Setting the Pace Investing in People

48 Annual Report 2006/2007 SingTel is an employer of choice.

We live in an interdependent world where meaningful relationships are the key to a balanced society. With the support of the community and the dedication of our employees, SingTel is committed to investing in worthy causes and the professional development of our people.

SingTel Annual Report 2006/2007 49 Corporate Social Responsibility

SingTel embraces the role of a conscientious corporate citizen whole-heartedly. We constantly explore ways to give back to the community, both at home and abroad.

Our wholly-owned Australian subsidiary, Optus, supports a wide range of community causes, including the arts and sports.

Caring for the Community

The SingTel Touching Lives Fund continued to make a significant and positive impact on the less fortunate. During the year, S$2.3 million was raised for under-privileged children and youths. The amount collected exceeded our fund-raising target for the fifth straight year and will benefit 28,000 young people from five children’s charities, namely, the Autism Resource Centre, Fei Yue Community Services, Children’s Society, Students Care Service and Tanglin School.

Under the banner of the SingTel Touching Lives Fund, fund-raising activities held during the year included a Charity Golf Game, Fold-A-Heart campaign and Charity Carnival organised by SingTel employees. Apart from direct donations to the Fund, SingTel also matched outright donations dollar-for-dollar.

Since the launch of the Fund in 2002, S$10.3 million has been raised for 18 charities under the auspices of the National Council of Social Service.

When massive floods hit Jakarta early this year, SingTel’s Indonesian associate, Telkomsel, immediately launched a humanitarian relief programme to help victims and families affected by the disaster. Named Telkomsel Care Community (Komunitas Telkomsel Peduli), the programme received a generous 600 million rupiah (about S$100,000) donation each from SingTel, Telkomsel and its parent company PT Telkom.

In Australia, Optus made financial contributions to charities selected by its people, namely, Assistance Dogs Australia, The Cancer Council Australia, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Australia, Kids Help Line, Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Salvation Army, Starlight Children’s Foundation Australia and Youth Off The Streets. Optus also went beyond monetary donations to provide management expertise, communications services and employee involvement in its sponsorships.

50 SingTel Annual Report 2006/2007 Championing the Arts and Sports Opposite page, top: Playing our part in serving and caring for the community. In a show of support for the arts, SingTel joined the Asian Civilisations Museum, Opposite page, bottom & below: Fold-A-Heart to touch lives. National Heritage Board and other corporate partners to sponsor the Chinese Diaspora exhibition at the Ayala Museum in the Philippines. SingTel contributed one million pesos (about S$30,000) towards sponsorship of the exhibition, which ran from 15 February to 27 May 2007. The exhibition celebrated the extraordinary achievements of Chinese cultures in South East Asia and paid tribute to the ancient Chinese civilisations.

Optus continued to support Australia’s artistic and cultural assets by sponsoring a number of programmes. The Optus Community Access Performance Programme is a joint initiative with Company B and consists of the Unwaged Performance and the Charitable Tickets programmes that extend theatre to all levels of the community. Optus also continues to be the Principal Education and Youth Sponsor of The Bell Shakespeare Company. In addition, it is the Presenting Sponsor of Cirque du Soleil’s 2006/2007 Australian Tour and its sponsorship is helping to bring the spectacular ‘Varekai’ production to Australian audiences.

Optus is dedicated to promoting the country’s national sports, including the Australian Football League teams, Carlton and the Sydney Swans. It is the major sponsor of Team Tennis Australia, which includes sponsorships of the Optus Australian Fed Cup Team, Optus Australian Davis Cup Team, Optus Australian Junior Travelling Teams, Optus National Junior Touring Circuit and Optus Australian Wheelchair Players, as well as being the official partner and telecommunications provider to Australia’s premier tennis tournament, the Australian Open.

SingTel Annual Report 2006/2007 51 Corporate Social Responsibility

Environment-Friendly Initiatives

SingTel is mindful of the need to be environmentally responsible. Our comprehensive Environmental Management System details ways to identify, minimise and manage environmental risks while operating our communications network.

We continued with our environmental initiatives during the year, such as keeping radiation emissions from our base stations within acceptable levels through monitoring and tests.

We also ensure that our stations are in harmony with their surroundings. Feeders and antennas are mounted in a way to minimise visual impact, especially from the ground. As a safety precaution, cable wires are sealed with covers.

Another environmentally-friendly initiative that we have embarked on is the use of Value Regulated Lead Acid batteries for our telephone exchanges, which do not Above: Optus’ people selling merchandise on Star Day to support the Starlight Children’s release hazardous gases. Foundation. Opposite page, top & bottom: Our people are SingTel practises the recycling of mobile phones as an advocate of environmental the pillars of our business. conscientiousness. We collect an average of 4,000 used mobile phones a month through a trade-in programme for recycling.

Optus strives to contribute to sustainable communities by ensuring that its telecommunications network does not negatively affect the environment. It refines its Environmental Management System regularly to ascertain that this commitment is not compromised. Optus also publishes a Community and Environment Report every year that provides a comprehensive record of its social, environmental and workplace practices, initiatives and performance.

From November 2007, Optus will be 50 per cent carbon neutral at corporate sites by using new green power and carbon offsets. Optus was the first company in Australia to implement E1 lighting in corporate offices on a large scale, reducing energy for lighting by over 50 per cent.

Optus’ new campus at Macquarie Park in Sydney will achieve a 4.5-Star base building rating under the Australian Building Greenhouse Rating scheme. It has also installed water flow reduction using rainwater for toilet flushing and irrigation.

52 SingTel Annual Report 2006/2007 Our People

Mobilising our Most Valuable Resource

At SingTel, we recognise that our success depends largely on the contributions and cohesiveness of our family of over 19,000 employees worldwide.

SingTel’s diverse employees are a mix of nationalities, experience, expertise and skillsets.

Our core values form the foundation of our human resource philosophy. By emphasising Customer Focus, Challenger Spirit, Teamwork, Integrity and Personal Excellence in all that we do, we strengthen our commitment to uphold SingTel’s vision to be Asia Pacific’s best communications group.

SingTel adopts a holistic approach to human resource management, balancing the need to reward performance fairly and adequately with the need to provide a supportive environment that offers opportunities for employees at all levels and helps them manage their work and family needs.

Recognising Performance

The SingTel Group provides competitive remuneration as well as short and long-term incentives to reward the contributions of our people to the business.

Our remuneration packages are benchmarked against the industry and reviewed periodically to ensure that they remain competitive in the light of market changes.

For the financial year, about 2,000 employees received a total of almost 38 million performance shares. Eligible employees can easily monitor and conveniently retrieve the details of their performance shares and stock options via an online system.

SingTel Annual Report 2006/2007 53 Our People

Developing Talents

Staff development is a significant component of the Group’s human resource strategies. Learning begins the moment an employee joins SingTel and continues throughout his or her career. Specific programmes, like induction and buddies, are implemented to accelerate the new employee’s successful integration into the organisation.

As employees grow in their careers, those with high performance and potential are identified as future leaders and given early exposure to Senior Management. Specific opportunities, such as selection for cross-functional taskforces and overseas assignments, are created to stretch their capabilities. Future leaders also participate in a Development Centre programme that simulates ‘A Day in the Life of a VP’, after which they receive coaching for their individual development plans. As part of growing our talent pipeline, successors are also identified for mission critical positions and groomed for success.

The Group’s Regional Talent Management strategy is supported by two custom- designed executive development programmes. The INSEAD programme was modelled on the Asian International Executive Programme with a focus on General Management. The programme with Singapore Management University focused on ‘Mining and Minding the Future Across Borders’. Both programmes served as platforms to deepen cultural understanding, develop business networks and facilitate knowledge exchange. The programmes saw participation by 61 employees from SingTel, Optus, NCS and our regional associates and partners.

Maintaining Work-Life Balance

At SingTel, we recognise that a healthy work-life balance is essential for sustainable high performance at work. Flexible work arrangements, in particular, are instrumental in meeting the diverse needs of employees. To this end, we introduced a telecommuting scheme, enhanced our flexi-time initiative and extended the areas where flexi-leave can be taken.

54 SingTel Annual Report 2006/2007 In Australia, Optus continued to develop tools to help its people manage work and Opposite page & below: Grooming leaders through team building. family responsibilities. Initiatives included increasing childcare leave to one year, unpaid leave after parental leave, paying out long service leave, increasing career breaks by one month to four months, and introducing volunteer leave nationally after having run the pilot successfully in Victoria.

To promote the physical and mental well-being of employees, we launched an Employee Assistance Programme where our people can enjoy access to professional and confidential counselling services, as well as health management and smoking cessation talks and workshops. The SingTel Recreation Club added to the overall effort by organising regular lunchtime health and wellness talks.

Our efforts in promoting our employees’ well-being have not gone unnoticed. In our inaugural participation in The Singapore HEALTH Award 2006 organised by the Health Promotion Board, SingTel won the Silver Award.

SingTel Annual Report 2006/2007 55