MALAYSIAN "FT" NTUC INCOME CEO UNDER FIRE BY THE SINGAPOREAN COMMUNITY

[Darkmen]

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On 3 September 2013, NTUC Income put up a video advertisement on its Facebook page [Link]. It portrayed property agents as being unprofessional and dishonest:
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The 32-second video featured a property agent “Belinda” trying to sell an apartment without being entirely honest about the transaction. She was portrayed lying about the benefits of the property to a potential buyer.

In a scene, Belinda looked at the camera as she described the flat as having a “rich history”. But the word “haunted” appeared beside her. When she claimed that the unit’s owner was “relocating”, the caption read “loan sharks are coming”. The ad ended by telling viewers “don’t be misled”, with a voice-over saying that NTUC Income’s insurance policies are “made simple, made honest, made different”.
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fter the video was put up online, Singaporeans immediately reacted negatively to it. Many felt that it lacked respect and sensitivity towards the real estate industry.

Not surprisingly, comment after comment were posted on NTUC Income’s Facebook page condemning NTUC Income and its CEO:

Alex Lim: The RE profession is tainted with negativity because of this kind of adverts produced by you. Shame on you NTUC for degrading salespeople and for misleading the consumers for your own gains. We have all worked so hard to protect and upkeep our professional image. We cannot allow one NTUC’s immature advert to crush all our efforts! You owe us a public apology for your tasteless marketing campaign!!

Beefy Khai: NTUC Income MUST issue a PUBLIC APOLOGY on the MAINSTREAM MEDIAS and not just via a Facebook post. It’s TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE & UNPROFESSIONAL of a company that’s always been supported by the government all this while. And what has MDA done such that such ads can be approved for public? It’s RIDICULOUS and just add on to show how BIASED and UGLY the STATE-CONTROLLED media is. CHEAP PUBLICITY to get more new CONSUMERS to sign up your POLICY PAPERS? We DEMAND a PROPER APOLOGY from the CEO himself. Go PUBLIC just like how you do your HIDEOUS VIDEO. DISGRACE. BE A MAN and DO THE RIGHT THING MR. CEO.

Raymond Tung: Pot calling Kettle black? Make sure your organization self reflect first before criticizing on other industries. Putting other down to rise the ladder? This incident clearly show what kind of organization NTUC are. Shame on NTUC ! We RES demand a full public apology without further delay!

Dino Kwok: Mr Tan, you mean you didnt go thru the ad before your team goes into production? I doubt that you will go thru the all the terms n conditions in your policies!

Pk Soh: By adopting such an insensitive and demeaning advertisement, you have unveiled the shallow depth of your Management Staff and lack of class of your corporate culture. I am glad that I had purchased my insurance policies from your competitors. And good luck to whoever that approved this advertisement, please don’t come knocking on our doors for your next career.

Charles Ng: NTUC Income…how sure you are that there are no black sheeps in your organisation?? bringing others down just to shine simply shows how immature you guys are!!!shame on you guys!!Definately we are demanding an apology!!!

Adrian Tay: Silly Adv done by Silly Marketing Department approve by Silly Management.

Yesterday (6 Sep), NTUC Income finally had enough from the deluge of online criticisms and threw in the towel to apologise. It took down the ad and apologised for the controversial commercial which insinuated that property agents were untrustworthy:
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NTUC Income told the media that the television ads which used the same video were halted yesterday.

NTUC Income CEO Tan Suee Chieh told the media, “In hindsight, we took the wrong approach and I apologise to all concerned. We have since pulled the ads. They were never intended to cause offence. We recognise that sales professionals are the lifeblood of many industries, including ours.”

However, some Singaporeans feel that his online apology is laced with sarcasm, especially the second paragraph:

“In our enthusiasm to promote the message of honesty, we have not taken into account that professional and honest sales people exist in every industry including the real estate professionals.”

More comments were posted on NTUC Income Facebook page questioning the sincerity of his apology:

Geneva Ching: Your apology is laced with sarcasm and with intent to further provoke real estate agents. If you are not sincere in giving an apology, then don’t do it. And two sentences hurriedly typed out in Facebook is simply not good enough to serve as a formal apology. I am pretty sure I will hear news of you (tan suee chieh) being asked to step down pretty soon.

Jennifer Foo: I’m utterly shocked & disappointed after viewing this distasteful & misleading ad! It clearly reflects the lack of respect n sensitivity towards the real estate industry! Obviously u hv not considered the feelings of others n went to the extent of tarnishing the image of real estate Salespersons! Im sure yr policyholders (which includes real estate salespersons) r beginning to doubt yr integrity n professionalism! Your actions clearly speak for yourselves! Its about time u sit up n ponder what the consequences u hv to face in order to gain back the TRUST of policyholders! By simply sending an apology via the Facebook channel is totally insincere! If you can even think of initiating it just to DEGRADE others…OWN it & get the Management to make a FORMAL apology for this unethical & malicious act! What a loser & SHAME on U!!!!

Sarah Irene Ho: Is this even considered as an apology? We dun need any pounds of their flesh but what we want are clearly stated – Sincere Public Apology. Not some FB message that laced with sarcasm. I still have that little trust that NTUC Income CEO has better public speaking skill than this. And if you want us to give them some time to work on it since they pull out the ad, dun we also deserve some time to cool down since the ad was broadcasted yesterday? Afterall, this stupid mistake wasn’t done on impulse, it requires planning and days/weeks of production.

Joel Goh: May i kindly ASK: Are all the NTUC Administrators and The So Called CEO Mr Tan to be so low in intellect to make such a statement of apologies? Wow!! You guys simply Rock!! I am so impressed by your marketing campaigns that indeed you guys have successfully cast an HONEST and Upright Impression to all of us for being so insensitive and arrogant to even proclaimed the inexistent of Other honest and Hardworking sales professionals. Shame on you NTUC!!! What a bunch of Losers! No wonder NTUC is never the APEX in their field.

Albert Chou: The first Paragraph apologize…2nd paragraph say honest sales person exist in every industry….(saying that minority is hounest and majority is not, NTUC the reverse???, shall we sent you a mirrow)

Alex Yap: What kind of rubbish apology is this? Sounded more like you are saying before being highlighted, your impression of RES is that we are all crooks and only now you realized there are some honest ones? If you can spend so much money on such defamatory ads, perhaps you should spend equal amount to place apologies ads and correct this misleading impression of RES. This is not only degrading to the 30000 RES who makes a living professionally and honestly but also an insult to the licensing body-CEA, that assesses and issues our practicing licenses. ISSUE AN UNRESERVED PUBLIC APOLOGY NOW!

Joel Goh: So Mr CEO of NTUC, are you saying that only NTUC sales force are honest? Isn’t It misleading to state that you guys have not taken in account of the existence of other sales professionals? Is the management team on board of NTUC so insensitive and incapable? Wow.. I am so “Impressed” with your Leaderships capabilities.

According to a news report [Link], NTUC Income CEO Tan Suee Chieh is stepping down. He has been “promoted” to the role of group chief executive officer of NTUC Enterprise. The NTUC Income board has appointed Ken Ng as the new CEO, effective 1 October 2013. Mr Ng is currently NTUC Income’s Senior Vice-President and general manager of distribution.

Tan Suee Chieh took over from Tan Kin Lian as NTUC Income CEO in 2007. In fact, under Mr Tan Kin Lian’s leadership, NTUC Income grew from $28 million in assets in 1977 to more than $17 billion in assets with over one million policyholders by 2007. Mr Tan Kin Lian ran NTUC Income with the aim of providing the best value to their policyholders.

During his time as CEO, Mr Tan Kin Lian was careful to keep operating expenses low. He reportedly flew only economy class, even on long haul flights.

During an interview with the media in 2011 [Link], Mr Tan Kin Lian revealed that he was asked to leave NTUC Income due to differences in opinion. He told the media, “When I ran NTUC, I ran it quite differently from what my board wanted. The board wanted NTUC to be more commercial. I wanted NTUC to be more cooperative. So I struggled with my board over the years.”

TR Emeritus understands that Tan Suee Chieh who took over from Mr Tan Kin Lian is a Malaysian.

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