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(SINGAPORE) There is no deadline for Temasek Holdings to appoint a new chief executive officer. And there was no 'push factor' in place for its chief Ho Ching to step down or in the way the organisation was run, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told Parliament yesterday.
He was commenting on the abrupt departure of CEO-designate Charles 'Chip' Goodyear from the state-linked investment agency even before he could assume its leadership on Oct 1. Ms Ho remains at the helm and Mr Tharman indicated that there was no timetable for her to hand over the reins to a successor.
During the lively 25-minute debate, MP Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency) said that as the search for a CEO is an important process, a timeline 'is necessary' because having a working target in place would drive actions.
Mr Tharman said, however, he would prefer that internal governance matters be overseen solely by the board, and it would be better for the government to remain at arm's length and not interfere.
In fact, he said the initial decision to look for a fresh leader was a 'bold discipline' that the Temasek board imposed on itself as part of its regular succession planning. It was a process that Ms Ho set in motion in 2005 - not because there was an urgent need, but because such planning was essential.
He said the board would continue to review succession options and make its decision to appoint a successor CEO whenever a suitable candidate was available and ready.
His remarks came as no fewer than four MPs asked him a flurry of questions on the departure of Mr Goodyear, who would have become Temasek's first foreign CEO.
It was also revealed that Mr Goodyear did not receive a 'golden handshake' or goodwill payment for his four months of work. Mr Tharman said Temasek 'had no contractual obligation' to do so, as this was an amicable separation based on mutual agreement.
He chose not to elaborate on the 'strategic differences' that unexpectedly cropped up during Mr Goodyear's short stint, except to say it was a good idea to have a transition period that allowed both sides to find out more about each other's thinking.
Hougang MP and Workers' Party secretary-general Low Thia Khiang argued that the refusal to share more details has left Singaporeans in the dark, with many of them still speculating about exactly what happened.
Mr Tharman reasoned that disclosing any information in addition to Temasek's 'carefully crafted' statement last month would serve no strategic purpose. Earlier, he had said that the government does not directly manage the process of CEO succession at Temasek, because doing so would make the appointment of that person a 'political decision, which it must never be'.
He also revealed that when the name of Mr Goodyear - a 51-year-old American - first surfaced, the Cabinet had considered him carefully and debated extensively whether a foreigner should be the CEO.
MP Lim Biow Chuan (Marine Parade GRC) asked whether a Singaporean would be more suitable for such an important job.
Mr Tharman responded: 'Ideally, we should have a Singaporean as the CEO - that's the ideal. Everything else being equal, if you look at two candidates who are equally suitable for the job, I think we should prefer to have a Singaporean.
'But the ideal is not always possible. The government's position is that it would prefer not to restrict Temasek in its choice of CEO. What is critical is that the board remains in the control of Singaporeans.'
The job should go to the best person, and the field in which to find that special someone is always narrow, he said. The candidate needs to have direct experience in managing global operations, and any foreigner who takes up the job has to be willing to work for a government-linked firm.
One concern raised by Mr Low was the fact that Mr Goodyear had already been exposed to inside information and state secrets, having been with Temasek for four months.
Mr Tharman explained that a CEO of any company would be able to access proprietary information, but he preferred to leave it up to the company to enforce its code of conduct on what should be kept private when a senior leader departs.
'The size of our reserves - that is what we protect. The size of GIC (Government of Singapore Investment Corporation) assets are not published, and that's not accessible to Mr Goodyear or to other senior management in Temasek,' he said.
Above all, Mr Tharman wanted to drive home the point that the Temasek CEO selection process was not a faulty one.
'This was one where both parties decided that it wouldn't work out well only after working together during the transition process. It's never desirable, but unfortunate, and we learn from it,' he said.
Describing the setback in the succession plans as a 'dent' to Temasek's reputation, he said: 'It's a very visible dent in the fender, but there's no damage to body parts, to the axle or the engine.'
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