SHOCK was the main initial reaction among the local financial and business community at the news that Ms Ho Ching is to step down later this year as Temasek Holdings' chief executive.
Industry leaders, analysts, academics and fund managers were still coming to grips with the news, but most agreed that with or without Ms Ho, Temasek will still remain a global corporate titan.
Former BHP Billiton chief executive Charles 'Chip' W Goodyear will be taking over the hot seat when Ms Ho steps down in October.
CIMB-GK economist Song Seng Wun said: 'I'm taken aback by the timing. It's been a most difficult period for Temasek given their paper losses.'
Mr Wong Kok Hoi, APS Asset Management's chief investment officer, said: 'The whole industry is surprised by the announcement. Nobody expected the timing.'
Despite their shock, most, like Singapore International Chamber of Commerce chief executive Phillip Overmyer, believe the Singapore investment company will carry on without a hitch.
'Temasek is such a strong company, with a very capable board, and that means it will continue to get on with business - missing her, but never missing a beat,' he said.
Others, however, saw the appointment of Mr Goodyear - an American and another non-Singaporean in a key role at Temasek after New Zealander Simon Israel - as a move to make the organisation politically less controversial.
Mr Israel joined Temasek in 2006 as its second executive director after a stint as Asia-Pacific chairman of French food and beverage group Danone.
Senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, Dr Gillian Koh, said: 'The criticism from the outside-in perspective, levelled at Temasek has been that it is too close to the Government.
'These two personalities in particular re-emphasise that this entity is being run on a commercial basis.'
