SINGAPORE: When Temasek CEO Dilhan Pillay agreed to join the company, he was meant to have a four-month break between jobs.
His last day as managing partner of local law firm WongPartnership was Aug 31, 2010. He was due to start at the state-owned investment company in January the next year.
However, a crisis was unfolding in Europe and then-CEO Ho Ching requested he bring his start date forward.
At the time, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain were struggling in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis. European leaders approved a €750 billion (US$837 billion) stabilisation package to support these economies.
Mdm Ho told Mr Pillay that there was a lot to be done at Temasek. He agreed to start on Oct 18.
“And then, she told me later on it’s even becoming more acute, so Sep 1,” he said. “I left (on) Aug 31 and started Sep 1. What a baptism of fire.”
He started as the head of portfolio management and co-head of the Singapore office, where he faced a steep learning curve, he told CNA in an exclusive in-depth interview as part of the Temasek Explained series.
“But if you are willing to learn new things, open your mind, accept that you may not know everything, and rely on others who know more than you – even your subordinates – Temasek is an incredible learning journey,” he said.
Mr Pillay has now been with the company for 14 years.
That was not what he expected when he joined the company after Mdm Ho spent three years convincing him to work for Temasek.
“I thought I was temporarily giving up the law, because I didn’t intend to stay in Temasek for long,” he said.
Instead, he took up different roles in the company, including heading the Europe office and Americas office, and eventually became the CEO of Temasek Holdings in 2021.
Running a regional office was a big opportunity and a good way to build skills, said Mr Pillay.
“Small skills but important skills – people skills – that you may not otherwise be able to pick up in a place like Temasek in Singapore,” he said.
He found there were many facets to running a regional office – from deciding on a strategy to overseeing the investment process, including meeting people to strike the best deals.
“Your intelligence sources are different from what you have in Singapore because your feet are on the ground in the market,” he said.
In the investment world, information flow is very important, he added. “Someone wise told me knowledge is good, know-how is better, know-who is best.”
