from the ground Up

by Jessica Cheam, The Straits Times, Jan 8 2009

NEWS of the billion-dollar scandal at software giant Satyam Computer Services sent shock waves through its Singapore offices and the Indian business community here yesterday.
Some Satyam staff seemed dumbfounded at what had unfolded at their blue chip company while Indian business leaders fear the fraud could damage India’s reputation as a business centre.
The leading outsourcing company – which counts a third of Fortune 500 firms as its clients – set up a major operation here in 2000 to serve the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, India and Africa.
It has two facilities – an office in OUB Centre at Raffles Place and a larger space at the Ultro Building at Changi Business Park – and a 500-strong workforce here.
A shocked employee at the Changi site said the news was a complete surprise. “I wouldn’t have imagined something like that to happen to Satyam,” she said.
But three Indian national employees, also Singapore PRs, told The Straits Times that they were not totally surprised given the run of bad news in the last two weeks.
“We’re slightly worried, but Satyam is a good company…we’ll get to keep our jobs,” said one man in his thirties.
The Satyam scandal – already being dubbed India’s Enron – has also been felt deeply in the Indian business community in Singapore. “The news is utterly shocking,” said Mr Predeep Menon, chief executive of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “Satyam is a very established company with a very good reputation…the most bewildering thing is, how did this go undetected for such a long time without the slightest sign of wrongdoing?
“There are going to be lots of questions…In the short-term, foreign investors are going to be suspicious of other companies, whether they are involved in such similar fraud. Credibility will be severely affected.”
The firm has a significant presence here. It said in a statement yesterday that it “counts among its clients in Singapore several leading statutory boards and government departments as well as publicly listed and private [multi-national] companies having operations [here]”.
Satyam also operates a Global Innovation Hub at its Changi facility, where it works with partners to develop mobile applications and business processes in telecom, banking and supply-chain management. In 2004, it launched a partnership with home-grown Singapore infocomm company System Access.
Satyam’s senior vice-president here, Mr Virender Aggarwal, said the firm “as an organisation remains committed to its customers in Asia Pacific, a region which continues to offer promising growth”.
“Singapore is not only an important market for Satyam but also serves as its regional headquarters and a critical pillar of its global delivery model,” he added.
The firm’s interim chief executive in India, Mr Ram Mynampati, said in a televised statement in India last night that he was “shocked and distressed by the disclosures coming from the organisation”.
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Wilmot