Ho Ching
Ho Ching (; born 27 March 1953) is a Singaporean businesswoman. Ho has been serving as the director of Temasek Trust since 2021. She is the wife of incumbent Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong. Ho took the role as the spouse of the Prime Minister of Singapore since 2004. Ho joined Temasek Holdings as a director in January 2002. She became its executive director in May 2002 and was appointed as the chief executive officer by Goh Chok Tong in January 2004. As of 2020, she is listed as the 30th Most Powerful Woman in the World by Forbes. Early life and education Ho was born on 27 March 1953 in Singapore. She attended Crescent Girls' School and National Junior College—where she became one of the top students for the A Level examinations in her cohort and was named Student of the Year, before graduating from the University of Singapore (now the National University of Singapore) in 1976 with a Bachelor of Engineering with first class honours degree in electrical engineering. She subsequently went on to complete a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering at Stanford University in 1982. Career Ho started her career as an engineer with the Ministry of Defence of Singapore in 1976. In 1983, she became the Director of Defence Materials Organisation, the procurement agency of the ministry and concurrently held the position of deputy director of Defence Science Organisation. Ho joined Singapore Technologies in 1987 as deputy director of engineering and took on various senior responsibilities before becoming its president and chief executive officer in 1997. She is credited with repositioning and growing the group in the five years that she led it. For instance, she was the architect for the formation and listing of Singapore Technologies Engineering in 1997 and served as its first chairperson. Ho joined Temasek Holdings as a director in January 2002 and became its executive director in May 2002. Ho assumed the role of chief executive officer of Temasek on 1 January 2004. She is widely credited with transforming Temasek, an investment company owned by the Government of Singapore, from a Singapore-focused firm into an active investor in Asia and the world. Ho has served as chairperson of the Singapore Institute of Standards and Industrial Research, and as deputy chairperson of the Productivity and Standards Board, and the Economic Development Board. Ho stepped down as CEO and executive director on 1 October 2021, being succeeded by Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, who will continue to concurrently hold his current appointment as chief executive of Temasek International. The same day, she was appointed as a director of Temasek Trust, and will succeed S. Dhanabalan in the following year as chairperson on 1 April 2022. Honours National For her public service, she was conferred the Public Administration Medal (silver, 1985) Public Service Star (1996) award by the Singapore Government. Foreign First Class of The Most Exalted Order of Sultan Ibrahim Johor – Dato' Sri Mulia Sultan Ibrahim Johor (SMIJ), which carries the title