Tan Kin Lian's Blog: How much does the CEO of NTUC Income earns?

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

How much does the CEO of NTUC Income earns?

Someone posted in my blog - how much does the CEO of NTUC Income earns. He wants to know about this information, following the media report on the court case by the CEO of the National Kidney Foundation.

I will give a reply on my salary at a suitable forum in the future. Maybe, this can be a question to be raised at the annual general meeting of NTUC Income. The chairman of my board of directors can address it.

I will give a hint. I earn less than 50% of CEOs of large listed companies that are reported regularly in the newspapers.

I wish to state the following:

- I fly by economy class, including long distance travel
- I drive a 8 year old Mercedes E200 and will keep it for a few more years.

I am quite frugal in spending money for NTUC Income, including paying for computer systems and management consultants. This helps us to keep our expense ratio low, and reduce the premium rates payable by our policyholders.

33 comments:

Anonymous said...: I never have doubt in Mr Tan's character. Even though Mr Tan is a CEO of a For-profit organisation and entittled to benefit of a for-profit company, he never forgets the root, that is, Income is part of a Coop, benefit for coop member outweigh self benefit. I have seen Mr Tan in person, walking from Income to other nearby places, one look I can see he is a humble person.

I have deep respect for you Mr Tan, there is no need to reveal your pay package, as you have done a good job and I believe you have a deep sense of social responsibility.; July 13, 2005 1:23 PM
Anonymous said...: This is a good reply CEO Mr Tan.

By being so pro-active and committed to NTUC Income, you have more than justified your salary.

I have deep respect and admiration for you.

I keep myself anonymous as I don't wish to be seen as a Boot-licker.

Regards and best wishes.; July 13, 2005 2:41 PM
Anonymous said...: This is a good reply.

Yes, Mr. Tan Kin Lian is frugal in spending the organisation's money on himself. He uses less than his "entitlements". Example, he could have flown business class but insists on flying economy even for long haul flight. He leads by example. The savings are passed on to policyholders.; July 13, 2005 3:16 PM
Sleepless in Singapore said...: I am sorry to learn that you earn less than "peanuts".; July 13, 2005 9:57 PM
Anonymous said...: Yes Mr Tan is very careful about spending money of Income....There is nothing fancyful about his office...his car nor his toilet...

He walks the talk and is very particular about wastages including taking notes on clean paper...He writes his notes on re-cyle paper during meeting..

All these in view of savings for the organisation.; July 13, 2005 11:12 PM
Anonymous said...: Hi Mr Tan, CEO income,

i am the one asking the question. However, tony halim said in this comment column that income is a for-profit organisation though it is under NTUC. Can you confirm this? If this is true, i think your insurance and sales agents should ,in future, refrain from telling customers that income is a cooperative and therefore is always giving benefits back to policyholder.

i am not sure if any of these good comments are from bootlickers in your INCOME, working under or with you. How can one trust without questioning the right stuffs? I call this blind trust and typical of singaporean. The recent stock market's scandals in the listed companies simply confirm our blind trust symptom.

I believe one should act base on principles. I am currently pursuing my masters and have always wanted to work under INCOME when i graduate. By bootlickers' dictionary, i would have doomed my chance of getting into INCOME. I still question, then why am i so stupid. Being clean and fair is one of my principle, i believe in it though it makes my life harder.

Hope that i can still work in INCOME after asking such bold quesiton.; July 14, 2005 12:41 AM
Anonymous said...: Hi Mr Tan,

My family and i own income shares. Will we be able to attend the AGM of income? Can you inform me on the time and venue if we can attend?

I want to be part of the AGM because my father and i put all our life savings and cpf money into your income shares. Don't worry, i would not question you on your perks during the AGM.; July 14, 2005 12:46 AM
Tan Kin Lian said...: Here is my reply to Song Kin San.

We do not employ boot lickers. We employ decent, honest and hardworking people.

I have read some of your postings. You give me the impression of a person who does not show respect for the rights and feelings of other people.

I suggest that you should discuss this matter with your parents or teacher.

If you wish to discuss with me, you can send an e-mail to me. I will contact you.; July 14, 2005 7:02 AM
Anonymous said...: Hi song kin san,

Yes, in my opinion, income is for profit, but who gets the profit? We as policy holder do. Furthermore, you have income share, so you get extra share of the profit too!

It is not an easy feat to lead a small start-up company to a billion dollar insurer. So I hope you show respect to income as well as yourself as you are also a stakeholder of income.

BTW, i'm not a staff from income, but like you, I am a stakeholder a.k.a policy holder.; July 14, 2005 8:15 AM
Anonymous said...: Hi Mr tan,

It is time i reflect on myself. I am interested to know why you mention that i do not care about others' feeling. Is it a one time incident, this particular comment, or from others. I seriously do not see any harshness to others. Maybe you could email me to tell me more about each issue so that i can clearly explain my comments and maybe learn from it.

if it is just the bootlicking comment, then i really can't say much. If you admire and respect someone, make sure it is not blinded. You really need to know enough history and background of the person to do so. If not , your admiration is just as shallow as your knowledge of that person.

my email is songvios@yahoo.com.sg; July 14, 2005 10:16 AM
Anonymous said...: Went on a business trip with Mr. Tan last weekend.

He flew in the economy class and i asked him why? He gave me 3 simple reasons: -

1) There is nothing wrong with the economy class
2) He wants to set an example for his managers to follow
3) No such thing as "status"

I was impressed!; July 14, 2005 6:10 PM
K.S. said...: I applaud your good faith in setting the right example to your organization management. Nonetheless, it's a tough act to follow. Inwhatsoever situation, it's kind of hard to find a CEO of a well-known insurance company (in Singapore) to travel by economy-class even for long distance business trip! I salute you!; July 14, 2005 11:33 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; July 15, 2005 10:03 AM
Anonymous said...: How do we tell if you are the NTUC CEO or are authorised to make these comments?; July 15, 2005 1:56 PM
Gilbert Koh aka Mr Wang said...: This is of course Tan Kin Lian's blog. I can recognise his style of writing.

Years ago, before blogging ever became popular, he used to post in the newsgroup soc.culture.singapore and till today, he writes in the same style -

simple, straightforward, honest and down-to-earth.

Yes, Mr Tan, I was there in SCS too. :); July 15, 2005 4:17 PM
Anonymous said...: Hi Mr Tan,

I am neither a stake holder nor an employee. I just happended to surf thru and read your blog. Well I must say that by you keeping in touch with the public this way... WELL DONE !

Keep up the good work cos not many CEOs have the time nor the interest to open thier ears to the simple man.; July 15, 2005 8:17 PM
Anonymous said...: Hi

This is NTUC Income CEO Mr Tan Kin Lian's blog.

If you don't believe, you can go to NTUC Income's official website below:

Click here

There is a direct link from the website to CEO Mr Tan's blog.; July 16, 2005 8:55 AM
Anonymous said...: I am in no way affiliated to NTUC Income, and I feel obliged to say a few words to salute its CEO for being a forthright person. I have seen him in action in the course of my work, and I have faith in his honesty and integrity. He is a fine role model for the corporate world.

I too find Song Kin San lacking in respect for the feelings and dignity of others. No amount of academic qualifications can patch this serious character flaw - why not face this flaw squarely and spend sometime to pick up some soft skills?; July 17, 2005 7:27 PM
Tan Kin Lian said...: I wish to thank several commentators for your generous views.

They are much appreciated.; July 19, 2005 12:40 AM
Tan Kin Lian said...: I wish to assure "sleepless in Singapore" that I earn more than peanuts.

My salary is okay. It should be able to buy a few tons of peanuts each month.

But, I don't know how to use so much peanuts.; July 19, 2005 12:41 AM
Ivan Chan Heng Liang said...: I think we're barking up the wrong tree. Witch-Smeller Pursuivant (from Blackadder) smells a different path. What I'd like to know is the salary of the CEO of Ren Ci Hospital.; July 20, 2005 8:25 AM
Anonymous said...: well if large listed coys means singtel,i gues u earn 1 million dollars every yr.I dun hv a problem w tat yet as i dunno yr jobscope.n for yr last comment,if yr "peanuts" is THAT peanuts,hahh i gues u r earning alot!; July 21, 2005 4:15 AM
Anonymous said...: Dear Mr Tan,

Quite frankly, even if you earn $25,000 I don't care about it. This is because NTUC Income is a COMPANY and SHOULD MAKE PROFIT. I also think that you are efficient.

But the only thing if I may ask if why your company like to waste money on lawyers @ third party motor claims. In most cases, these are complete waste of time and money. There are indeed ways to avoid engaging lawyers but people in your organisation are not keen to adopt this.

Best regards
W.W.W.; July 25, 2005 10:16 AM
Tan Kin Lian said...: Dear Ivan Chan,
I do not earn 1 million dollars. Not all CEOs earn $2 million anyway. But my earnings are okay.

Dear WWW
We do not like to pay lawyer fees for third party claims. We have taken a strategy to make the third party lawyers bear the cost for inflated claims. This is working well.

When third party laywers have to bear the cost, they are likely to be more reasonable in submitting their claims.; July 25, 2005 5:41 PM
Anonymous said...: I have met Mr Tan on one of my flights of Seoul during my days as flight stewardess. The flight was full to the brim, and Mr Tan was sitting way at the back in economy class. He spoke to us in the gallery during the lull period. Very approachable & friendly person. After the flight, he even remembered that we stayed in hotel next to his and he took all the trouble to send me a copy of NTUC brochure.
I did not even realised that he is the CEO of NTUC till i read about him some months ago! way to go Mr Tan! Thanks for your brochure!
Good luck and hope to see you again!; August 03, 2005 11:31 AM
Tan Kin Lian said...: Dear Maggie Soh

It is nice of you to remember me. If you are off duty, do come to visit my office. It will be nice to see you again.; August 04, 2005 10:36 PM
Anonymous said...: Hi Mr Tan,

So wats ur biggest splurge or indulgence? how do u advise against the lust of splurging on material things?; August 05, 2005 5:55 PM
A Pickup Driver said...: take a look at www.ntucincome.blogspot.com to see how your staff handles an accident case.; October 23, 2005 1:53 AM
Anonymous said...: Very helpful blog Mr Tan, especially for a newbie like me. as I read it I have a sense that it has no selfish interest. just honest advice from a 'father' in the trade. I think the effort you take is going to help many of the young to plan for their future. Tks again for your contributions.; January 18, 2008 3:15 PM
kettri said...: I am very happy to come across this site few weeks back. It has helped me to understand better and make decision on our families' insurance and financial planning. Thanks so much Mr Tan for sharing all the useful information with us! I will continue to browse through in future.; March 13, 2008 10:41 AM
Robert said...: Dear Mr Tan,

Under your stewardship in NTUC, there are many jackpot rooms over neighbourhood estates in Singapore. I also heard horror stories of elderly losing their CPF savings, some even into hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now the number of NTUC jackpot rooms has been reduced significantly, I like to know why it was not done earlier; and how was you involved in the decision to allow these rooms around neighbourhood estates.; July 16, 2010 8:39 AM
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insurance savings plan; March 12, 2020 8:56 PM
ziana roy said...: Thank you for sharing such great information.
It has help me in finding out more detail about family medical insurance; August 28, 2020 5:32 PM

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

How much does the CEO of NTUC Income earns?

33 comments:

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