| Australian
June 7, 2002 SINGAPORE By: Eric Ellis See also: Temasek defends appointment of Lee's wife LAST year, as Singapore Telecommunications rounded on Australia's No.2 carrier Optus, the Asian giant was at pains to assure investors the only thing connecting it to the Singapore government was the incidental fact of its 78 per cent ownership. And as for questions about the performance of SingTel's youthful chief executive, Lee Hsien Yang (youngest son of Singapore senior minister Lee Kuan Yew) ... such inferences could prompt one of the libel actions Singaporean leaders are world champions at winning. A year later, Singapore Inc is tying itself in knots justifying the clubby nature of how senior executive appointments are made in an economy the US says is as much as 60 per cent-owned by the government. This past week has seen a series of damage-control briefings and friendly articles in government-controlled media explaining how Lee Hsien Yang's sister-in-law, Ho Ching, came to be appointed chief executive of Temasek Holdings, the secretive government-controlled company that runs SingTel, Optus, Singapore Airlines and other regional giants. In a briefing to local journalists, Temasek chairman Suppiah Dhanabalan revealed that 42-year-old Mr Lee was once considered for appointment as chief of the armed forces, but the authorities decided against such a move because of ``sensitivities''. Instead, Mr Lee became chief of SingTel. But as the company's Australian share price plumbs news lows -- falling almost 3 per cent (4c) yesterday to A$1.45 -- former Optus shareholders who opted for SingTel scrip in last year's offer may well wish brigadier-general Lee had stayed in uniform. SingTel has been among Australia's worst-performing shares this year, as disquiet rises about SingTel's big debt burden, its ability to make Optus pay its way and huge investments in regional cable infrastructure. |
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