Let's not use founders' names for indirect gain

Clivebenss SG

NTUC Income took out a full-page advertisement last Saturday entitled "Genesis". It showed a picture of the late Dr Goh Keng Swee together with one of his speeches.

Whether or not it is a tribute to Dr Goh in conjunction with Income's 40th anniversary, the use of such a name to support and endorse an event should be discouraged.

Let us respect Singapore's giants and refrain from using their name for indirect commercial gain. Other commercial companies may take the cue from Income and start using the names of other founders of Singapore who were involved with their companies in one way or another.

Francis Cheng

Clivebenss SG

Why they never use LKY?

Clivebenss SG

I DISAGREE with the points raised in yesterday's Forum Online letter by Mr Francis Chen, 'Let's not use founders' names for indirect gain'.

Many are not aware of Dr Goh Keng Swee's pivotal role in establishing NTUC Income three decades ago. I myself discovered this only last Saturday after reading the full-page advertisement entitled 'Genesis'.

In fact, I do not treat the full-page write-up as a form of advertisement; I consider it additional reporting on Dr Goh's contribution to society. Besides, this announcement did not appear at a more appropriate time, especially when Income is celebrating its 40th birthday.

Income has come a long way since Dr Goh made his speech on Nov 18, 1969. Many of us, both policyholders and agents, have benefited from this insurance cooperative.

The write-up gave me an insight into yet another great contribution by Dr Goh in caring for the well-being of the people.

Jeffrey Law

Clivebenss SG

I THANK Mr Francis Cheng ("Let's not use founders' names for indirect gain"; Wednesday) and Mr Jeffrey Law ("Ad gave insight into Dr Goh's contribution"; Thursday) for their letters which carried divergent views on NTUC Income's tribute to the late Dr Goh Keng Swee on our 40th anniversary.

Dr Goh played a decisive role in setting up NTUC Income. In his desire to help the workers of Singapore, Dr Goh had inspired the labour movement to start a cooperative movement, and specifically advised that its first cooperative be in life insurance. He also nurtured NTUC Income in its infancy as our chairman for the first 10 years.

As rightly pointed out by Mr Law, this is not something which is widely known in Singapore today.

Our two million policyholders today are beneficiaries of NTUC Income's social mission made possible only because of Dr Goh's foresight.

For the reasons above, when NTUC Income turned 40 on May 29, we felt that it was only right that on that day, we should honour the man who was instrumental in our creation by celebrating his extraordinary life and reflecting on his immense contributions to the people of Singapore.

As Mr Cheng pointed out, as one of Singapore's most illustrious founding fathers, Dr Goh deserves the same respect and decorum reserved for our national leaders in their posthumous years. That was precisely our intention in publishing the tribute - to honour Dr Goh with respect and decorum. It is unfortunate that our intention has been misconstrued by some members of the public.

Caroline Fernandez (Ms)

Manager, Corporate Affairs

NTUC Income