that underpinned Temasek 20/20: harnessing the value of mentors in getting ideas off the ground. 

At the time, the popularity of video had exploded on platforms like Facebook and Twitter, as well as Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube. Beyond leveraging the medium for its own storytelling, Temasek was exploring how it could help the next generation of filmmakers ride that wave – and tapping the value of mentors to propel success had long been a cornerstone of its approach.

The resulting collaboration with mm2 entertainment – which was behind success stories like the comedy film series “Ah Boys to Men” – would see seasoned filmmakers like Li Lin, Eric Khoo and Cannes regular Boo Jun Feng come on board to mentor 20 young filmmakers, and help turn their ideas into stories worth telling.

The prospect of these mentorships was precisely what attracted Leroy, then a second-year student at LASALLE College of the Arts, and his team, which included schoolmates Nikko Koh and Dhinesh Ravichandran. It was a rare opportunity, he says.

“The mentorship was really what made 20/20 what it was. What you learn working with filmmakers who have the know-how and experience, you can’t learn that in school. And the fact that Temasek was willing to step forward and say, hey, you are a student, but we're going to provide you with the funds to tell a story that will hopefully move people, that was incredible. It felt like a vote of confidence.”

For close to a year, Li Lin guided Leroy’s team as they rehauled the script. Then, they tackled the nuances of casting, budget management, filming, and post-production.

“From pre-production to production and post-production, she was with us, pointing things out, questioning decisions and providing alternatives. She kept pushing the envelope further,” recalls Leroy. “Li Lin could spot the ‘pre-mistakes’ before they could cause any real damage.”

With every refinement, their idea moved closer to the story he wanted to tell.

He says there was never any “pressure not to fail”.

“We just had to do the best that we could. That's very powerful for young filmmakers, who are sometimes afraid to try because they are afraid to fail. We wanted to make something great and now we had the resources to do it.”

On the shoulders of giants

“I Believe” was among 20 short films created during the first season of 20/20 – all inspired by community causes supported by Temasek’s philanthropic platforms. Building on that momentum, Temasek funded a second season in 2017, putting its support behind another 16 short films and four music videos.

For Leroy, 20/20 helped a dream take flight – the filmmaker, who started as spare hands coiling cables for a music video shoot at 16, landed a position as a director with mm2 right out of school.

He is now a director and writer with Freeflow Productions, with commercials for the Singapore Armed Forces and the Ministry of Education, as well as brands like OCBC and Canon Asia to his name.

“I had an opportunity to meet people who were passionate about film – mentors who championed filmmaking and who willingly shared their experience with a new generation of filmmakers. 

“They helped us discover our filmmaker voices, and understand how we could tell our stories with conviction. That will continue to shape the work I do.”

When Benedict Cheong first proposed that philanthropy might benefit from having “performance indicators”, he caused a stir, including among some prominent social workers. 

“It was the early 2000s, and chequebook philanthropy was still predominant in Asia – if it looked good and you liked it, you gave them the money,” recalls Benedict, then CEO of the National Council of Social Services. “They could not reconcile doing good with measurable outcomes – or see how it could ensure their good intentions were actually realised.” 

Across town at The Atrium@Orchard, where the seeds for a new philanthropic foundation were being sown, his ideas were getting a different reception. Since 2003, Temasek had been seeding social capital to advance social resilience, progress and cohesion in Singapore and across the region. But it was still working on trying to find the right structure. 

By 2007, it was ready to launch Temasek Trust as its philanthropic arm, with Temasek Foundation (TF) as a beneficiary and Benedict at its helm.

“For Temasek’s leaders, outcome-based, impact-focused philanthropy was a key element, and that’s what I brought to the table,” says Benedict. “Beyond that, it was a steep learning curve.” 

Having come from an established entity, starting from scratch with no blueprint to follow was a daunting challenge for TF’s first CEO, who would also be working regionally for the first time. 

Venturing into uncharted territory

He remembers the first couple of months as extremely hectic. 

“The first thing I did was get my budget approved so I could recruit and buy things like computers. I joined on 23 April, and TF would be officially launched on 16 May – that meant, I had three weeks,” he says. 

Armed with a budget and a mandate to uplift lives, promote goodwill and good governance, and support disaster relief in the region, he and his team hunkered down and got to work.

They identified areas of need, focusing on “low hanging fruit” like education and healthcare, where the requirements and expected outcomes were clearly defined, and began drafting an overarching strategy.

“The foundation is independent, but we carry the Temasek name, and that’s Temasek’s way,” he says. “You are strong on principles and on what is core, but you are also nimble in seeking out opportunities. Nobody is going to tell you ‘yes’ or ‘no’. You figure it out. There's a lot of trial – and hopefully more success than error.” 

Within six months, TF launched its first programme in Manila, training department heads from 14 secondary schools in new approaches to teaching maths and science. “It comes back to outcome-based philanthropy,” Benedict says. “If you train 100 teachers, that’s your output. But when you train department heads, they will train their teachers, who then upgrade the curriculum, which becomes a model for other schools in the country.

“But that's only the immediate outcome. The eventual outcome is that the standard of education rises, the students learn better, and they become more employable.”

The idea, he says, is to put in place something that “multiplies” even after the programmes have officially concluded. “You can’t sustain the same model forever, but you can get three to five years of impact,” he argues.

Many lessons learnt from the early programmes are today integral parts of new projects, including ensuring that ownership and leadership of the projects rest with the local partners – ownership is as important a determinant of success as outcomes, Benedict says, as is trust. 

He cautions teams against prescribing solutions, or – interestingly – using the word “help”. “We’re not there to tell people what they need or what to do. We’re partners and facilitators, and there to co-design the programme,” he says.

Growing global impact 

Over the years, TF has embraced more complex challenges, from urban management to trade and governance, at a larger scale and impact, and broadened out to more geographies in the region. In 2016, it was renamed TF International, reflecting its expanded geographical scope. 

To maximise synergies, in 2020, TF International joined five other Temasek entities driving social impact under the “One Temasek Foundation” umbrella. Collectively, they have supported close to 1,500 programmes to date, benefitting 2.5 million people in Singapore and beyond.  

Looking back on his 16-year journey with the Foundation, Benedict, who moved to Temasek Trust as its Chief Systems Integration Officer in November 2023, says that it has been one of growth and fulfilment. 

“One day I was with a farmer in Aceh, the next day, with a Deputy Prime Minister in Laos, and the following day with a teacher in the Philippines or a nurse in Hainan. I met different people in different places, but every institution, official, and leader I met wanted something better for their communities – if not immediately, then for the next generation. This is something we all have in common. 

  “It is an honour to have been part of their journey.” 

“People call me the storyteller,” says Lim Ming Pey, who joined Temasek as an investment officer in 1999.

One of the company’s first hires under its fledgling scholarship programme, she knew very little about what Temasek did back then. “There was no Temasek Review and no social media. But the stories I heard from my bosses helped me understand how Temasek came into being, and why we do things the way we do,” says the 46-year-old, who now double-hats as Deputy Head of the company’s Organisation & People (O&P) team and Managing Director of the Strategy Office.

“I understand the heritage that we have to carry forward, so those are the stories I now tell.”

Crafting a narrative

Ming Pey was employee no.86 when she graduated and settled in at her desk on the 39th floor of the then-Temasek Tower in Shenton Way. “It was a small office because we were a small company, but we had a beautiful view of Tanjong Pagar port,” she recalls.

“I remember one of our bosses explaining that if the cranes in the port were down and looked like dinosaurs, it meant containers were being unloaded and Singapore was doing well. But if the cranes were upright, like giraffes, then the market was not as active as it should be. We learnt to gauge how Singapore was doing by looking out of the window,” she laughs.

At the time, Temasek was not yet actively pursuing investments. “The Temasek I joined was very focused on corporate governance,” she says. “The work was largely around corporatising or setting up the governance structures of the Singapore-based companies in our portfolio. Some companies, like Singtel, were looking to list.” She, herself, was assigned to Private Equity Funds Investment (PEFI), one of Temasek’s first investment teams.

“There were just six of us, and everyone attended all the meetings. Junior members like me could listen in when our bosses talked about strategies and partner dynamics, and we learnt from the best.” As Temasek became an active investor, first regionally and then globally, the team was responsible for introducing Temasek to the outside world. “We had to go out there to these global funds and explain who we were, what we did, and the connections we could help them make,” she says. “If people didn't know anything about you, why would they do business with you? How could they trust you?”

Over time, the company’s external narrative matured, taking shape in the first Temasek Review – a public report of its portfolio performance – published in 2004. The same year, Temasek earned triple-A credit ratings from S&P and Moody’s for the quality of its portfolio.

“To me, that made it real,” says Ming Pey. “I’d spent years explaining our commercial operations and telling funds and companies why they would want us as an investor. Now there were these public markers recognising Temasek’s commitment to transparency and accountability, and reporting on the portfolio and performance we had achieved.”

The years that followed were hectic as the pace of investment picked up, she remembers. By 2005, there were various sector-focused investment teams within Temasek, and the company had offices in Mumbai, Beijing and Shanghai. By this time, Ming Pey had joined the Direct Investment team, covering sectors such as Technology and Financial Services. “We were growing the portfolio and doing deals very quickly. I remember it coincided with the launch of the BlackBerry device – suddenly, everyone could work anytime, anywhere, and many of us – and our bosses – were online almost 24/7,” she says.

Writing the next chapter

As the company grew and more investment staff came on board, Temasek’s ‘DNA’ evolved. “We used to operate in a small, cosy and family-like environment where everyone knew and took care of one another. But over time, the environment became more professional, and the focus shifted to achieving performance and delivering results.”

It was a shift that Ming Pey noted and voiced out to the then-head of HR Sebastian Tan.

“I asked him what kind of organisation we wanted to build – did we want to maintain a caring and nurturing environment, or push for a high performance and returns-oriented culture,” she recalls. “He asked me why the two could not co-exist, and then put down a challenge: if I felt so strongly about it, then I should do something to make it so. I took that as a personal challenge.” When she returned from maternity leave in 2007, Ming Pey joined the Organisation & People team to work on Organisational Development, including projects and initiatives that would ensure Temasek retained its strong sense of purpose and heritage, even as it continued to grow its portfolio and talent pool.

“This was where I could leverage my familiarity with how Temasek had evolved,” she says. “By integrating these stories into our internal communications and staff engagement exercises, we could help people understand our purpose and our way of life.”

Things crystallised in 2019 when she became a part of the working team for T2030, a 10-year roadmap for the firm that would guide the building of a resilient and forward looking portfolio in an increasingly complex world. “But before we could find a way forward, we had to first look back,” she says. One of her first tasks was to compile a “report card” for what the firm had achieved in the decade to 2020.

In the process, she was able to “connect the dots”, and see how the various business and institutional initiatives undertaken by the firm had come together to create the global investment powerhouse that Temasek had become.

The work Temasek does often takes years to play out, she says. “I tell those stories to my juniors so they understand how their decisions today will impact the company in the future. To me, that generational thinking is very important – to know that what I do today, somebody else is going to inherit.

"My hope is that a young employee in the future will look back at all the things we are doing today, and think to themselves, ‘So this is what they were trying to achieve for us’. I hope they value how it all came together, and go on to shape the Temasek that future generations will build on."

“Not many people survive, and to survive with zero impairment, that’s a miracle,” says the petite 66-year-old. “Temasek saved my life.”

In 2006, Margina Lee was suddenly struck by viral encephalitis, and slipped into a coma. For 10 days, she lay in the Intensive Care Unit of Tan Tock Seng Hospital, surrounded not just by family, but a circle of colleagues and friends from Temasek, including then-CEO Ms Ho Ching.

With no private insurance and escalating bills, the company stepped in, covering her medical costs and arranging for her to be treated by a team from Singapore’s National Neuroscience Institute, and then to undergo rehabilitation at the Ang Mo Kio-Thye Hua Kwan Hospital.

Her colleagues continued to pop by during the long months of recuperation that followed, with stuffed toys to cheer her up, and piping hot cups of teh tarik. “I feel so blessed that the company and my colleagues did so much. The team had always been close-knit, and we became even closer. We are so much more than just colleagues, or even friends, we’re like family.”

One of Temasek’s very first employees, Margina joined the company as a 17-year-old, doing simple bookkeeping and learning much of what she knew on the job.

There were just four of them then – three finance and administrative staff, and Temasek’s first General Manager, Dr Chua Yong Hai – sharing a small windowless room in Temasek’s first premises, the sixth-floor attic of what was then Fullerton Building. At the time, Temasek’s role was more as a custodian of a mixed bag of 35 government-linked companies than the active global investor it is today, and their main task was to collect dividends.

Computers had not yet become mainstream, and when shares were traded, they were manually settled, she recalls, with staff ferrying letters of authorisation to banks so they could purchase the foreign exchange needed.

The long hours, close proximity and shared experiences drew the group working in the attic close.

“At lunchtime, we used to walk to Boat Quay,” she says. “It was always very packed, so we used to tapau (pack) our lunch and eat on the rooftop garden. The tauhu goreng there was really good and only cost $1.20. And then at 4pm, we bought tea and cakes from the tea uncle who walked around with a cart. Those days, we paid only 30 cents for our teh.”

They also often met outside the office. Some – including Margina – joined Temasek’s netball team and played once a week after work at the Kallang Netball Centre. “It was a lot of fun, even when we lost 99-1 to the Singapore Airlines team,” she laughs. “While we argued about work at the office, at the end of the day we still left as friends.”  

Over the course of her 37-year career, Margina had a front-row seat to Temasek’s growth story, as the company expanded its portfolio and grew beyond Singapore to become a global investment powerhouse. She also witnessed several firsts, including Temasek’s first greenfield venture, the Pulau Ayer Merbau Complex, in 1984; the listing of SMRT in 2000 – incidentally, also the first time an urban rail operator had been listed anywhere in the world; the publication of the first Temasek Review and the opening of Temasek’s first overseas office in Mumbai, both in 2004. The same year, she celebrated with her colleagues when Temasek earned a triple-A credit rating from S&P and Moody’s for the quality of its portfolio.

She moved with the company from the attic office in Fullerton Building to the CPF Building on Robinson Road, and then the Treasury Building at Shenton Way – which was renamed Temasek Tower – before finally settling in at its current premises at The Atrium@Orchard in Dhoby Ghaut in 2002.

As the scope of her job grew, Margina completed a company-sponsored diploma in Management Accounting & Finance, and as technology redefined the workplace, she acquired her first cell phone and computer skills.

By the time she retired in December 2014, Margina was Senior Associate in a Finance department that had expanded from two to over 50. Temasek itself had grown from the initial four staff members and portfolio of 35 Singapore companies, to a staff of 490 and more than 250 portfolio companies as of 31 March 2014. By then, it also had overseas offices in seven countries.

As she looks back on how far Temasek has come since she set foot into that Fullerton Building attic all those years ago, she is proud. But what she is most grateful for are the friendships that have endured.

“Temasek was a big part of my life. It was where I built my career and found my best friends… it will always feel like family.”

Sylvester Long watches as a group of teenagers stop in the middle of Funan Mall’s Atrium, captivated by an illustrated story about a boy in striped pyjamas. The images, rendered in bold black and red strokes, and accompanied by rhyming text, capture artist Daren Lauchengco’s struggles with mental illness, and the journey to facing his fears.

“Making people realise these artists are so much more than their diagnoses was something that needed to be done,” he says. An Assistant Vice President in Temasek’s Public Affairs team, Sylvester spearheaded One of Us, a series of exhibitions put together by staff volunteers in 2019, to give artists with mental illness space to showcase their work, and to give the public an insight into their world.

“There is so little knowledge and so much stigma about mental illness. We need to cut through the stereotypes, and spur thought and action,” he says.
 

This opportunity to make a difference – whether to the business or in the community – has been a cornerstone of Sylvester’s Temasek journey.

The 34-year-old started as a corporate affairs intern in 2013, while a student of SMU, and was part of the team that pioneered Temasek’s move into digital and social media as outreach channels – a role he continued in when he joined the company full-time in 2014.

The move reflected the company’s commitment to greater transparency and accountability, and social media would become a key platform for Temasek to share investment insights, host open discussions and showcase the impact of its work. Getting there, however, would be a “learning journey” for the team on the ground.

“Social was a whole new world – we were used to dealing with traditional media, and our first social posts were way too corporate,” Sylvester laughs. “We had to learn to tell the Temasek story in engaging ways, to simplify the complex, and be more relevant.” By 2023, Temasek’s social media following would grow to more than a quarter of a million across all channels.

"We were worked hard. But we got a chance to see our efforts translate into something quite tangible, and that gives you a real sense of empowerment."

Sylvester also lent his social media skills to documenting events for the firm’s T-Touch programme, through which Temasek has been supporting staff-led projects that uplift lives and better futures since 2001.

“I have seen the number of volunteers and causes grow as quickly as the company – so many have stepped up and brought their personal causes to T-Touch because they know that making an impact is core to Temasek. The company will commit resources to it, and our colleagues are ready to help,” he says.

Over the years, T-Touch has also gone further and deeper in identifying areas in which it can make a tangible difference, and where needs are unmet, whether it’s cleaning out the one-room flats of lower-income families or bringing attention to concerns like mental health, he adds.

Besides his involvement in One of Us, Sylvester regularly visits homes adopted through Temasek’s House & Home initiative, including sharing his free time with leprosy survivors at the Singapore Leprosy Relief Association, Temasek’s first adopted home. Now a T-Touch committee member, he rallies support for the Thousand Flowers initiative, through which Temasek supports employees’ passion projects.

"For me, that’s how the idea of doing well, doing right and doing good really comes to life. I have witnessed how help can be transformative, and how Temasek is making a difference. 

"The opportunity to make life better for others is something I will always be grateful for."

Most days, Lim Ah Lee can be found by the window of Ward 2A, glued to the news on his Lexon radio. Other days, the longtime Surya Nursing Home resident hums along with the Mandarin classics playing on his constant companion and “best friend”.

To most, the radio has seen better days. But to the still-sharp 88-year-old, the small brown box connects him to the world.

“Did you know the temple on Kusu Island is now 100 years old?” he asks. “I heard it on my radio.”

“Uncle” Ah Lee tells anyone who will listen how he won the radio in a bingo game organised by Temasek some two decades ago.

​​​At the time, the former leprosy sufferer was a charge of the Singapore Leprosy Relief Association (SILRA), the very first home adopted by Temasek under its T-Touch initiative in early 2002. The firm had decided then that giving should be a cornerstone of its culture, and through T-Touch, it could support staff-led volunteer initiatives and encourage volunteerism.

In those days, SILRA had about 90 residents. Like Uncle Ah Lee, many had spent decades living in the home. The stigma associated with leprosy meant visitors and volunteers were hard to come by, despite the fact that a cure for the disease had been available in Singapore since the 1950s. Many bore physical scars of the disease, but loneliness often felt like the worst one.

That was precisely why, when put to a company-wide vote, Temasek chose SILRA – it was where they were most needed. Their visits became a high point, providing the companionship and acceptance the residents craved.

When SILRA was absorbed by Sunlove Home in 2018 and the building renamed Surya Nursing Home, the tradition continued: no festival goes by forgotten, and familiar faces regularly come by bearing ang pows, mooncakes and other treats, and stay to chat. “We are always happy to see them… Every time Temasek comes, they bring a nice buffet. There was a pasar malam one time, and there is always bingo,” says Uncle Ah Lee.

He remembers the exact game in which the radio came to be his. It hadn’t been going terribly well. “I think the volunteer covering the numbers for me kelong (rigged it), but I won the last radio,” he laughs.

Uncle Ah Lee has lived with leprosy – and the damage it has done – for most of his life. “It was Monday, January 5, 1948 when I went to see a doctor at SGH,” he recalls. “I was 13 years old. He told me I had a skin disease, and said I had to stay in hospital.” At the time, leprosy was feared, and sufferers were detained to contain its spread.

He spent the following years in Trafalgar Home, a leprosarium in a remote area of Yio Chu Kang, surrounded by high walls and barbed wire. He was educated by nuns within its confines, “in a wooden school… with less than 20 boys”, he remembers, and later took up carpentry at the urging of “Sister Philippa”.

The forced isolation ended when a cure was discovered, and the Leprosy Act was repealed in 1976. Uncle Ah Lee found factory work for several years but did not manage as well in the outside world. In the early 1990s, when Trafalgar Home closed its doors, he was among those who moved to SILRA at Lorong Buangkok.

It was SILRA’s move to a new building with nursing facilities in September 2005 that gave him his bed by the window in a brightly painted sky-blue ward. Temasek had put $100,000 towards new furniture and equipment, and has continued to help with renovations, upkeep, and a few extras each year.

“They are good people,” says Uncle Ah Lee. “Last year, they let us choose five things we like for Christmas,” he says. He, himself, asked for ​​new pants, barbeque crisps, his favourite body wash and a supply of the three-in-one kopi he makes for himself each morning.

He’s toured Changi Airport, taken the MRT and, more recently, visited Gardens by the Bay with Temasek’s volunteers. For Chinese New Year, they have a nice meal and yu sheng at a restaurant.

As his eyesight fails, however, Uncle Ah Lee is more often than not found by the window, in the company of his radio. While his original brown radio has been replaced with a newer model, it remains within reach, on his bedside table.

“This is my best friend,” he says. “I will always keep it.”

*In 2018, the residents of Singapore Leprosy Relief Association (SILRA) Home were moved to Surya Nursing Home at Buangkok View, which is managed by Sunlove Home.

It was early 2016. In a 10th-floor meeting room at The Atrium@Orchard, the five pioneering members of Temasek’s Sustainability & Stewardship Group assembled for their first meeting. Coming from across its investment, corporate finance and legal teams, most had been drawn to the group by a concern for the planet.

The youngest among them was financial analyst Immanu’el Woo, a self-confessed numbers man whose decision to be there was driven more by vision than passion. Sustainability had dominated the headlines in the leadup to the signing of the Paris Accord at COP21 – it looked like a megatrend that was going to shake things up.

However, as the team took on issues like energy, overfishing, water security, and even the haze, he found himself increasingly vested, uncovering issues that struck deeply.

“Like many, I was most aware of things like recycling and planting trees, not decarbonisation and clean energy. It was also only after I became a sustainability practitioner that I realised that sustainability went far beyond protecting the environment, and had economic and social implications.

“You realise that we cannot go on as we are – that unsustainable ways of living create real and tangible problems, not just for people on the other side of the world, but also for us, our neighbours, our friends, our family. 

“I wanted to be part of the solution.”

A search for white spaces 

Part of the group’s mandate was to identify and invest in innovative technologies with the potential to drive the planet closer towards climate resilience, and Temasek towards a net-zero portfolio.

“Given the scale of the sustainability crisis, we didn’t know where to start,” Immanu’el recalls.

The team cast its net wide, exploring everything from sustainable aviation fuels to nuclear fusion, attempting to uncover white spaces that could be explored, whether now or in the future.

He remembers then-CEO Ho Ching addressing him during one of their meetings. “I was the youngest one in the team then, and she said that we needed more young people in our team because it was going to be up to my generation – and the ones that came after us – to take the possibilities of nuclear energy forward.

“I realised then that this was going to be a multi-decade-commitment, with an enormous potential for being a force for good.”

The team’s first task was to put in place a robust framework that could guide both investment and strategic decisions. “This levelled everyone up so we could drive the changes the world needed to see in a dedicated and measured way,” he says.

Immanu’el himself trained his focus on decarbonisation, and within that, low carbon hydrogen, a topic close to his heart. He animatedly explains how low carbon hydrogen is a critical part of Singapore’s future energy mix, given its limited access to renewable energy.

“We searched for under-addressed challenges and for potential solutions and policies that the firm could consider in its choice of investments. We had to think about why no one had solved them, and if they had tried and failed, then where the pitfalls lay.

“We went from problem to solution, then reverse-engineered our way back to better defining the problem. It was an iterative process.”

Impact, for generations

As the headlines around sustainability evolved over the years, so did the mandate of the Sustainability Group. It now comprises three sub-groups overseeing Sustainability & Climate Change Strategy, Ecosperity, a platform for engagement and advocacy, and Sustainable Solutions, which Immanu’el heads.

His focus is on solutions that could have a direct impact on Temasek and its portfolio companies. Immanu’el also doubles up as a Director of Emerging Technologies, which looks further into the future, at nascent deep-tech ideas that, with the right support – including from companies like Temasek – could evolve into commercially viable technologies with the potential to make a big difference.

“The challenge is that these technologies are almost always very new. Some of them may not exist at any sort of scale yet, and of those that do exist, some may not succeed. You have to scientifically and systematically predict if it’s going to work, how that might impact our businesses, and if that impact will be long term.

“That said, Temasek is in the business of looking around the bend, so you never get bored,” he says.

It is quite a change from what he envisioned himself doing, Immanu’el admits. In finance, “currency” is viewed solely in terms of returns, risks and time dimensions. Today, his focus is on how money translates into value, not just in the immediate future, but for future generations.

“The idea of being in a company that is only interested in profit now feels empty. The pre-Temasek Immanu’el might have been okay with that, but not anymore,” he says. “I’ve seen how Temasek puts time, money, commitment and people into bringing real value to communities, now and in the future.

“I’ve been infused with its DNA – and now I’m hooked.”