Published August 18, 2009

Parliament to discuss Goodyear's goodbye

3 MPs seek answers on departure of man who was slated to run Temasek

By LEE U-WEN
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(SINGAPORE) Parliament sits again this afternoon, and kicking things off will be three members of the House who are seeking more answers to Temasek Holdings' shock announcement last month that it was parting ways with its CEO-designate, Charles 'Chip' Goodyear.

Mr Goodyear: What 'strategic differences' with him emerged that led to the CEO-designate leaving Temasek is one of the questions MPs want to ask the minister

The 51-year-old American was set to replace current chief Ho Ching from Oct 1, until Temasek stunned the industry by announcing that Mr Goodyear would be stepping down from his planned appointment as well as the Temasek board.

This came barely six months after the Singapore investment company had picked him to become its first foreign CEO. In its statement, the board said unexpected 'strategic differences' had led to the about-turn. Mr Goodyear's last day of service was last Saturday, with Ms Ho continuing indefinitely as Temasek's CEO and executive director.

Lim Biow Chuan (Marine Parade group representation constituency) has asked Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam to explain the reasons why Mr Goodyear resigned after such a short stint at the company 'despite assurances that he had been assessed to share the values of Temasek'.

Mr Lim also wants to know if Mr Goodyear, the former chief executive of Australia's BHP Billiton, was given a 'golden handshake' or paid any bonus or gratuity when the board agreed to his resignation.

Fellow Marine Parade GRC MP Seah Kian Peng is curious to find out if there is a deadline for Temasek in its ongoing search for a new CEO.

At an event on July 29, Ms Ho would only say that the firm's yearly leadership succession review, which started back in early 2005, would continue, and that the firm would consider both internal and external candidates for the post.

Hougang MP and Workers' Party secretary-general Low Thia Khiang, meanwhile, is hoping Mr Tharman can shed some light on the 'strategic differences' that emerged between the two parties, and when these issues first surfaced.

Mr Low also wants to know if the government is concerned about leadership renewal at Temasek as a result of this incident.

Three of the nine new Nominated MPs are set to speak for the first time since they were sworn in last month. Among them, veteran unionist Terry Lee will ask Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong for his comments on how adversely affected the Central Provident Fund contributions of workers are, due to retrenchments, shorter workweeks and pay cuts.

The House will also see the introduction of three new government bills, including the widely anticipated Private Education Bill, which Education Minister Ng Eng Hen will table in the lead-up to new legislation later this year that will tighten regulations on the growing local private education industry.

Two amendment bills are up for a second reading: the Goods and Services Tax bill, and the Legal Profession bill.