Online claims about Ho Ching's salary false

Claims made in some online posts that Temasek chief executive and executive director Ho Ching's annual salary is around $100 million are false, the Government has said.

The posts also prompted Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat to instruct the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) office to issue four correction directions yesterday.

These were to The Online Citizen's Facebook page and website, The Temasek Review's Facebook page, HardwareZone user "darksiedluv" and opposition politician and lawyer Lim Tean for sharing the falsehood on his Facebook page.

They had made various claims that Ms Ho's annual salary is "NT$2.1 billion", "about 100 million SGD" or "S$99 million a year".

Temasek said on its website yesterday: "There has been chatter based on an Asian talk show commentary, which claims that Ho Ching's annual salary is around $100 million. This claim is false.

"Ho Ching's annual compensation is neither the highest within Temasek, nor is she amongst the top five highest paid executives in Temasek."

Ms Ho is the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The statement from the Pofma office added: "The Government does not set the remuneration of staff in Temasek; this is the responsibility of its board and management."

Temasek's board committee, the Leadership Development and Compensation Committee (LDCC), establishes guidelines and policies on performance measurement and compensation plans, it said.

"Remuneration of the executive directors of Temasek Holdings is approved by LDCC and endorsed by its board."

The Online Citizen said in a Facebook post that it filed an application to Mr Heng to cancel the correction direction at 7pm yesterday. "In the event that the minister rejects the application, we will file an application to the High Court to contest the correction direction."

It noted that while the correction directions made references to Facebook and HardwareZone posts, they did not identify the Taiwan news outlet that made the initial claim, and added that as its website is migrating to a new server, it will not be updating the site for the time being.

Mr Lim, who is the People's Voice party chief, demanded on Facebook yesterday to know on what basis Mr Heng was able to issue a Pofma correction direction if the Government does not interfere with the remuneration of Temasek's management.

Temasek said in its statement that it has a long-term ownership mindset, which includes a "compensation framework to align employee and shareholder interests over economic cycles".

"Incentives focus on long-term performance, and ensure employees share gains and pains alongside Temasek's shareholder during the economic cycles."

It noted that deferred compensation is an integral part of its compensation and clawbacks have been applied during years where the performance requires it.

"We also review compensation practices across the financial industry annually. This is an added check to support talent attraction and retention, within the context of our compensation framework."