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.”