My most important contributions over 30 years in running NTUC Income were providing insurance protection at lower premiums and giving a better return to policyholders on their savings.
The payout from the maturity of life insurance policies and the cash values paid on terminated policies were much higher than similar policies taken with other insurance companies, in most cases reflecting a difference of more than 20%,
When a policyholder received a payout of $100,000 on his or her matured policy, a similar policy taken from another insurance company would have paid perhaps $80,000. The difference of $20,000 is a large sum for the policyholder from modest background. The yield earned in the past was likely to be more than 5% per annum.
The higher payout was possible as NTUC Income was managed frugally during my tenure, and expenses were kept low. Furthermore, a larger portion of the investment gains were given to the policyholders in the form of high rates of bonuses.
For motor and health insurance, policyholders would remember that they paid lower rates of premiums compared to similar policies in the market and claims were generally settled promptly and fairly.
Many policyholders had seen the premium rates on their motor insurance increased significantly in the years after I have left. Although the increase was attributed to escalation of repair costs, the same difficulty was also faced during my tenure but my colleagues still managed to keep the premiums at a lower level.
My colleagues and I, who shared the cooperative principles, had done the best that we could over the 30 years to deliver to more than 1 million policyholders - the benefits that can be provided when an organisation is run with the values of honesty, fairness, positive attitude, courage and public service. I hope that the policyholders appreciate the contributions that we had made towards the welfare of their families.
I wish to bring these same values to the office of the President of Singapore. The government has done well but the people of Singapore will benefit even more when the policies of the government are also made and implemented on these values, especially the value of public service. I will use the soft power of the President and adopt a constructive and cooperative approach to influence the government to improve some of its policies, where appropriate, so that they can bring a better life for the people.
Tan Kin Lian
Video of my 30 years
Text of statement
National Day message
The payout from the maturity of life insurance policies and the cash values paid on terminated policies were much higher than similar policies taken with other insurance companies, in most cases reflecting a difference of more than 20%,
When a policyholder received a payout of $100,000 on his or her matured policy, a similar policy taken from another insurance company would have paid perhaps $80,000. The difference of $20,000 is a large sum for the policyholder from modest background. The yield earned in the past was likely to be more than 5% per annum.
The higher payout was possible as NTUC Income was managed frugally during my tenure, and expenses were kept low. Furthermore, a larger portion of the investment gains were given to the policyholders in the form of high rates of bonuses.
For motor and health insurance, policyholders would remember that they paid lower rates of premiums compared to similar policies in the market and claims were generally settled promptly and fairly.
Many policyholders had seen the premium rates on their motor insurance increased significantly in the years after I have left. Although the increase was attributed to escalation of repair costs, the same difficulty was also faced during my tenure but my colleagues still managed to keep the premiums at a lower level.
My colleagues and I, who shared the cooperative principles, had done the best that we could over the 30 years to deliver to more than 1 million policyholders - the benefits that can be provided when an organisation is run with the values of honesty, fairness, positive attitude, courage and public service. I hope that the policyholders appreciate the contributions that we had made towards the welfare of their families.
I wish to bring these same values to the office of the President of Singapore. The government has done well but the people of Singapore will benefit even more when the policies of the government are also made and implemented on these values, especially the value of public service. I will use the soft power of the President and adopt a constructive and cooperative approach to influence the government to improve some of its policies, where appropriate, so that they can bring a better life for the people.
Tan Kin Lian
Video of my 30 years
Text of statement
National Day message
9 comments:
Do you know why ID2 regular ILP was removed and replaced by an expensive vivolink? The reason is the customers are not paying enough for 'advisory service' by the salesmen .The charges for ID2 were too low.
The truth is too low to pay enough commission to the greedy agents and not incentivised enough to push for high APIs.Therefore, vivolink was concieved to boost the APIs. The charges are 3 times higher than ID2. How to justify it? Thrown in some insurance coverage and , viola!!!!a new product for the agents to push. Of course with revealing the charges but just focus on the protection and ambiqously the saving.
So you see, the product was made complicated for the salesmen to con the customers so that the agents can laugh all the way to the bank and the company for the #1.
This is the professional social enterprise, the people before profit. See for yourself.How white can be turned into black magically by shouting louder and title change, color change and many ads capitalising on backside skin of their predeccessor for their face.
I remembered writing a letter to the Straits Times showing the difference in payout between Income and another company, amounting to over 20%. But I am not able to locate that letter. If any policyholder have actual cases to substantiate the difference in payout, please send them to kinlian@gmail.com. It should be on a policy that has matured after 20 years and should have comparable benefits between the two companies. I am sure that this can be easily substantiated with actual figures.
To professionalise is to comercialise and call itself by another dubious name, ie. social enterprise.
To professionalise is to
1.spend tens of millions to change its building facade.
2. have a new color, the curry color
3.have new expensive chairs
4. have new work stations and flat screen monitors
5.give salesmen new title that misrepresents their knowledge and skills
6.have new set of staffs
7. give the staffs new fanciful fierce titles
8.have a lot of VPs and GMs
9.meet in posh places
10. more promotion to make the salesmen work harder and bring in more high commission product sale and of course higher regular APIs(industry measure of production)
11. make the products more complicated so they can be SOLD only. You know what, right?
12.give products some exotic names
13. products have become lifestyle products...wonder they mean?
14. use of meaningless semantics..to confuse?
15. higher performance bonus based on sales turnover but not on profit
16. make the cheif look important and more capable than the predecessor.
ETC ETC ETC
to professionlaise by spending to next level like the commercial companies? To increase cost to professionalise?
What about the customers?
Never mind, they have to pay for the professional sales service. Why not advisory service?
They now use your backside skin for their face.They published past return rates of various products as if they achieved them.No shame. Worse, they are misleading the customers that the new products can produce same kind of returns in the future.If they can why the BIs show very measly returns?
actually TKL doesn't need to seek old letter proving the claims that policies during TKL's time is better, the curreny cock up management already publish frequent letters showing that policies during TKL time is superior to most industrial policies.
Also, changing CEO doesn't make the company more professional.
Take a look at POSB. The same shit happen to the old CEO. Now, LHL had to employ the old CEO back as advisors to maintain the branding and best practices.
It is true that after the old CEO of POSBank left and the new people from DBS cock up the POSBank business and their own DBS business.
LSS is talking cock. He doesn't know what he is talking about.
the past example disprove his assertions.
POSBank and DBS are the prime examples.
DBS and POSBank are prime example why LSS approach doesn't work.
Dear Mr Tan
Just a note of encouragement.
The old NTUC INCOME and the old POSB were great institutions.
a. Reliable, trustworthy.
b. Truly, "cheap, good and fast" in the best sense of the phrase.
c. Under-promise and over-deliver on value.
With the old POSB, I didn't have to worry when my elderly parents went there to do a banking transaction.
Now, I have to make sure they did not come back with some new mini-bomb investments.
Very disappointed with DBS and POSB.
Getting new talent abroad do not seem to improve profits and service at these two Banks that we used to trust and look up to.
So malu to Sigapore, that these two do not even measure up to OCBC Bank,
who attains the title of the strongest bank in the world, which brings us immense pride.
The same kind of degradation also happens at NTUC Income. How come all Govt associated enterprises all lose to the private sectors.
Now we know why our brightest dun want to join the PAP Govt in politics, or why our talented engineers dun want to join the GLCs, they rather work for the MNCs. My engineer son said there is no prospects in the GLCs, there is stagnation and antiquated system in both management and technical innovation. He pointed out Chartered Industries is one obvious Company that has been failing for years, all those inbreeding of management has finally put the nails into the coffin. Chartered, as well as other GLCs, could only make money in the domestic market, just on monopolistic advantages and not on
real competence. When Chartered had to compete in the international arena, they are beaten flat down on its face.
This is the only reason Temasek Holdings are able to claw back the past years losses, just use domestics earnings to plug the huge hole they suffered overseas.
Now the financial chaos is repeating itself, how much red ink is again splashed on Temasek's books now. They invested in some Commodities Company in Central America at the height of the commodities' Boom not long ago. What happens now is anybody's guess.
Now we know why Govt and the Unions are all out to ensure Tony be President, he could be roped in to hush hush the embarrassing money-losing investments of our State Funds.
I pity Tan Kin Lian. If he were to become President I think he will be bombarded with complaints from the public on all sorts of injustices. I wonder if he can cope. Will he become burnt out. Further more he has to take on the PAP machinery which will definately not cooperate with him. We know how the PAP works. But nevertheless I still want him to be president.
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