Just like the rest of all the other losses by both TH & GIC, how come almost all of their foreign investments LOST SO MUCH BILLIONS OF OUR TAXPAYERS’ MONEY??? Mistakes or somethng else which is yet to be discovered????

41) whybother on October 1st, 2009 12.16 am
Some of the rebound could have been attributed to capital injections, but im sure the majority was a result of rebound in equity markets.

Yes, this may be so, but if they are going to throw a figure out, then it should be described in further detail at the very least.

52) Philip on October 1st, 2009 12.03 pm
And, of course, we don’t really know if there really was any cash/capital injection. It’s a possibility, but possibility is not proof.

Yes, I would like proof too that clearly denies or confirms this possibility.

if investment result has uncertainty,
who can guarantee our future?

For now, the old man is still around to hold it all together, through his stature as an elder statesman and the people still respect him because of what he has done for the country. But once he is gone, the so call 3G leaders might not be able to hold it together and all hell will break loose.

Having a rigorous recruitment programme does not necessarily mean that GIC will get the best in the world but they certainly do get some pretty smart and talented people. Again, that does not guarantee success. But it sure helps to cut the odds of poor investment decisions by a whole lot when you have some brainy people around. This sort of explains why we see Temasek reeling from ill advised investments eg, ABC Learning, Merrill Lynch, Shin etc. Temasek also suffers from very poor timing of their entry and exits from the markets, in other words, buy high, sell low. It just shows that their investment and execution processes are not of very high standards.

Many more do not appreciate the Buy High Sell Low strategy of BoA shares, the lack of due diligence on ABC learning, and the disregard of advice from highly regarded fund managers like Jim Rogers.

And the nearly universal opinion that CEO Ho Ching is not qualified.

Temasek Holdings certainly has some explaining to do with regards to that 68b

Just one point. Using your example of a flat, if my flat is now valued at $300,000, then my assets HAD appreciated by $100,000. If it dropped in value by $50,000 to $250,000, well, my assets still appreciated by $50,000. At least I hope so!

And of course as long as I do not sell my flat, I do not have to factor in the costs of doing so. Let’s say I do sell it, and the costs incurred in the sale is $5,000, then, my realized wealth – really a fancy way of saying I convert flat into cash – is $45,000. I would still have done rather well.

But it does not mean that the value of my asset (if I hadn’t sold it) didn’t really increase by $50,000!

And, of course, we don’t really know if there really was any cash/capital injection. It’s a possibility, but possibility is not proof. :)

At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter whether they have extraordinary talent and genius working for GIC and TH if the prevailing culture of those organizations suffer from group think and herd mentality to appease their boss and to retain their lucrative job. The gargantuan loss of investments speak for itself.

The adjectives used to describe Apple’s product can be sarcastically use for the clowns’ investment.
Apple’s Adjectives are Amazing, Awesome, Incredible, Beautiful, Unbelievable, Easy, Really Nice.
www. taranfx . com/blog/apples-adjectives-are-amazing-awesome-incredible-beautiful-unbelievable-easy-really-nice

We have a “Apple” company in Singapore who primary purpose is to make loss not profit.

Our hundred billions loss of state assets are simply Amazing, Awesome, Incredible, Unbelievable.
In addition, Mind-bogging, out-of-this-world, phenomenon, unprecedented.

$100,000,000,000 loss is simply Beautiful, Easy, Really Nice from the eyes of the schizophrenic.

Our version of Steve Jobs ? None other than Old Fart.

if temasek is so good, they shld have no qualms subjecting it to public scrutiny like other sovereign funds. afterall, it is OUR money! [/i]

3 international oilriched countries just announced a few days ago
they still lost billion$ in their SWF deals…
how singapore made money is way beyon my beliefs?
is the 3 oilriched countries too stupid or just because their soils have oil?

Singapore is the best example for the world.

Problem is that Singaporeans are forced to accept because they are made voiceless.

Assuming all of Temasek’s portfolio performed similarly as well (aka rebounded to pre crisis level) AND covered the previous losses of dumping BoA shares and other smaller losses added up such as the loss of ABC Learning.

AND assuming this worldwide rebound is not just a bump.