SINGAPORE: Former NTUC Income Chief Executive Tan Suee Chieh has publicly called on Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong to address unresolved concerns surrounding the aborted sale of Income Insurance to German insurer Allianz, framing the issue as a matter of leadership, governance, and public trust in the lead-up to the General Election.
In a sharply worded open letter released on Monday (28 Apr) — the fourth he has apparently sent to Mr Gan in the past eight months — Mr Tan called for greater transparency and accountability in how the contentious deal was handled. He said previous letters he had sent to Mr Gan between August and September 2024 received no response, despite raising “serious concerns” over the proposed transaction.
“Today, Mr. Gan is not only Chair of MAS but also seeking election as the lead candidate of the PAP team in Punggol GRC,” Mr Tan wrote, “In this new role, transparency and engagement with citizens are not optional — they are essential.”
The attempted sale of Income Insurance — formerly NTUC Income, one of Singapore’s best-known cooperative insurers — to global insurance giant Allianz was met with swift and vocal public opposition. The deal ultimately collapsed, but not before drawing scrutiny over what critics described as a lack of consultation and a departure from the company’s social mission.
Mr Tan, who served as Income’s CEO from 2007 to 2013 and later as Group CEO of NTUC Enterprise, argued that Mr Gan’s multiple leadership roles place him at the centre of the episode.
He wrote, “As MAS Chair, he oversaw regulatory aspects of the deal. As former SLF Chair — during the period when critical capital injections into Income were made to protect its social mission — he was directly involved in shaping the strategic foundations that were later put at risk.”
He added that Mr Gan is “uniquely placed to explain how these events unfolded — and why they departed so sharply from earlier undertakings.”
The letter went beyond the particulars of the deal to touch on broader questions of public governance. Mr Tan said the fallout from the Allianz-Income saga “exposed deeper issues: fragmented oversight, shifting narratives, and a failure to uphold past assurances to the public.”
While Mr Gan has not responded to Tan’s previous letters, this election season, Mr Tan suggested, is an opportunity for a course correction.
“This election offers Mr Gan an opportunity: to explain openly, to account honestly, and to help rebuild trust in the processes that safeguard Singapore’s cooperative and public institutions,” he wrote.
Mr Tan was careful to state that his critique did not stem from personal animus or distrust. “I do not assume Mr Gan lacks perspective or good intentions,” he said, “But citizens deserve — and must demand — full and candid explanations when public trust has been put at risk.”
The open letter ended with a public appeal for dialogue and accountability, urging not just Mr Gan but also Singaporeans to engage seriously with the questions raised.
The Allianz deal has turned into a hot-button issue during the election season, with multiple alternative parties raising concerns over how the deal seemed to be viewed positively by the authorities before it was scrapped amid public outrage.
Responding to some of these concerns while on the campaign trail, Mr Gan said on Tuesday, “We talked about the deal, and that was the time when we said that we had a relatively positive attitude towards the deal. We want to support the deal, because it will help Income. But when more details were furnished, we decided to have to stop the deal.”
Mr Tan, meanwhile, had earlier issued an open letter regarding NTUC secretary-general and the ruling party candidate for Jalan Kayu SMC, Ng Chee Meng. He called on voters to hold the ex-Minister accountable for the Income sale that almost went through.
Ex-NTUC Income CEO urges Jalan Kayu voters to hold Ng Chee Meng accountable for aborted Allianz deal