SINGAPORE — Tributes poured in for former Temasek Holdings Chairman S Dhanabalan yesterday at the investment firm’s 39th anniversary dinner, with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong praising the former Cabinet member as someone who “spoke and acted out of conviction”.

Mr Dhanabalan, who will turn 76 tomorrow, recently stepped down from Temasek, marking the end of a distinguished career in the public and private sector.

Mr Lee, who was the guest of honour , said when Cabinet matters raised “core issues of values and principles”, Mr Dhanabalan “would search his conscience to try to do the right thing”.

One such issue was having Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) to ensure minority representation in Parliament. Mr Lee said Mr Dhanabalan had resisted the idea “for a very long time” because he felt that Singaporeans should, and would, vote based on a candidate’s character, abilities and policies, regardless of race.

But he eventually “reluctantly concluded that it would be many years before race would cease to matter, and that we did need some safeguard to ensure minority representation, and said so publicly”, Mr Lee said.

Mr Lee also offered a glimpse of the softer side of his “good friend” and “wise adviser” for over 30 years.

After the 1984 General Election, the two men were working on the draft of the President’s Address for the opening of Parliament — and they had to make multiple revisions.

Mr Lee recalled: “I commented that this was like the novelists and poets of old who worked on draft after draft of their brilliant masterpieces. And Dhana said: ‘Yes, the best parts were often those that the writer had cut out and thrown away’.

“And that, I think, reflected another aspect of his personality — the ability to laugh at himself and not take himself too seriously, which reminded us to keep our heads sober, too, as his friends and colleagues.”

In his tribute, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam praised Mr Dhanabalan for his role in shaping the relationship between the Government and Temasek, and for “evolving high standards of governance both within Temasek and in its portfolio companies”.

Mr Dhanabalan — who was Chairman for 17 years — and the board members, Mr Tharman added, gave the Government the confidence in its approach to the governance of Temasek: Holding the board accountable for the company’s performance over time, while giving it the flexibility to seize opportunities and to take calculated risks aimed at growing the value of its portfolio over time.

Newly-appointed Temasek Chairman Lim Boon Heng lauded Mr Dhanabalan’s “objective and balanced approach” to Temasek’s relationship with its portfolio companies.

“He knows the issues from both sides; from the portfolio company as well as from Temasek as owner,” Mr Lim said.