Ho Ching takes director role on Temasek Trust board, will be its chairman from Apr. 2022

On the same day she stepped down as CEO of Temasek.

Nigel Chua | October 01, 2021, 11:16 AM

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Temasek Trust, the philanthropic arm of Temasek, announced some new appointments to its Board of Directors on Sep. 30.

From today (Oct. 1), Ho Ching will be appointed as a director.

This takes place on the same day Ho steps down from her previous role as CEO of Temasek.

Temasek Trust also announced that Ho will be appointed as the board's chairman from Apr. 1, 2022.

She will succeed S Dhanabalan, who held the chairman position since Sep. 2015.

Dhanabalan will remain on the board, however, and be designated "Chairman Emeritus".

Dhanabalan announced the changes to the board, noting Ho's "deep and passionate commitment" to many community causes.

He said that she had been "instrumental in Temasek’s own stewardship journey over the past two decades", and explained that the board asked Ho to join, and to take on the chairman position next year.

On his retirement, Dhanabalan added that he saw it as "the right time for me to begin to play more of an emeritus role, supporting Temasek Trust in a slightly different way in the future."

Meanwhile, Ho said she was honoured to be invited to join the board, citing its "remarkable progress" since it was founded in 2007.

She highlighted in particular the way that Temasek Trust has seeded impact investing in recent years as a key element for the managing of philanthropic capital, and said that there was still "huge opportunity" to inculcate philanthropy more widely in businesses in Asia.

Ho also said that she was "very pleased" that Dhanabalan would be staying on the board as Chairman Emeritus, pointing to his efforts in helping to "underline the importance of Temasek Trust’s governance role from day one", both as the chairman of Temasek, and as the second chairman of Temasek Trust.

Temasek Trust also announced that Benny Lim, Teo Ming Kian, and Tow Heng Tan will also be appointed as directors from Jan. 1, 2022.

They will join the current directors, including Ng Kee Choe, Chan Wai Ching, and Cheo Hock Kuan, who is also the CEO of Temasek Trust.

Meanwhile, Temasek Trust also said that Fock Siew Wah stepped down from the board last month, due to "health considerations".

What does Temasek Trust do?

Temasek Trust was established by Temasek in 2007 to provide governance and financial oversight of Temasek’s philanthropic endowments.

These endowments fund the work of designated beneficiaries, such as Temasek Foundation, Stewardship Asia Centre and Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory.

Top photos via Temasek/FB

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