MESSAGE FROM GROUP CEO
Dear Great Eastern Family,
As we approach our 110th anniversary on 26 August, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of you for giving your best daily for our customers.
Not many companies locally nor globally enjoy the distinction of having over a century of rich legacy. We can all take great pride in being part of a company which has been at the forefront of Asia’s insurance industry, a brand trusted by generations of customers.
Great Eastern was founded in 1908 with a mere 15 staff and $70,000 in assets. Today, we are a market leader in Singapore and Malaysia, with close to 4,000 staff and 23,000 financial representatives across the Group, assets totalling $83.3 billion and a brand valued at US$1.66 billion.
We are clear on our values and priorities. We are a LIFE company. We put our customers at the heart of all that we do. We do things differently. We go beyond the call of insurance to empower and reward the community and our customers to live healthier and better.
At Great Eastern, we inspire people to Live Great.
And we have the best team… all of you… to deliver on our brand promise to our customers.
We have the right fundamentals to sustain ourselves as a business for the next 110 years and beyond. But we must continue to remain adaptable. It is not sufficient for us just to be innovative… we must be agile and nimble. We must continue to strive for Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs), to think BIG and let the magic flow.
Across the Group, we have organised a slew of exciting 110th anniversary events and initiatives from the start of the year. Highlights are captured in this new-look of our aptly named newsletter -- The Great Times. I encourage all of you to take a few minutes to browse through this inaugural issue and to get your monthly dose of Great Eastern news thereafter.
Moving Together As One, let’s take our great company to greater heights.
Let’s Celebrate Great!
Warmest Regards
Khor Hock Seng
Group CEO
What's in this issue?
Click below to read more.
» Celebrate Our Heritage: Milestones – Did You Know?
» Celebrate Great: Innovative Solutions, Innovative Products
» Celebrate Success: Forging Strategic Partnerships
Milestones – Did You Know?
- 26 August 1908 – Great Eastern Life was founded by Alfred Hewton Fair in Singapore.
- In the 1940s, during the Second World War, we moved our HQ to London. Loyal employees helped to preserve vital records. The policyholder registry was copied and sent to Australia and Calcutta for safekeeping.
- 1920 – Overseas Assurance Corporation (OAC) was founded. It was the first locally-owned company to offer both life and general insurance services.
- 1959 – Great Eastern Malaysia moved to its own building at Menara Great Eastern.
- 1986 – Great Eastern was the first life insurer in the region to operate online in real-time mode. We were the first insurer to offer critical illness cover and income protection in Singapore.
- 1996 – We re-established our presence in Indonesia (PT Asuransi Jiwa Asih Great Eastern).
- 2000 – Great Eastern moved into our current premises at Great Eastern Centre.
- 2001 – The Great Eastern logo further evolved, with the Great Eastern lion now looking towards the East.
- 2004 – Great Eastern Holdings became a substantially-owned subsidiary of OCBC Bank.
- 2008 – Great Eastern celebrated its grand centennial. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was the Guest-of-Honour at the centennial dinner.
- 2010 – Bank Negara Malaysia awarded a Family Takaful licence to Great Eastern in Malaysia.
- 2011 – Great Eastern Financial Advisers (GEFA) was launched. GETB garnered the prize for Best New Islamic Institution at the Islamic Business and Finance Awards in Dubai.
- 2012 – Launched LIFE company purpose where we go beyond the role of a traditional insurer to help the community to live healthier and better. In conjunction, we pioneered the first integrated health and wellness programme in the industry with our Live Great Programme. GELM Yoga for Life event earned an entry into the Malaysia Book of Records for the largest participation in a yoga session.
- 2011 and 2013 – Awarded Life Insurance Company of the Year at Asia Insurance Industry Awards.
- 2013 – Launched LIFE Programme in Singapore. Launched Aspirasi Gemilang ‘A’ Programme for needy school children in Malaysia. Great Eastern opened a representative office in Myanmar.
- 2015 – Partnered with AXN as the presenter of the inaugural season of Asia’s Got Talent in Malaysia.
- 2017 – OAC and OACM rebranded to Great Eastern General Insurance and Great Eastern General Insurance (Malaysia) Berhad.
- 2018 – Great Eastern celebrates our 110th anniversary! Launch of Great Eastern Cares to lend greater focus to our CSR efforts and promote active volunteerism and caring for the community among our staff and financial representatives across the Group. Launch of GETGREAT and UPGREAT, two digital platforms with industry-first features to empower and reward the community to live healthier and better.
Celebrate Our Brand
What does the Great Eastern brand stand for?
Who We Are
We are a LIFE company. We go beyond the traditional role on an insurance company to help our customers and the community live healthier and better.
What We Believe In
Our customers are at the heart of all we do.
What We Do
Inspiring people to LIVE GREAT.
How We Help
The LIVE GREAT Programme. Key pillars comprise: wellness tools; health tips; mobile apps; events and workshops; as well as exclusive privileges and rewards.
Our 110th Anniversary Brand Campaign
Our 110th year is a celebration of life. We celebrate living great in a million little ways. Throughout the year, in keeping with our campaign theme – "Celebrate Great" – we sponsored a myriad of events and extended celebratory goodies to Celebrate Great with our customers, business partners and other stakeholders. We actively amplified our brand and the Celebrate Great theme across multiple platforms, including print and digital media.
EXCITING CONCERTS!
We were the presenting sponsors for two world-class concerts – “The Invincible 2” Jay Chou Concert Tour 2018 in Malaysia and the JJ Lin Sanctuary World Tour 2018 in Singapore. Both sellout concerts played to capacity crowds and provided great opportunities to bring our brand closer to the public.
EXHILARATING EVENTS!
Plane in The City
We were the main sponsor of Plane in The City in Malaysia, the first experiential aircraft dining in The City where diners not only enjoyed fine dining by a 5-star hotel but had the unique opportunity to experience walking onto the plane wing for memorable photos as well as to take photos in the cockpit. LIVE GREAT Card members enjoyed special privileges like priority boarding and discounts on beverages.
Great Eastern Viper Challenge 2018
A perennial crowd favourite, the Viper Challenge attracted 17,000 participants across Malaysia. Competitors pitted their strength and endurance in one of Asia’s most gruelling obstacle events, with the winners garnering attractive prizes.
Star Health Expo
A major initiative under our LIVE GREAT Programme, the Expo aimed at inspiring Malaysians to take ownership of their health. Themed “Get Fit. Live Great!”, the three-day fitness fair attracted large crowds, with many enjoying our Great Eastern booth activities, including the LIVE GREAT Sky Track and the LIVE GREAT Kinetic Workout.
Great Eastern Women’s Run 2018
For the first time, the run will be held at the iconic Singapore Sports Hub on Sunday 14 October 2018. Participants can look forward to a new route, with Nicoll Highway as the start point, and the run finishing at a spacious race village at the National Stadium. A new category, the ‘110-metre Sprint’ was also introduced to mark Great Eastern’s 110th anniversary milestone. Participants will get the rare opportunity to race on the world class stadium track.
Great Eastern LIVE GREAT Run 2018
The Run will be held at Bukit Jalil National Stadium on 27 October 2018. Highlights include a 12km Run as well as the 5km Triple Fun Run for casual runners where participants can look forward to be showered with coloured foam and water.
Raja Futsal Tournament 2018
We partnered Digi for the Raja Futsal Tournament, the biggest such tournament in Malaysia, which kicked off in July with the Grand Finals to be held in November 2018. The top four teams will receive cash prizes, with the Champion team winning RM100,000. To encourage Great Eastern staff and agents to participate in the tournament and keep fit, teams who enter the Grand Finals stand to win additional cash prize of RM10,000.
What does it take to be future ready?
Some 140 colleagues from our IT and Business teams from across the Group participated in our first-ever Hackathon to explore, analyse and hack a business challenge, and in the process develop solutions and possibilities!
CELEBRATE TEAMWORK | CELEBRATE INNOVATION | CELEBRATE GREAT
Engaging the Community
Great Eastern has a rich tradition of making a meaningful difference in the communities we operate in. Our CSR efforts across the Group centre on our Live Great philosophy, anchored on four key pillars:
- Building a healthier community
- Championing education, skills development and financial literacy
- Helping the needy young and elderly and the vulnerable in society
- Caring for the environment
Year round, our staff and distribution partners regularly volunteer their time, experience and expertise to do their part to help the needy, including raising funds. Here are the highlights for 2018 to date.
Launch of Great Eastern Cares
In celebration of our 110th anniversary this year, we launched Great Eastern Cares on 31 March 2018 in the presence of President Halimah Yacob, Minister Grace Fu and a 19,000-strong crowd at the National Stadium.
Great Eastern Cares will lend greater focus to the company’s CSR efforts and programmes to promote active volunteerism and caring for the community among our 3,800 staff and 23,000-strong agency force across the Group.
Thanks to everyone’s good efforts, we raised $169,085 from our corporate partners, staff and agency force for the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund (STSPMF) which supports 14,000 needy school children.
To symbolically launch Great Eastern Cares, some 450 from the Great Eastern family, business partners, beneficiaries and members from community football clubs came together to form a “community 110” formation at the National Stadium amidst rousing cheers from the crowd.
We hosted over 300 beneficiaries and family members to the GREAT 110 Football Fiesta and to the Great Eastern Community Shield that same evening.
Great Eastern General Charity Car Wash and CARnival
Some 170 volunteers comprising top management, staff and distribution representatives, rolled up their sleeves and raised $68,950 for the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund (STSPMF).
This Great Eastern Cares initiative was held in celebration of the first anniversary of the rebranding of Great Eastern General Insurance and Great Eastern’s 110th anniversary.
In line with our commitment to care for the environment, we partnered EWash to provide waterless environmentally-friendly car washes which saved a massive 95% of water compared to a normal car wash.
We also hosted 130 beneficiaries from STSPMF and their family members at the Charity CARnival, where they enjoyed exciting games and were treated to a magic show performance, face painting and other activities, as well as ice-cream.
Befriending the Needy Elderly
Great Eastern staff joined our OCBC colleagues to spend a meaningful day with elderly beneficiaries from AWWA Senior Activity Centre in early August.
Highlights included fun exercises and a karaoke sing-along session which attracted good participation. Those who participated in the series of carnival games were given a goody bag of healthy fruits to promote the need to stay active and live healthy.
The event also marked the official launch of the OCBC Glowing Years Programme which rewards the elderly to adopt lifestyle habits to reduce risk of dementia.
Batik Painting Workshop for Needy Children
In conjunction with our 110th anniversary, staff from Great Eastern Malaysia hosted 110 underprivileged children from Pusat Jagaan Baitul Hasanah, Rumah Kesayangan and Pertubuhan Kebajikan dan Perlindungan Nur Qaseh Malaysia to an engaging batik painting workshop under its ChildrenCare programme.
Staff volunteers were on hand to guide the children as they learnt about the age-old traditional technique of batik painting and tried their hand at painting. Each beneficiary brought home the batik t-shirt they painted during the workshop.
Energy and Clean Water for Orang Asli Villages
In conjunction with the launch of Great Eastern Cares and as part of its sustainability efforts, Great Eastern Takaful Berhad (GETB), in collaboration with Saora Industries, recently embarked on an initiative to provide Orang Asli villages in Pahang with energy and clean water.
GETB staff, led by GETB CEO Encik Shahrul Azlan Shahriman, and their family members gathered at Kampung Sungai Gabong and Kampung Kepong in Bentong, Pahang to install solar powered lights and water purification systems in the villages.
In addition, a donation drive was also held to gather clothing, school supplies and other basic amenities for the villagers.
GETB is exploring other initiatives with Saora to assist the Orang Asli community to be self-sustaining, and there are plans to extend assistance to other villages in the country.
Treats for Underprivileged Children
In June, our staff volunteers rallied together to reach out to needy children from Khairunisah orphanage. Not only did they donate money, groceries and school equipment, they also organised games and treated the children to tasty meals.
Innovative Solutions
GETGREAT and UPGREAT
- Launched in April 2018
- Industry-first platforms to empower and reward healthier and better living
- Digital push to make insurance an enjoyable, everyday experience for our customers and the community
- Both platforms available to the public with Great Eastern customers enjoying additional tiered-up benefits and rewards
- GETGREAT is the latest addition to our Live Great Programme to help them live healthier and better
- GETGREAT is the first-of-its-kind wellness platform with a wellness coach, GERI, powered by artificial intelligence, which offers personalised coaching 24/7 to nudge users towards their personal wellness goals
- Users can invite family and friends, as well as exercise with a buddy and form social groups to motivate one another on their wellness journey
- With UPGREAT, customers can seamlessly enjoy all their loyalty benefits and rewards digitally anywhere, any time
- In yet another first by an insurer in the region, UPGREAT allows users to transfer rewards and benefits seamlessly to family and friends
Innovative Products
At Great Eastern, we are committed to helping the community bridge their protection gap through our innovative financial and protection solutions.
As part of our continued efforts to better understand our customers’ needs and expectations, we leveraged Great Voices, where customers are invited online to provide feedback for insights to help us design better products and services to meet their needs.
In recent months, we launched several key products, including:
- GREAT TripleCare MoneyBack Special
- GREAT 220
- GREAT Wealth Multiplier
- GREAT Personal Protector
- GREAT 110 Legacy
- i-Great Jannah
- Taka
- Tanda Junior
- Entrepreneur One
LIFE Programme
In alignment with our LIFE company purpose, throughout the year, exciting activities are organised to empower and reward staff for living healthier and better through our LIFE Programme.
DID YOU KNOW?
SINGAPORE
Lateral Challenge (March 2018)
- Record number of 800 participants (13% increase over 2017) comprising 98 teams and 354 individuals
- 1 hour 10 minutes brisk walk to kick off our birthday celebrations
- Additional – GETGREAT Lateral Challenge (to mark the launch of our new health and wellness apps named GETGREAT and UPGREAT)
Vertical Challenge (May 2018)
- 502 participants comprising 29 teams and 366 individuals
- Climbed stairs to respective offices instead of taking the elevator
- Target to overall clock 1.10 million steps as a company over 3 weeks
Static Workout Challenge (2 July to 2 August)
- Staff participants to complete 4 blocks (11.0 minutes each) of high intensity interval training workout for each session
GO GREEN Challenge (April to September)
- Close to 600 participants comprising 71 teams and 131 individuals signed up for the challenge
- Target to lose 1,100 kilos collectively as a company
GETGREAT GE110 Birthday Challenge (1 to 31 August)
- To mark and celebrate our birthday month in August
- Team of 5 members to clock a total of 1 million steps together for the month of August using GETGREAT app
MALAYSIA
Brisk Walk (July and August)
- 130 employees
- 11km across 4 days
INDONESIA
“Strong Fast Fit” (from March 2018)
- Collective workouts for staff
- Held on a regular basis
Forging Strategic Partnerships
We recently announced several strategic partnerships which will further reinforce our brand purpose as well as to empower and reward the community to live healthier and better.
Samsung Electronics Singapore (Samsung)
“Samsung is a market leader in mobile and wearable technology. We are delighted to partner Samsung to deliver a strong digital proposition in health and wellness to our customers. This is an integral part of our digital transformation to bring access and benefits around to the everyday lives of our customers,” commented our Group CEO Khor Hock Seng.
One of the elements of the partnership included the integration of GETGREAT with the Samsung Health App. GETGREAT was launched as part of our LIVE GREAT Programme, and features an artificial intelligence-powered coach, GERI – which offers all-day personalised coaching to help users achieve their personal wellness goals.
We jointly launched an island-wide step challenge – GearedtoGetGreat 1,000,000 Step Challenge – in August to motivate and reward the community to stay fit, with the second phase in September. Attractive prizes include the grand prize of a 4D3N trip to Seoul and Samsung Galaxy S9s.
Sport Singapore
In line with our LIFE company purpose and to further promote healthier lifestyles, we partnered Sport Singapore to join GetActive! Singapore and the Active Health movement.
We co-activated a new digital challenge titled GetActive! GetGreat. The challenge allowed participants to chalk up points by either clocking steps on their ActiveSG app, visiting GetActive! Singapore sport festivals across the island or by booking facilities and programmes at sports centres.
Commented our Group CEO Khor Hock Seng, “We are delighted to partner Sport Singapore who share our aspirations in championing health and wellness to the community. We recognise that maintaining good health is important to Singaporeans.
We recently launched GETGREAT, the first-of-its-kind mobile wellness platform with a wellness coach, GERI, powered by artificial intelligence, which offers personalised coaching 24/7 to nudge users towards their personal wellness goals. To date, GETGREAT users have chalked up a massive 4.5 billion steps, through 800,000 interactions with GERI. Great Eastern is also actively exploring ways to enhance the value we bring to the ActiveSG community; we plan to offer insurance solutions specially for the ActiveSG community at affordable premiums.”
There will be collaborations ahead where the community can earn both Active SG points as well as GETGREAT rewards through healthy activities.
UCARE.AI
Great Eastern has invested in UCARE.AI, an AI healthcare startup. Using a suite of proprietary deep learning and neural network algorithms built on existing healthcare data, UCARE.AI has used its predictive engine to help prioritise healthcare resources to reduce preventable hospitalisation, potentially resulting in significant annual savings in the industry. It also boasts a highly accurate predictive capability by correctly identifying the risk of re-hospitalisation for a segment of Singaporeans.
Individuals can obtain a personalised understanding of their lifetime risks so they can take preventive actions early, leading happier and healthier lives. Doctors and hospitals benefit as they are able to focus on those who need their expertise urgently while we as insurers are able to provide ideal coverage without increasing premiums.
Said Ryan Cheong, our Managing Director for Strategy and Transformation, “We believe that AI, with its capability to evaluate, categorise, analyse and draw intelligent hypotheses, can help make healthcare related services more efficient and cost-effective for the consumers. Specifically for Great Eastern, we believe that AI-enabled technology can help our customers achieve better health outcomes.”
Caregiver Asia
We partnered Caregiver Asia to offer a first-of-its-kind professional indemnity insurance to freelance Caregivers, with the exception of doctors, registered on CaregiverAsia’s platform, www.caregiverasia.com. CaregiverAsia is an online aggregator of trusted on-demand health and caregiving services.
The professional indemnity insurance is a form of a liability insurance that protects individuals from legal liability associated with wrongful practices. Caregivers will be covered for up to $100,000 for any one claim made against them by their clients, as well as expenses incurred in the defence or settlement of legal issues including libel and slander as well as breach of confidentiality.
“Caregivers play a vital role and are an integral part of the health ecosystem. We are very excited to be able to play a meaningful role to provide value to the community of professionals at CaregiverAsia.” commented Ryan Cheong, our Managing Director for Strategy and Transformation.
Indonesia
In Indonesia, we recently partnered well-known local and foreign healthcare centres such as the National Heart Institute and Farrer Park Hospital to provide health talks and special offers to our customer at their centres.
Awards and Accolades
These awards and accolades affirm the strength of the Great Eastern brand and reflect the strong teamwork and our commitment to continuously raise standards. They enhance our corporate reputation as a premier insurer brand and will spur us to continue to put in our best efforts.
SINGAPORE
- Ranked 6th in Top 100 Most Valuable Brands, Brand Finance
- Excellence in Branding and Marketing: Great Eastern 109 Anniversary Campaign, CMO Asia Awards
- Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand Award (Gold)
- Best Engagement Strategy for a Female Audience (Gold), Loyalty and Engagement Awards
- Best Regional Loyalty Marketing Campaign (Silver), Loyalty and Engagement Awards
- Best Integrated Marketing (Silver), Event Marketing Awards
- Best Sponsorship (Silver), Event Marketing Awards
- Business HR Awards (Purpose Driven), The Singapore HR Awards
- Leading HR Practices (Employee Engagement, Alignment and Workplace Harmony), The Singapore HR Awards
- Universum’s Most Attractive Employers 2018
- FPAS Financial Planner Awards - Great Eastern: Corporate Award for Most Finalists; James Yang: Financial Planner of the Year
MALAYSIA
- Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand Award (Gold)
- The BrandLaureate Brand Supremacy Award
- Most Iconic Brand, The BrandLaureate Best Brands Award
INDONESIA
- The Best Unit Link 2018, Investor Magazine and InfoVesta
- PLATINUM rating (Very Excellent) in Indonesia Corporate Secretary & Corp.Communication Award 2018, Economic Review
- PLATINUM rating (Very Excellent) in Indonesia Information Technology Award 2018, Economic Review
- GOLD rating (Excellent) in Indonesia Corporate Social Responsibility Awards 2018, Economic Review
- GOLD rating (Excellent) in Indonesia Sales & Marketing Award 2018, Economic Review
- GOLD rating (Excellent) in Legal Award 2018, Economic Review
- GOLD rating (Excellent) in Indonesia Human Capital Award-IV-2018, Economic Review and IPMI Business School
- GOLD rating (Excellent) in Enterprise Risk Management Award, Economic Review and Indonesia Asia Institute
- 1st Rank Top Agent in Bancassurance, Indonesian Life Insurance Association (AAJI) 2018
