Singapore’s leaders may not be used to watching their effigies burnt on CNN. And yet this was what happened Sept last year. When activists demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Bearing the full toss of the public ire was Temasek Holdings. Having taken up a $3.7 billion equity stake in Shin Corp, Thaksin’s flagship Telco firm, Temasek found itself sucked into the maelstrom.
Meanwhile in Indonesia, Singapore Telecoms one third equity stake in Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel) and ST Telemedia’s sizeable stake in Indosat – raised eyebrows in the local press which played the tune:
“Singapore’s domination of key industries poses a threat to national security.”
In the wake of the perfect storm a host of other issues such as the sand embargo and now extending to granite threatens to sour bilateral relations even further. It’s a development that throws out the question:Why are Singaporean firms so susceptible to the perils of being regularly single out as being arrogant and self serving? Read the rest of this entry »
THE INTELLIGENT SINGAPOREAN 