Foo Cexiang: Parliament not the risk committee for individual firms

In Parliament on Sept 15, Minister of State Foo Cexiang rejected Workers' Party MP Kenneth Tiong's argument that Parliament acts as the risk function for the national reserves while SIA's board is the investment team. Foo said MPs lack the data, expertise and mandate to set commercial risk limits for Temasek portfolio companies such as SIA, DBS and Singtel, and warned that political direction over commercial decisions would weaken governance. The exchange follows a Sept 8 debate over SIA's 25.1 per cent Air India stake and a reported US$1.5 billion capital injection request.