Ho Ching will be appointed to board of Temasek Trust; become chair from April 2022

Sep 30, 2021

Jude Chan

TEMASEK Trust on Thursday announced that Ho Ching, the outgoing chief executive of Temasek Holdings, will be appointed to its board of directors from Oct 1.

Ms Ho will also succeed S Dhanabalan as chairman of Temasek Trust from Apr 1, 2022.

Mr Dhanabalan, who has been chairman of Temasek Trust since September 2015, will remain on the board and be designated chairman emeritus.

Temasek Trust was established by Temasek in 2007 to provide governance and financial oversight of Temasek's philanthropic endowments that fund the work of designated beneficiaries. These include Temasek Foundation, Stewardship Asia Centre and Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory.

"Ho Ching has a deep and passionate commitment to so many community causes, and has been instrumental in Temasek's own stewardship journey over the past two decades. The Board decided we would ask her to join us, and to continue that commitment by leading Temasek Trust next year," said Mr Dhanabalan.

"I see Ho Ching's passion as an asset to Temasek Trust, as we embark on the next chapter of our journey as an advocate, catalyst and investor, to drive the common good in Singapore, Asia and beyond," he added.

Ms Ho, the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said she was honoured to be invited to join the Board of Temasek Trust, and sees great opportunity for Temasek Trust to evolve its role given the scale it has now reached.

"I am very impressed by the remarkable progress that Temasek Trust has made since its founding over 10 years ago. Temasek Trust has enabled a steady and sustainable support for Temasek Foundation and other initiatives to deliver vitally important programmes in the communities in Singapore and around Asia," she said.

Apart from Ms Ho, Temasek Trust on Thursday also announced several other changes to its board of directors.

Benny Lim, Teo Ming Kian, and Tow Heng Tan will be appointed to the board of Temasek Trust with effect from Jan 1, 2022.

Current board directors include Ng Kee Choe, Chan Wai Ching and Cheo Hock Kuan, CEO of Temasek Trust. Fock Siew Wah stepped down from the board last month, for health considerations.

Meanwhile, Temasek Holdings announced some leadership changes.

Ajay Banga, executive chairman of Mastercard, will be appointed to its board of directors from Oct 1, while Jenny Lee, managing partner at multi-stage global venture capital firm GGV Capital will join the board from Jan 1, 2022.

Temasek Holdings had earlier also announced that Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara will join the board as its executive director and CEO from Oct 1, following Ms Ho's retirement.