Mdm Ho Ching said that she feels “relaxed” as she is set to retire as the chief executive officer of Temasek Holdings on Oct 1, making way for Mr Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara.

According to a statement by Temasek Holdings on Tuesday (Feb 9), Mr Pillay will succeed her as CEO and executive director on the same day.

During a briefing also on Tuesday, Mdm Ho, the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said: “The pandemic did not derail our long-term plans”.

According to an ST Online report, she added that she has not thought about her post-Temasek future, and will continue to be focused on her current job until October.

Her successor, Mr Pillay, joined Temasek 10 years ago and, along with several other critical roles, he served a two-year stint as Head, Americas, based out of New York. He was also appointed CEO of Temasek International in 2019.

In Temasek’s statement, she said: “I know Dilhan will take Temasek to the next level. He brings solid values, a decade of experience in the firm, on top of a wealth of experience prior to joining Temasek. More importantly, he has also brought fresh ideas that are essential to sustaining any organisation. I have full confidence in Dilhan and his team to transform Temasek once again, to be more than it is today”.

She revealed that it took her around three years to finally convince Mr Pillay to leave his senior legal position at law firm WongPartnership 10 years ago and join Temasek.

Said Mdm Ho: “I remember that it was a hard sell. But if you want to have the best people, it will always be a hard sell.”

As Mr Pillay takes over as CEO and executive director, Mr Lee Theng Kiat continues as Temasek Board Member and Chairman of Temasek International. /TISG

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