As one of Singapore’s ‘core institutions’, Income Insurance should not be sold

THE proposed sale of a majority and controlling interest of Income Insurance to German firm Allianz has raised important issues. Some of the issues have been widely discussed and need to be recognised by the government, as this is not just the sale of any privately owned insurance company. It goes to the very heart of the current government’s social compact with Singaporeans.

The proposed sale cannot but give me a sense of deja vu. In 2001, DBS Bank sold its insurance business, the Insurance Corporation of Singapore (ICS), to the UK’s CGU Insurance, as it was then known. ICS was later renamed Aviva Singapore.

I was one of the early buyers of ICS’ catastrophic medical insurance policy, for my entire family. When introduced, it was touted as covering the widest range of illnesses.