Email gaffe highlights Temasek's image sensitivities

SINGAPORE, Mar 29 (Reuters) Reporters rarely get a glimpse behind the scenes at Singapore's notoriously secretive state investor Temasek Holdings.

But the company accidentally revealed more than it intended this week when it emailed an internal document to journalists that set out how Temasek officials should reply to tough questions from the press.

''We are trying to find out what happened,'' said Temasek spokeswoman Eva Ho in an email to Reuters on Wednesday.

The briefing document, received by Reuters and other news media, covers 59 potential questions ranging from the firm's government ownership and potential conflicts of interest to its motivation for buying banks and telecoms companies overseas.

While it is standard practice around the world for company officials to be briefed by ''spin doctors'' on how to handle the media, the document shows which areas Temasek considers particularly sensitive.

The 13-page briefing spells out what to say when the media ask whether the appointment of Temasek CEO Ho Ching -- the wife of the prime minister -- was ''politically motivated'' and whether there are conflicts of interest because Lee also heads the Ministry of Finance, which owns Temasek.

''We are not here to discuss politics since we are not politicians or a political organisation. Our CEO is accountable to the board of directors, who is headed by an independent chairman just like any other commercial organisation,'' is Temasek's official response.

SNAPPED UP Temasek's chairman, S. Dhanabalan, is a former cabinet minister who entered politics in 1976 and who held several cabinet positions between 1980 and 1993 including Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Minister for Trade and Industry.

He was also chairman of DBS Group Holdings, Singapore's biggest bank, which is partly owned by Temasek.

Temasek, which has been snapping up stakes in banks and telecom companies in Asia, already has major holdings in Singapore's blue-chip companies such as Singapore Airlines and telecoms firm SingTel, whose CEO is the prime minister's brother.

The document, which mainly covers Temasek's purchase this week of an 11.55 per cent stake worth billion in emerging markets bank Standard Chartered, shows how sensitive Temasek is about its image at home and abroad, as well as its relationship with Singapore's government.

''The Singapore government, as a shareholder, is not involved in our investment decisions and business operations, much less in the businesses of our portfolio companies,'' is the official reply to questions about the government's involvement in business.

Temasek has helped spark a political crisis in Thailand and attracted hostility when it led a consortium that paid