That afternoon in 2014, “Project Mandai” was little more than a name on her boss’ whiteboard, waiting for its moment. But for Neo Gim Huay, then a Director with Temasek’s Consumer & Real Estate Investment team, the words stirred childhood memories of Sundays driving past the Singapore Zoo en route to her grandparents’ home.

It was an ambitious endeavour: a partnership with the Singapore Tourism Board to transform the 120-ha Mandai precinct into a nature-based destination attraction. When completed in 2025, it will integrate the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, River Safari, and Jurong Bird Park – all operated by Temasek-owned Mandai Park Holdings – into an immersive wildlife and tropical rainforest experience, where visitors can learn and engage in conservation efforts. It will also include a new Rainforest Wild Asia attraction, eco-lodges and amenities, as well as public green spaces.

“It is clearly uncommon for an investor to own a zoo or bird park,” Gim Huay notes. “But these were some of Singapore’s first attractions. They have become not just places where Singaporeans connect with nature and with one another, but also places that many Singaporeans have fond memories of. That is why they have a very special place in Temasek – it's more than an investor, it's a steward.”

Gim Huay’s deep personal connection to the area inspired her to volunteer to lead the project. She spent the next four years at the helm of the multi-stakeholder Mandai Rejuvenation Project, turning bold ideas into actionable plans, and ensuring the development built on the rich heritage of the zoo and its natural surroundings.

“The project is anchored on the triple objectives of commercial and environmental sustainability, access and affordability, and innovation and creativity in design,” she says. “The work was challenging, but it was also very meaningful and rewarding.”

Finding common ground

Gim Huay joined Temasek in 2012, drawn by its unique approach to stewardship. “That combination of rigorous financial discipline and long-term strategic impetus was what attracted me,” she explains. She first worked with Temasek while at the Ministry of Finance, Temasek’s shareholder, and had a front-row seat to the firm’s commitment to stewardship and active ownership of its portfolio companies. When the opportunity to join Temasek arose some years later, she didn’t hesitate.

While she initially worked on several large-scale real estate projects, the complexity of Project Mandai – the reason why commercial developers were unwilling to take it on – meant it soon became her primary focus. “It wasn’t a typical urban development project,” she remembers. “We had to understand and address the concerns of various stakeholders, while pioneering ideas and solutions in line with the project’s ambitions to build a ‘zoo of the future’, supporting and promoting wildlife conservation beyond Singapore, in the region and globally.”

Alongside building a compelling business case that would pass muster with Temasek’s Investment Committee, it was critical to address the concerns raised by environmental groups. These included the need to minimise the impact on local wildlife, and ensure animals could safely navigate the area. “We had difficult conversations, and found ways to build trust and bridge the gaps,” says Gim Huay, who joined the board of Mandai Park Holdings, established to oversee the project, about two years in.

Temasek also commissioned an Environmental Impact Assessment study, set up an independent Environmental Advisory Group, and drew on best practices globally to guide the development of the project. The construction of an eco-bridge enabling wildlife to cross Mandai Lake Road became the project’s first milestone in 2019.

The team also found ways to protect water bodies in the areas, and reached out to partners across the business ecosystem to implement sustainable cooling and waste management systems. “The ambition is for the Mandai development to be ​​the first carbon-neutral precinct in Singapore, and a sustainability-accredited destination in itself,” Gim Huay says.

The consultative approach helped create common ground, and build trust and confidence on every front, adds Gim Huay, who handed over the day-to-day management of the project to Mandai Park Holdings as it entered its execution phase in 2018. She remained on its board until she left Temasek in 2021.

“Every stakeholder brought different perspectives and experiences. We worked together to strive towards an outcome that would be compelling, meaningful and exciting.”

A model for stewardship

Gim Huay’s years on Project Mandai left a lasting impression, both on her career and on Temasek’s approach to sustainability. It illustrated the potential for how sustainability and commercial viability could be jointly pursued and achieved.

The insights, experiences, and networks Gim Huay gained helped inform her later role as Temasek’s first Managing Director for Sustainability, where she led initiatives such as Ecosperity, and drove Temasek’s efforts in emissions reduction, impact investing and sustainability solutions. These efforts reflected Temasek’s broader push to be a “pathfinder”, bringing together diverse stakeholders and the larger ecosystem to propel the sustainability journey forward.

Reflecting on the firm’s culture of embracing change and opportunity, she says: “Temasek’s first instinct is not to say no. Its first instinct is to take a step back and say, “Is this meaningful? How do we make it work?”

Now Managing Director and Member of the Managing Board at the World Economic Forum, Gim Huay takes pride in how the vision articulated a decade ago has been translated into reality.

“The founders of our first wildlife attractions were entrepreneurial, bold, and ambitious,” she says. “I feel privileged and humbled by the opportunity to be part of the team carrying that spirit forward.”