How we improve financial literacy

Financial literacy is an essential life skill that empowers one to make informed decisions about money and optimise the dollar value. Our efforts in this area range from partnerships with like-minded organisations to customising content for outreach.

In Singapore, we partnered with Junior Achievement Singapore and reached out to almost 600 students who learnt about spending within budget, saving and investing wisely and using credit cautiously. We also organised a customised fireside chat on how to optimise Singapore’s mandatory social security savings scheme for housing, healthcare and retirement to the alumni and employees of Bettr Academy. 

In Indonesia, we held six financial literacy workshops and reached out to over 500 individuals on income management, budget allocation and planning, risk anticipation as well as insurance. We launched an online insurance dictionary resource called GREATPedia (id.gelife.co/Greatpedia) to help consumers understand insurance terms and concepts better. 

How we make insurance accessible

As the sole provider of the Dependents’ Protection Scheme for the Singapore government, we provide peace of mind and security to individuals and families by offering them affordable term life insurance. As of December 2023, there are over two million policyholders with total coverage sum assured of S$143bn. This is an increase of over 156,000 new individual sign-ups since April 2021. The Life Insurance Association of Singapore research shows that each working adult needs S$739,000 as a recommended financial safeguard against death. To help close the protection gap, we also offer a low-cost GoGreat Term Life insurance where customers can increase the coverage by up to S$300,000. We are the appointed administrator of the mySalam scheme - a Malaysian government social protection scheme to support the B40 underprivileged individuals. In 2023, we ramped up awareness-building efforts to ensure that eligible participants understand what they are protected for and how to make claims, if needed. To date, mySalam has benefited 1.2 million policyholders and paid out RM659mn in claims. We are one of the top three Takaful operators in Malaysia with over 25,000 mikrotakaful active customers. This is largely due to MikroSayang+ - an enhanced mikrotakaful plan launched in 2022 to offer greater benefits and broader coverage.

How we enhance quality of lives

In Singapore, we have been creating the space and stage for women of all ages and ambition to be the greatest version of themselves through our signature annual event Great Eastern Women’s Run (GEWR) for 17 years. On top of motivating women to raise the bar in their lives, GEWR has also become a key fundraising platform for the community over the last three years.

We raised S$260,000 through the run for Daughters Of Tomorrow and Singapore Cancer Society to support programmes that prepare underprivileged women for their back-to-work journeys and help cancer survivors to integrate into everyday life. For direct impact, we also interacted with the DOT and SCS communities. At the Great Family Play Day, we hosted 18 DOT and SCS families for a fun day out. We also brought 45 SCS beneficiaries and their families to Bird Paradise.

Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law, shared on our 2023 race day, “The Great Eastern Women’s Run holds a unique place in our local sporting calendar as Singapore’s only all-women's race – championing the unity of women in health, wellness, community and friendship. It is an excellent testament to the power of sport in bringing people together, advocating healthy living and making a positive impact on our wider community”.

How we protect the environment

Under our flagship green initiative, GETB Upcycling Project in Malaysia, we rolled out 15 programmes to raise public awareness on sustainability. Over 3,000 individuals learnt how plastic waste can be upcycled into usable products. In 2023, we produced over 1,700 items ranging from rulers to combs to coasters and gathered over 580kg of plastic waste. This initiative won the Value-Based Intermediation Takaful (VBIT) Special Awards, which was presented by the Malaysian Takaful Association. Given the success of this initiative, similar activities will be launched in Singapore , alongside outreach programmes to engage communities in environmental awareness. 

In Indonesia, we partnered with Carbon Ethics to plant 426 mangrove seedlings. In addition, we organised the #GreatRideForCleanAir event to campaign against air pollution and preserve Jakarta's coastline by planting another 115 mangrove tree seedlings in Mangrove Forrest, Taman Wisata Alam, North Jakarta. We also donated IDR5mn to Trisakti University and AAUI (Indonesian General Insurance Association) to support an industry initiative to plant 2,500 mangrove tree seedlings, together with other general insurance companies.