Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Owned by the people

The CEO of a small listed company asked me, "Why was NTUC Income not a listed company? "

I gave this reply, "When I was the CEO, I resisted the listing of NTUC Income. I wanted it to remain a cooperative, so that it can work for the interest of its policyholders".

He gave this insightful reply, "I agree with you. In fact, some of our businesses should be owned by the people, for example, trains, buses and utilities. Right now, these businesses are owned by the shareholders. If the company makes too much profit, 5,000 shareholders are happy, but 2 million people are unhappy".
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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What do you mean - "owned by the people"?

If the company is owned by the government, is it the same as being "owned by the people" ?

Even Income has shareholders. Who owns Income then?

July 18, 2007 11:22 AM
Anonymous said...

Most things have both pros and cons, and the best approach often differs from place to place.

For example, privatizing public transportation works better in some countries than others. The end is still to serve the public better.

In Singapore, I'm glad that the cooperative nature of NTUC elevates the standard of insurance service, by offering a lower cost alternative and also bringing competition to the long-standing insurance "cartel".

July 18, 2007 11:30 AM
Anonymous said...

Yes, but being a co-operative can also mean that they answer to nobody, just like what I am experiencing now. Phone call to CEO cannot get him, leave message to make contact, no response. Email to him, no response. Talk to agent, say management told her not to respond to me. Two weeks ago, there was a cold call from Income by the name of Sheena, who is trying to interest me in buying a new policy, told her the communication problems I have had with Income and she said she will raise it with her supervisor. To date, still no response. The management in income now behaves as if there is no government!!!

July 21, 2007 2:22 AM
Tan Kin Lian said...

Dear Anonymous (2:22 AM)

I suggest that you raise your issue with the service quality manager. If you still do not get a reply, you can write a complaint to FIDReC (visit the MAS website).

If you write to the CEO of many large companies, you will not get a reply from them as well. They are busy people. They will normally get a subordinate to reply to you.

July 21, 2007 9:25 AM

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