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October 2020

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Featured Story
» The #Lifeproof Crew Takes Centre Stage with Their Dreams

People
» 112 Years in the Making and Better than Ever!
» GELI’s 24th Anniversary Celebrations Go Creative to Bring Staff Together
» GEGI Celebrates Company’s 26th Anniversary with Virtual Townhall and Charity Contributions
» Celebrating Our 'Superhero' Mums and Dads in Great Eastern’s 112th Anniversary Videos
» Real Talk with James Lee
» Show Us What #MYGREATCULTURE Means to You!
» Make a Date with the First Virtual Great Eastern Women’s Run
» Celebrating Diversity and Togetherness with the GREAT Merdeka Race
» GETB Office Gets a New Wrap
» Celebrating Aidil Adha with ‘Qurban’ Contribution at Kem Wardieburn

Business & Customers
» #Lifeproof Next Gen Webinar Imparts Life Skills for Young Job Seekers
» Great Eastern and Singtel Offer General Insurance Products with Telco-Centric Benefits
» Great Eastern Life Indonesia Partners Qoala to Expand Digital Distribution Channel
» Great Eastern Wins Awards and Accolades Across the Region
» MoneySmart: Don’t Know What Investment-Linked Insurance Policies Are? Here Are 5 Things You Need to Know

Read & Win
» Read & Win: August Issue Quiz Winners & New Quiz

Click here for past TGT issues.

The #Lifeproof Crew Takes Centre Stage with Their Dreams

For our new brand campaign for GREAT CareShield, we present UNDEFEATABLE, an extraordinary performance powered by The #Lifeproof Crew: four individuals who refuse to let their disabilities seize centre stage from their dreams.

Find out how we worked with director Melvin Ong (quadriplegic), set designer Zoe Zora (paraplegic), visual artist David Aitabir (recovered paraplegic) and violinist Sophie Soon (visually impaired) to create a music video like no other, and follow their journeys and discover just what it means to live #Lifeproof.

Through this campaign, you’ll also discover how else we are empowering Singaporeans to live #Lifeproof in the face of disability – with GREAT CareShield, officially launching on 19 October.

Catch The #Lifeproof Crew, a behind-the-scene video at www.thelifecompany.sg from 16 October, and don’t miss the actual music video on 24 October!

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112 Years in the Making and Better than Ever!

It all started 112 years ago. Great Eastern has since grown its business from strength to strength. Today, as a leading regional insurer, we are led by a strong sense of values.

In August, we celebrated our 112^th Anniversary with a renewed sense of purpose and our corporate values. Just as we aim to #Lifeproof our customers, we are fully committed to be part of the movement to drive #mygreatculture. What better way to commemorate this year than with a slew of activities around them!

First, we welcome the arrival of three new ‘colleagues’ George, Gerard and Genna (in picture below) to our team. Their names were chosen by our colleagues through online voting and each one encapsulates Great Eastern’s values: Integrity, Initiative and Involvement. We’re sure you’ll be bumping into them soon at the office as they ‘hang around’ in our common areas.

Brighten up someone's day with the George, Gerard and Genna Whatsapp stickers! Coming straight to you from your managers or HRBP!

We also played the ‘Wheel of Liiife’ lucky spin earlier on and are getting the new 2020 Great Eastern T-shirts. New lanyards (in picture below, left) are now available too. They are distributed in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia and for those who have yet to receive them, information on the distribution/collection of these items will be provided soon.

On to the next round of activities! We learnt more about our colleagues as we got cracking for a round of Bingo in our Singapore and Malaysia offices. A unique Bingo card (see picture above, right) filled with scenarios seen in the office, revealed that we are not alone in our achievements and challenges at work. At the Singapore office, we had 50 teams who played virtual Bingo and the first three teams which completed all scenarios won.

In Malaysia, our colleagues also completed a Bingo template submitted through email or Instagram for a chance to win attractive prizes. Congratulations to all our winners!

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GELI’s 24th Anniversary Celebrations Go Creative to Bring Staff Together

Great Eastern Life Indonesia (GELI) brought its 24th anniversary celebrations right to the employees’ homes and continued online with much fanfare.

On 16 August, all employees of GELI received a tumpeng - an Indonesian cone-shaped rice dish with side dishes of vegetables and meat – sent to their homes with a personalised greeting card each to thank them for contributing to the company’s success in Indonesia for more than two decades.

The celebration was further marked by an online town hall session on 18 August with over 260 employees attending. It opened with a performance from an employee singing "Bendera" to commemorate the 75th Independence Day of the Republic of Indonesia.

CEO Pak Clement Lien kicked off the celebration by delivering key updates on the company's performance. He encouraged the team to stay diligent during this COVID-19 period, innovate and improve our productivity. He also shared on the company’s roadmap for digitalization and the need to be prepared for the New Future.  Several other key business leaders also shared on their departments’ business plans.

Pak Choon Hui, the upcoming Advisor for IT, presented his upcoming IT development plans to support the company’s growing business needs, while Bu Nina Ong, Director of Bancassurance, provided updates on the bancassurance business, which has grown along with the acceleration of business to adapt to the New Future era.

Pak Daniel Putranto, Head of Group Insurance & Affinity elaborated on the developments of the business group insurance and affinity as well as several new collaborations with partners. He also presented an employee referral program offering reward vouchers worth millions of Rupiah to GELI employees who can refer group insurance product to their relatives.

Business updates were rounded up by Pak Yungki Aldrin, Director of Compliance on how Human Capital has been helping employees to stay productive, think positively and continuously improve themselves while working from home. He conveyed that after conditions improve when the vaccine or anti-virus is available, employees could physically work at the office again. Pak Roy Hendrata, Head of Marketing also gave an update about #SiapJalaniHidup campaign that runs as a GELI campaign for the whole year.

The highlight of the anniversary celebration was marked by the virtual blowing of candles by GELI’s Board of Directors, as well as birthday wishes from the Great Eastern General Insurance Indonesia (GEGI) management.

Next was the unveiling of the anniversary video produced by the Great Eastern Group featuring a GELI employee and his young son, which highlighted the brand’s outstanding people who have been around helping their customers in Asia live #Lifeproof (see next story).

All employees were finally treated to an entertaining GELI GOT TALENT competition of song and band performances, where the top three winners won attractive prizes worth 15m Rupiah in all. There was another competition for the most creative anniversary greetings for GELI, with the top two winners receiving 1m Rupiah each.

The two-hour celebration event ended on a high note, with a virtual group photo with all of the 200 plus employees. We share their happy moments in a photo collage with all!

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GEGI Celebrates Company’s 26th Anniversary with Virtual Townhall and Charity Contributions

Great Eastern General Insurance Indonesia (GEGI) celebrated the company's 26th anniversary on 22 September 2020. In view of the Covid-19 pandemic situation, celebrations were held via a Virtual Townhall. This was attended by all management team and staff from all branches, as well as our Independent Commissioners Mr Iswahyudi Karim and Dr Sensi Wondabio.

The Townhall started with a presentation on the company's achievements and business recovery up to August 2020 by Mr Aziz Adam Sattar, our President Director. It continued with a speech from the Commissioners congratulating on the company’s anniversary and business recovery, and conveying hopes for more success for the company in the future. 

Board of Directors Aziz Adam Sattar, Andy Soen, Chun Ling and Lee Pooi Hor also expressed their appreciation for the staff’s hard work and dedication. They motivated all of us to continue together to give our best to serve all customers and achieve success for the company. The Townhall ended with a prayer for the company.

As part of the anniversary celebrations, GEGI also collaborated with Group Brand & Sponsorship to distribute over 6,000 unused Great Eastern Women's Run (GEWR) T-shirts, amongst other donations, to 25 orphanages, social institutions and crisis centres (see above photo). The distribution was carried out in September by all our branches across Indonesia, from Jakarta to Surabaya, Medan, Makassar, Semarang, Batam, Medan, Samarinda and Bali.

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Celebrating Our 'Superhero' Mums and Dads in Great Eastern’s 112th Anniversary Videos

‘Superheroes’ do live among us, it’s true! For our 112th anniversary, we featured our ‘superhero’ mums and dads, who, among our 4,500 staff and 20,000 financial representatives across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, work hard to #Lifeproof our customers every day against life’s challenges.

Find out about what these parents have to say about their jobs as perceived through their kids’ eyes, and the new understanding that the parents and kids have learnt from this film project.

Watch the videos here: sg.gelife.co/112anniversary

1)   How much did your kids know about your work all this while (before the film project)?

Alvin: Audrey and Ashley didn’t know much actually. They had the impression that I was dealing with money and I got this nickname "cashier man" for what I do! I guess they thought dealing with money means collecting money like the cashiers they see in shopping malls. 

Siti Fatimah: Dania knows about my job, especially since the Movement Control Order (MCO) as I have been mostly working from home. She has always known that mommy helps people write letters to ensure that when they’re admitted to the hospital, they will receive the necessary treatments to get better. Dania tags along sometimes when I am required to work on weekends at the office and she knows my colleagues too.

Dimas: Actually, Michael knows that his father is always educating people to get health protection. He also knows that being healthy is important. As I have been working from home due to the COVID-19 situation, he often hears me on calls with clients explaining about health protection and helping them get the best service from Great Eastern.

2)   What is the biggest change in their perception of your job after the film project? What do they like/admire most about what you do now?

Alvin: Their biggest perception change is that what I do for my career makes a difference in individuals' lives. They learn and like that we have to lead, engage and constantly communicate with people like their favourite Power Rangers superheroes. 

Siti Fatimah: Although she has no change in perception towards my job since the film project, she mentioned that mommy’s job reminded her of when I used to be a nurse. She says, “Mommy used to help treat patients in the hospital, but now that you are working at Great Eastern, you are still helping people by writing letters for them to make sure they can receive sufficient financial support for their timely treatment and pay for their hospital bills.”

Dimas: In my son’s mind, I am like a superhero who helps people keep healthy all the time. That makes him very proud of me.

3)   How about you? What new insights and inspirations have you gained about your ‘superhero’ work at Great Eastern?

Alvin: Everyone at Great Eastern is part of this ‘superhero’ work that we as a company do for our customers. This company sets out to ‘lifeproof’ people, that is, protecting the dreams and hopes of families, and growing together with all our stakeholders who are our customers, staff and representatives. 

Siti Fatimah: After the filming project, I realised that my job plays such an important role in Great Eastern. I do feel like a superhero as I rescue people in need. I feel a sense of accomplishment by knowing that I can help customers ease their financial burdens when they are hospitalised.

Dimas: I realised that even ‘superheroes’ cannot do everything on their own as they also need support from others. To me, every employee at Great Eastern is a superhero. What we need to continue doing is to work together as one, with one mission, one vision and one direction.

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Real Talk with James Lee

For the second of our series that features our leaders on what inspires them, and their personal take on work and life, TGT chats with James Lee, MD, Group Human Capital who has been with the company since 1997. He is responsible for human capital and change programmes across the Group.

1)    What are you most proud of this year? (in People - projects, transformations etc.)

This has been a most challenging year for everyone in the world. As a People leader, I am proud that all our people were able to stand together to deal with COVID, especially with the quick changes that came about on a daily basis. How everyone pulled together to help implement those changes on a quick and real-time basis as an organisation, we showed resilience, camaraderie and teamwork.

2)    How do you keep your own team motivated – while dealing with the larger employee population with all the COVID challenges?

I am a realist and I believe in transparency and dealing with problems head on, and I expect that from my colleagues.  I motivate them by constantly reminding them that we are officers of the company and have a duty to all stakeholders including our own colleagues whom we serve. We should wholeheartedly do our jobs as we are a crucial part of a big team with the organisational good as our prime objective. Our priority is to deal with issues and to work together to resolve them. I also expect my people to see me on any problems they have ASAP, as I am one who does not like to be kept waiting on any bad news.

3)    How would you define a successful career?

A successful career is one that enables a person to contribute back to society and to those around him/her, whether it be financial, social or just advice or sharing from past life experiences so others can benefit and learn from them (and hopefully not make the mistakes I made, ha ha).

4)    Your vision of HR for Great Eastern is …..?

To be THE choice employer in our Industry and beyond.

5)    For you, the most important quality in a leader is...

To be able to put himself or herself in the shoes of the colleagues to understand them and their situations, so that their strengths can be harnessed for the good of the organization and the team.

6)    A famous person you would like to meet and why?

Nelson Mendela. Would like to know his feelings and thoughts as he faced and overcame lifelong apartheid in South Africa and how he overcame those odds to became the first black Head of State there.

7)    Your personal motto is…

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

8)    What do you do in your spare time?

Long swims and walks. It gives me my quiet time and helps me to re-focus.

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Show Us What #MYGREATCULTURE Means to You!

The Culture Survey is out! Take the survey today and help us to shape #mygreatculture.

Over the past few months, we’ve seen #mygreatculture come to life in more ways than we could ever imagine!

To help us better understand and reflect on our #mygreatculture journey, we’d be conducting our first Culture Survey on 13 October.

It's designed to help us build a stronger #mygreatculture and Move Together As One!

Look out for your unique link and logon information from Kincentric – a global human resources management consulting firm – which we’ve appointed to administer the survey. And yes, all responses will be completely anonymous.

Hear from you soon! And remember to Do The Right Thing, Take The Lead and choose ‘We’ Over ‘Me’ always! #mygreatculture

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Make a Date with the First Virtual Great Eastern Women’s Run

As a LIFE Company, Great Eastern is committed to helping ladies get on track in their health and wellness journey through good and challenging times. While we can’t have a physical Great Eastern Women’s Run (GEWR) this year, we are bringing you our first-ever virtual GEWR on 1 November (Sunday)! So join us on our GEWR Facebook and Instagram pages.

Simply choose the running distance you want and complete the virtual run within a week by 8 November. We are bringing back the popular “Mummy + Me 2KM Run” for mothers and daughters (below 12 years old) for some active bonding time. You can also gather your girlfriends to challenge one another on longer distances virtually! So come join the virtual GEWR and you may even win some amazing prizes!

Categories

• Mummy + Me 2km
• 5km
• 10km
• 21.1km

Instructions

1. Choose a distance in the above categories listed.
2. Complete the run between 1 – 8 November 2020.
3. Use any running apps to track your run (e.g. Fitbit, Garmin, UA MapMyRun, Nike Run Club & Runkeeper).
4. Upload your run summary: Route, Date, Time and Distance on GEWR’s social media pages as a comment. You may upload a photo collage to show the various details.
5. Three winners from each category will be drawn after 8 November.
6. Follow our Facebook and Instagram pages for tips and tricks to #Lifeproof your journey!

GETB Office Gets a New Wrap

Our people define us. With this in mind, the Group’s Culture Programme that aims to engage our staff and bring about changes focusing on our core values of Integrity, Initiative and Involvement, is the perfect energiser to keep our spirits up at the workplace in this VUCA* world.

Aligned to our Human Capital’s efforts to instil a positive working attitude, we decked our GETB main office area on Level 3 using fun colours and themes and showing the happy faces of our team members over the first weekend of October. We wanted this makeover to be a light-hearted way for us to reiterate and embrace our core values, while reminding all i-Great Fellas (the GETB workforce) that we all work together as one.

The result of the ‘wrap’ project was instantaneous. The very next day, our creative wall wrap attracted many of our staff to flock there to find their own faces. It has now become a famous monument in our office!

At Great Eastern Takaful Berhad (GETB), we are strong together as we stay true to our core values: Integrity, Groovy, Respect, Empathy, Action Oriented and Teamwork

Watch this space for more updates on Culture@GETB!

^{* volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity}

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Celebrating Aidil Adha with ‘Qurban’ Contribution at Kem Wardieburn

As part of our continued efforts to help people live #Lifeproof, on 3 August, Great Eastern Takaful Berhad (GETB) celebrated the Islamic holiday of Aidil Adha with the community in Kem Wardieburn, an army base camp just outside Kuala Lumpur, and contributed to the cost of two cows for the ‘qurban’ sacrifice.

As early as 7am, 10 of our staff gathered at the military base to witness the ‘qurban’ ritual animal sacrifice, performed by the military platoon members. The meat was then distributed to the less unfortunate community members.

Our GETB CEO En Shahrul Azlan Shahriman (in red in above photo) who attended the event said, “Alhamdulillah* GETB has the opportunity to contribute to the ‘qurban’ this year to distribute to the community in Kem Wardieburn on this blessed day. Such an activity demonstrates strongly Great Eastern’s corporate values, to be a good corporate citizen and share with our community.”

The army camp expressed its appreciation for GETB by treating En Shahrul and our staff to a sumptuous lunch prepared by the army personnel, consisting of beef curry, “sup tulang” and “sambal belacan”, accompanied with “ulam” and white rice. It was truly a meaningful day filled with the spirit of sharing.

* Arabic phrase meaning “praise be to God”

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#Lifeproof Next Gen Webinar Imparts Life Skills for Young Job Seekers

To each new batch of graduates entering the job market every year, it would seem that the skills required in their job hunt, kicking off careers and staying afloat at work - are constantly evolving and increasingly complex.

We have tried to make it less alien with Great Eastern’s #Lifeproof Next Gen Webinar - specially developed for job-seeking graduates, organised by Centre for Excellence (CfE).

This tailor-made programme aimed at children of existing clients, was meant to help #Lifeproof our next generation of clients, with skills such as Digital Branding or Data Storytelling, to help them get a headstart in their career. In addition, the referrers¹ (past sessions’ participants) and those successfully referred will both receive 1,000 UPGREAT Points for each successful referral.

Our first session in 22 August covered the topic of “Positioning for Success”. Ms Daniella Daniel, a speaker from Robert Half International, a leading global recruiter, shared valuable tips on how fresh graduates and job seekers can better position themselves for success in their career.

Following this on 26 September, coach Joshua Luke who is a former Mr. Singapore, shared the fast and fuss-free way to dress oneself stylishly for the workplace.

The sessions received positive feedback from the participants, who were very keen to find out on what the most in-demand jobs in Singapore are, how to strengthen one’s LinkedIn profile and CV writing, as well as how to start a job search.

Several tertiary students who attended the sessions also shared their feedback with us, such as:

“I am more aware of what employers are looking for and how to present myself when I apply for a jobs.”  

“Great information shared by the speakers and the questions were all adequately addressed.”

For the rest of the year, CfE has lined up three monthly sessions upcoming from October namely Data Storytelling, Artificial Intelligence for Everyone and Digital Personal Branding for Career Success. Do look out for our circulars for more details!

^{1 Referrers must be neither Great Eastern staff nor financial representatives.}

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Great Eastern and Singtel Offer General Insurance Products with Telco-Centric Benefits

Ryan Cheong, MD, Digital for Business (left) with Mr Yuen Kuan Moon, CEO of Consumer Singapore, Singtel¹.

Great Eastern has partnered Singtel to launch a range of customised general insurance products spanning home, motor and travel, for Singtel customers to #Lifeproof their assets. These innovative offerings, underwritten by Great Eastern, are answers to our increasingly digital lifestyles.

The partnership is yet another milestone in our digital affinity strategy and expansion into new customer segments as a leading regional insurer.

Singtel and Great Eastern have introduced Singtel Home Protect, a home insurance that provides coverage for both telco bills and home contents. The plan reimburses Singtel broadband expenses besides covering renovation, furniture, appliances, valuables and personal effects, which most home owners do not insure today. A car owners’ motor insurance was also recently launched.

For travellers keen to tour the world once travel restrictions are lifted, Singtel will be introducing travel insurance with mobile-related benefits. This is another first in Singapore as it includes unique benefits such as reimbursement of Singtel mobile bill during hospitalisation due to an accident, and of additional Singtel mobile data expenses incurred due to delays in travel, as well as repair or replacement of mobile phone in case of loss.

Singtel Home Protect is offered to Singtel broadband customers at launch and will be made available to all Singtel customers later. For as low as S$6.50 a month, they can sign up for the plan on the Singtel website or through My Singtel app. There is also a 10% discount available now. For more details, visit www.singtel.com/homeprotect.

^{1 Mr Yuen Kuan Moon has recently been appointed Group CEO of Singtel effective 1 January 2021.}

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Great Eastern Life Indonesia Partners Qoala to Expand Digital Distribution Channel