ST, Aug 6, 2006
'No-TV man' too busy with his one passion
Stanley Jeremiah has only one mistress - insurance. He eats, sleeps and dreams insurance. The 46-year-old got rid of his two TV sets a few years ago because he has better things to do
By Finance Correspondent, Lorna Tan
FEW Singaporeans outside of the insurance and legal fields would have heard of Stanley Jeremiah but he has become something of a celebrity after becoming entangled with the bureaucracy over a TV set that did not exist.
He became a talking point overnight after he wrote a letter to The Straits Times complaining that he had been fined by the Media Development Authority (MDA) for not informing it that he no longer has a television at home.
The bloggers and online chatterers soon picked up on it and Mr Jeremiah, 46, found himself dubbed the 'no-TV' man.
A punctilious man, he turned up on the dot at 12.30pm for our lunch at his favourite restaurant. I thought his rather stern demeanour suggested that 'no-nonsense' man might be a better label.
This was reinforced by his request, albeit apologetically, to restrict the lunch to 90 minutes.
Perhaps he was still put out by the telly fiasco but once he placed his order with the waitress at Lawry's The Prime Rib, he loosened up and the story came out.
'It's just an example of how bureaucratic things can be. It's typical of a lot of bureaucracies where the onus is on the layman....The principle behind it is wrong,' he said as he drank his Perrier water.
Mr Jeremiah, NTUC Income's general manager (Life), stopped watching TV a few years ago and got rid of his two television sets.
However, he did not tell the MDA, who continued to send him reminders to renew his TV licence. After ignoring the reminders, he was slapped with the fine.
I asked if he intended to pursue the matter with MDA and he replied wryly: 'I value my time and I'm not going to waste my time.'
The episode has become fodder for a widely circulated satirical podcast and sparked much discussion in online forums and coffee shops.
Mr Jeremiah has since paid the $185 fine and cancelled his licence. Watching TV, he said, just took up too much time.
After all, he has far better things to do. To those who know him well, the man lives, breathes and sleeps insurance.
'Law was my first love but insurance is the mistress I am passionate about,' he quipped over his salad.
He got hooked on what for many is a dry field more than 20 years ago after realising the key function insurance performed in society.
'Insurance plays a very, very important role in that the misfortune of a few people are shared by many,' he said.
His passion - and master's degree in insurance law - has earned him much professional success, both here and in Canada.
Since he returned to Singapore after five years at London University in 1985, he has been vocal on several insurance issues. He is a fervent supporter of greater transparency and best practices in the industry.
Mr Jeremiah also supports the use of plain English in marketing materials and product summaries of financial products.
He walked the talk by writing a Guide To Writing A Will, which was awarded an internationally recognised stamp of clarity by Britain's Plain English Campaign.
Last December, he shocked his peers by resigning as managing director at Goodwins Law Corp for his new job at Income. Some even wagered that he wouldn't last long at the cooperative.
Their scepticism had nothing to do with Mr Jeremiah's abilities but with the fact that he would be working closely with Income's chief executive Tan Kin Lian, a man who has made it clear to the public that he has an opinion on every issue, even those not related to insurance.
Two strong personalities in one firm could spell trouble but when I asked if there has been any strong disagreements, Mr Jeremiah was diplomacy itself.
He said: 'He has his style and I have mine. We've different backgrounds and exposure and we bring different strengths and weaknesses to the table. We work at understanding each other and working together.'
When prodded for more details, he said: 'I think Kin Lian has a unique working style. He is very open and transparent and full of ideas.
'I am more reserved, more contemplative but as I said, we are both very passionate about what we do and we are both non-conformists....We are always looking for a better way to address issues and provide better value.'
I asked him the question that has been buzzing around the insurance scene for months: Was he recruited by Income to succeed Mr Tan, whom he reports to.
His answer was emphatic: 'No! I was brought in for my expertise in life insurance and legal matters.' He added that it was Mr Tan who first approached him about crossing over to Income.
All this corporate-floor footwork is a far cry from the days when he was, by his own admission, a lousy student.
He recounted how 'schooling was nearly a disaster' . Few would know that he was an 'F' student during his first three years at Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School, because of a lack of focus and ill-discipline. And this was despite having a school teacher for a father.
Mr Jeremiah, who was one of four kids, finally pulled up his socks during his O levels and did well enough to be admitted to the National Junior College.
It was the start of a trajectory that seemed to be going only upwards.
After his national service in 1980, he left Singapore to pursue a law degree in London. That was where he met his university sweetheart, Joanna, whom he married in 1987.
But with the success has come tragedy.
He now lives alone in a three-storey terrace house after his wife - a former lawyer and university lecturer - died in 1997 from an illness.
They had been married for 10 years and had no children.
His voice softened when he recalled how he coped with her passing.
'Having a job that required me to travel every six to seven days, moving from place to place, and therefore not having to come back to an empty house helped but, quite frankly, it has taken me years to deal with it because we were very involved with each other.
'There are many articles published in legal journals that were written by us jointly.'
Her death also affected his interest in hobbies that they both shared such as photography.
'Somehow I just lost it. I have only very recently started to get back into photography.'
He has thrown himself into his work and his expertise, spanning law and insurance, has made him a formidable proponent for changes in the industry.
He is president of the Singapore Insurance Institute and is seen as a straight talker on what he sees as shortcomings in insurance coverage here - such as the lack of a clear regulation on nomination of insurance beneficiaries.
After office hours, he spends a lot of time giving educational talks on insurance and financial planning.
He also provides legal advice to various bodies, such as the Association of Financial Advisers and the Singapore Insurance Brokers' Association.
'I spend a lot of time learning and reading...Keeping up-to-date on the latest arguments on financial planning and what's happening in the UK market,' he said.
Still, he makes time for brisk walks twice a week around his estate in Bedok, attends church services and visits his parents on Sundays.
No wonder he gets only five hours of sleep a night. And no wonder he stopped watching TV three years ago.
His pet peeve, as he tells me over tea, concerns the lack of life protection here. A telling point, given that the average payout on a life policy last year was $37,000.
'We have the problem of Singaporeans being 'over-insured but under-protected'. We have people buying expensive whole life and endowment covers when they should first ensure that they have adequate protection by using much cheaper term policies,' he says.
'Many people don't realise that their interest and the interest of their family are better served in having a $150,000, 20-year term policy instead of a $50,000 endowment policy, even if they don't get any money back.'
With that, he glanced at his watch and lunch was over - in 90 minutes exactly.
IT'S YOUR DUTY TO INFORM THEM THAT YOU WANT YOUR REFUND BACK. IF YOU FORGET TO INFORM THEM, IT'S IS YOUR FAULT.