“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.”