• In the late 1960s, the Singapore Government set up Government-Linked Companies (GLCs) as well as statutory boards to support the development of various industries, especially manufacturing, banking and finance, trading, transport, shipbuilding and the service sector. This helped private enterprises make up for a shortage of funds and talents.
• In 1974, the Ministry of Finance established a holding company, Temasek Holdings, to manage the GLC investments. Although the Government holds shares indirectly in GLCs through Temasek Holdings, GLCs are not Government-controlled enterprises, and do not possess special Government privileges. The companies function as private entities and operate on market competitiveness.
• In the 1980s and 1990s, some statutory boards were restructured and became GLCs. For example, the Telecommunications Authority of Singapore became Singapore Telecommunications in 1992; the Public Utilities Board (PUB) transferred its power and gas supply rights to Singapore Power in 1995 (the PUB remained a statutory board); and the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) became PSA Corporation in 1997.

GLCs have played an important role as a driving force of Singapore’s stock market in the past 40 years. The stock market index achieved a return rate of 8% compound annual growth rate, while GLCs achieved a return rate of 10.8% in the same period. (Lianhe Zaobao, 28/7/2015)