January 2020

Ben Tan, MD of Regional Agency, FA and Bancassurance, reinforced the importance of digital transformation and building strong relationships with our customers. Ryan Cheong, MD of Digital for Business, talked about how digital initiatives such as the Great Digital Advantage and other major enhancements across all digital platforms in 2019 and further into 2020 will help enable our financial representatives to serve customers better.

The crowd were abuzz with excitement and anticipation as George Goh, Head of Agency,  elaborated on the many upcoming training opportunities and exciting incentive challenges, culminating in the great destination reveal of 2021 GELAC convention. Clearly, our reps will now be turning in the numbers in the following year to guarantee themselves a place onward to Moscow in 2021.

Brand & Marketing also revealed “Lifeproof’, concept of its refreshed brand campaign built on the central concept of Great Eastern’s purpose at the kickoff. A realistic yet positive perspective on life, with all its unpredictabilities and challenges, the film demonstrates just how Great Eastern is the trusted brand of choice to lifeproof people’s legacies, blessings, families, loved ones, and health. This concept will be applied across our upcoming products and campaigns and since then, the Chinese New Year campaign has already featured the first instalment of #lifeproof across multi-generational families.  

The Great Kick Off ended on a high note with our financial representatives inspired to better serve their customers and to bring Great Eastern to greater heights.

Back to top

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Great Leaders Kick Off 2020

The Great Leaders Kick Off held in Bangkok in mid-January, was an important forum to reinforce key messages and strategies, as well as to provide our management and agency leaders the opportunity to discuss and share ideas on various upcoming initiatives.

Group CEO Khor Hock Seng shared the concept of Lifeproofing the agency force by focusing on three strategic areas: professionalising and digitalising the agency force, improving agency recruitment proposition and deepening relationships with customers.

The launch of VOLTAGE will provide aspiring recruits the opportunity to learn more about having an exciting career with Great Eastern, give greater support to our financial representatives such as the exclusive Prestige Suite for our Prestige Partners team for client events.

In addition, the introduction of IGNITE Advanced, IGNITE Pro and IGNITE Routine will equip new financial representatives joining Great Eastern with a strong foundation and help them kick start their career with the company.

During the breakout sessions, robust discussions were held on how to boost activity, recruitment, sales and productivity, before concluding with Group CEO’s challenge to the audience, to “deduct 20 years off your age and to work with the drive of the youth and the experience of the old”, emphasising that it is indeed all about the mindset, in our approach to the winning in the new decade, with  the management team and agency leaders jointly making the commitment to work well together to make 2020 a year of greater success for Great Eastern.

Back to top

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Headstart 2020 – It’s Time!

With millennials making up the bulk of the almost 3,000 advisors and their prospective recruits , GETB wanted to challenge themselves to go beyond the ordinary and present an exciting and extraordinary kick-off event to set the mood and outline their aspirations for the year ahead.

This set the stage for the Takaful Headstart 2020 Challenge held on the morning of 18 January, certified by the Malaysia Book of Records for the largest participation in Inflatable Obstacles Challenge with 1948 participants. There was much cheer and joy among the participants of the challenge, demonstrating GETB’s excellent sportsmanship and camaraderie.

But the better part of the day was spent at the much awaited Headstart gathering themed “Rise Together 2020”.

The message was clear – to challenge themselves to achieve their maximum potential in order to get to the top spot. Another key message to the young people that afternoon was to practise healthy living in order to be fit enough to make that climb to the top.

At hand to motivate the advisors and potential recruits was Muhamad Muqharabbin Mokhtarrudin aka Qobin, one of the youngest climbers to conquer Mount Everest at the age of 22. He inspired the audience with his dream to conquer more peaks with a strong message: Dare to Dream!

With that, GETB would like to extend the call to the extended Great Eastern family to “Rise Together - It’s Time!”

Back to top

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Extraordinary Care Programme

Every parent wishes the best for their children’s continued care and wellness especially when they are no longer able to provide so. This is a real worry magnified manifold for parents of children with special needs.

While there are existing insurance plans for these families that provides a payout in the event of death or disability of the parent, there remains a huge gap in products to ensure the continuity of therapy services for children with special needs when the families go into financial duress.

To meet that need, we partnered our digital affinity partner, Caregiver Asia (an online aggregator of professional health and caregiving services.) and therapy provider Extra•Ordinary People, to launch a first-in-market Extraordinary Care Programme (EOCP).

A Memorandum Of Understanding was signed between the three parties on 11 December 2019, witnessed by Senior Minister of State at the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and Ministry of Communications and Information, Sim Ann.

With the programme, we hope to provide continued long-term therapy and professional care services for the special needs child through a Group Personal Accident insurance pay-out of S$150,000 in the event of accidental death or total permanent disability of the parent or guardian. This payout will ensure that the child receives regular therapy and care services for up to 15 years. Additionally, the programme will provide families with immediate access to complimentary hours of care services and comprehensive therapy services at highly subsidised rates.

Each package costs S$199 per year and customers are issued a voucher code which may then be used to activate the programme. This allows individuals and corporations to purchase the package as a gift for those in need.

The programme is administered by Caregiver Asia and the Group Personal Accident Insurance, and Great Eastern has underwritten the insurance policy embedded within in.

To find out more about the programme or to purchase a package, visit Caregiver Asia’s e-store here.

Read about the press coverage on the EOCP here: The Straits Times and Zao Bao.

Back to top

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Health and Wellness Workshops

GELM recently hosted a badminton workshop as well as a futsal workshop for underprivileged children aged between 10 to 17 years old under its Health and Wellness Workshop series. The workshops aimed to encourage the children to cultivate a healthy lifestyle and inculcate leadership and teamwork through sports.

At the Badminton Workshop, about 100 children from six NGO homes received training by experienced coaches, some of whom were former national players. They then took the courts by storm as they battled it out during a mini tournament.

The children enjoyed a delicious lunch after the tournament and each received a goodie bag consisting of a badminton racket, shuttlecocks, drinks and snacks.

Similarly at the Futsal Workshop, close to 100 children from homes and institutions under the purview of the Social Welfare Department of Malaysia (JKM) participated in the lively event.

The workshop began with warm up exercises led by qualified instructors and then advanced into friendly matches among peers before concluding with group stage knock-out matches between the homes.

Participants were treated to a wholesome lunch and took home a goodie bag each consisting of a sports backpack, futsal ball and jersey.

Back to top

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bringing Christmas Cheer to the Underprivileged

GELM brought Christmas cheer to the underprivileged children at Rumah Sayangan in Cheras by bearing Christmas gifts, delicious desserts, shopping vouchers and an early visit by Santa Claus. The festive joy was also extended to six other JKM registered through the donations of gift vouchers and Christmas dinner packs. In total, close to RM20,000 was donated.

GEGM also spread Christmas cheer to the elderly at an old folks home in Klang Valley. The home was set up for the purpose of providing support and basic necessities such as food and medicine to the elderly who have no immediate family and is run solely on the generous donations and contributions from the public.

The enthusiastic volunteers repainted the walls at the home and spent time with the senior citizens and entertained them with song performances. It was a morning of laughter and joy and the visit ended with a sumptuous lunch enjoyed by all.

Back to top

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Highlights of Great Eastern Women’s Run 2019

More than 13,000 women from as young as three years old from all walks of life showed up and ran their hearts out at the Singapore Sports Hub on 3 November 2019. We have captured some of the best moments at the Great Eastern Women’s Run 2019.

Check out this video to relive GEWR 2019 and try to spot yourself if you participated in the Run!

Back to top

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Get Fitter. Get Younger. Get Rewarded

The GETGREAT app now comes with a great new feature – FitAge, which calculates a measure of your health and fitness based on your lifestyle choices in three areas:

A younger FitAge gives you MORE STARS, which can be redeemed on UPGREAT for retail, dining and lifestyle vouchers and discounts with your favourite merchants.

Discover your FitAge today. Download GETGREAT now.

Back to top

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An Eco-friendly Dinner for OCBC clients

It was a cool evening after a light shower on 20 November 2019 – the perfect setting for an outdoor dinner.

OCBC Group CEO Samuel Tsien and Global Corporate Banking Division Head Elaine Lam hosted a dinner for their corporate clients on the rooftop garden of the Funan Mall.

It was the Bank’s first client dinner with a sustainable theme. Besides showcasing OCBC’s Sustainable Finance credentials, the dinner also helped raise awareness on the dire state of the planet due to global warming.

During the pre-dinner cocktail reception, guests were treated to a tour at the rooftop community garden run by The Edible Garden City. This unique urban farm, located just outside the restaurant, cultivates a variety of herbs, microgreens and greens. It also operates a close loop system, where the water for the two indoor fish tanks is used to fertilise the soil. The edible produce from the gardens was used to garnish most of the dishes served that night.

The sustainability theme was also evident during the dinner served at NōKA – which means farmhouse in Japanese. The restaurant embraces farming in every way, by marrying ingredients sourced responsibly from Singapore, Niigata and the region. With Head Chef Seki Takuma, the restaurant makes every effort to limit the use of single-use plastics and recycles diligently while keeping water and energy consumption to a minimum.

Jessica Cheam, the founder of Eco-Business, a leading media organisation on sustainable development, was the guest speaker for the evening. She shared about the Antarctica expedition she joined and the impact she witnessed first-hand on the wildlife and environment as a result of climate change.

The short video she screened on the adverse outcomes of global warming was sobering yet thought-provoking, outlining how each of us can do our part to protect our planet. Jessica also brought along two Virtual Reality sets so guests could experience part of the journey she took to the polar region as though they were there.

At the end of the dinner, each guest received a specially curated bonsai plant as a reminder of Sam’s opening remarks about the bank’s aim to “Do Well and Do Good” for the communities and constituencies that they serve.

Back to top

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LIFT-ing up mySalam

On 28 and 29 December, the mySalam team participated at the LIFT exhibition in Menara Perkeso, Putrajaya, and quickly earned the title of having one of the most appealing booths. Some 500 members of the public visited the booth and were keen to find out more about the free national takaful protection scheme.

Since April, the team has toured and raised awareness on the scheme in 44 locations across the country, participating in all major government roadshows such as Kembara Merdeka (with the Information Ministry), Karnival Kewangan (with Bank Negara in four locations – Kuala Terengganu, Melaka, Perlis and Sandakan) and Siri Jelajah Ahli Lembaga Hospital (Johor & Terengganu).

The team has also reached out to specific groups of people and held talks to educate on the scheme in various locations, including among civil service staff. In addition, a total of 28 mySalam kiosks have been set up in government hospitals in every state, with plans to add another 130 this year.

These efforts have paid off – some RM11.5 million worth of claims have been paid out to Malaysians in need – and the team will continue to work hard to raise awareness among eligible recipients.

Back to top

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ushering in 2020, in December!

December was a meaningful month for GETB as they celebrated their 9^th Anniversary and other new beginnings – the highlight being the opening of their renovated Agency and Group Departments workspace. They also said goodbye to Dato’ Kamarudin Taib, who retired as Chairman of the Board.

GETB also had a new CEO – for a day!

Yusnisah Binti Wan Mohd Ariffin, or Yus as she is fondly known, was crowned ‘CEO For a Day’ under the Unsung Hero Contest and received her sash and a nod of approval from GETB CEO Shahrul Azlan Shahriman.

The contest was by staff nomination and employees could vote on the best unsung hero based on his/her contribution, commitment, positive and collaborative attitude, and willingness to go the extra mile. As a form of learning, exposure and motivation, the winner would experience a day of being in the shoes of the CEO.

Yus was picked up from her home, driven to the office, sat in the CEO’s room, spoke to various department heads, visited the mySalam kiosk at Hospital Kuala Lumpur and even had lunch with Board member Datin Zaharah Ali!

She had so much fun, and so did the rest of the workforce, that GETB has adopted the Unsung Hero Contest as part of its quarterly engagement activity with staff.

The best part about being CEO of the Day?  Well, you will have to ask Yus, when you see her at her Customer Service counter diligently attending to customers who walk into GETB!

Back to top

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Singapore

Annual Appreciation Awards

On 10 December 2019, GELS celebrated the dedication of our colleagues at the Annual Appreciation Awards.

This year’s award ceremony was held at M hotel and 103 colleagues received an award across 8 categories. This included long service awards for 5 years, 10 years as well as the milestone award for colleagues who reached the legal retirement age but who still chose to continue their service with us.

Celebrating tenure of service in this day and age is often overlooked, but it is an important moment to celebrate and appreciate our recipients as the average length of employment in Singapore is less than 4 years. This also speaks well of our organisation as out of the 103 colleagues, 17 colleagues have been with us for 20 years and more.

Back to top

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Best Employer in Singapore

We are pleased to announce that Great Eastern Singapore was recognised as a Best Employer in Singapore by Kincentric's Best Employers global certification programme, an employer benchmarking programme that recognises organisations that strive to continuously inspire their people, spark change and accelerate business success.

“We are truly delighted to be recognised for this award, which demonstrates our commitment to you as well as our focus on creating an engaging environment built on accountability and our shared values” – GELS Management Team

Thank you all for your efforts in living out the Life Company’s mission. Let’s continue to take the lead in shaping our customers’ experiences with more achievements in 2020!

For more information on the programme, please click here.

This award is by nomination only and the assessment is based on the company’s ability to exceed in four measurable 'people factors': employee engagement, organisational agility, engaging leadership and talent focus.

Back to top

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Best Team of the Year Award

Congratulations to Great Eastern Digital for Business Division for winning the Best Team of the Year Award organised by the SBR Management Excellence Awards 2019.

The Digital for Business team‘s focus has always been to make life better for all, and credit for this award goes to our partners, financial representatives and most importantly, our customers.

Back to top

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Malaysia

HR Asia’s Best Companies to Work For in Asia (Malaysia)

For the fourth consecutive year, GELM is once again recognised as HR Asia’s Best Companies to Work For in Asia 2019 (Malaysia), which celebrates leading organisations that excel in workplace environment, culture, and employee engagement. The recognition, first received by GELM in 2016, is a testament to the efforts of the Human Capital team in enabling an engaged and purpose-driven workforce.

Back to top

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The BrandLaureate Greatest ICONIC Brand of the Decade Award

GELM was been awarded The BrandLaureate Greatest ICONIC Brand of The Decade Industry Champion Award 2019 at the The BrandLaureate Brand ICON Leadership Awards 2019. The award recognises the Company that has shaped business and communities with its positive brand attributes, values and philosophy and supported the development of industries in the country with innovative trends, products and services throughout the decade.

GELM CEO Dato Koh Yaw Hui received the award with the GELM team at Majestic Hotel on 17 December 2019.

Back to top

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPGREAT Exclusive at Shell Stations Island-wide

Calling all Doraemon Fans! Limited edition Doraemon merchandise available at only $5.90* each (U.P. $24.90).

Ramen Bowl Collection:

• Pink (From 27 Jan)
• Turquoise (From 3 Feb)
• Red (From 10 Feb)

Check out the weekly release of new items every Monday through UPGREAT and collect yours today!

Download UPGREAT to enjoy great offers and promotions.

*Terms and conditions apply. Designs available while stocks last. Limited to one redemption per design per UPGREAT user. Each sold separately.

Back to top

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------