aia - distribution agreement

today, we hold the honour of being the 8th fa/ifa company to seal our partnership with aia when we formally signed off the distribution agreement with them.

for a start, we can straightaway add to our stable of products, aia s$ wealth accumulator and recommend what i believe to be the best (currently) non-anticipated, non-participating single premium product. aia is looking at a subscription of at least $100 million for the current tranche and aia believes this tranche will close towards the end of november 2009.

testing

testing

dicing with death?

Dicing with death

THEY are touted as a sex drug, called poppers. Like the banned sex pills, Power 1 Walnut and Urat Madu, which led to deaths.

Despite this, they are being sold in 8ml bottles at several gay spas here.

The fumes from this highly-volatile liquid are inhaled by some in the gay community during what is called 'chem sex'.

Abuse of the drug can cause permanent damage to health,and even death.

Yet poppers are being circulated.

Three bottles of poppers fell quite easily into the hands of The New Paper on Sunday team investigating this form of drug abuse.

Poppers, which contain amyl nitrite or isobutyl nitrite, were initially used to treat patients with heart problems. Amyl nitrite helps to open blood vessels.

Amyl nitrite is a controlled drug, regulated by the Medicines Act.

But poppers are also said by some to enhance sexual satisfaction.

They are sometimes combined with other drugs like Ecstasy, Ice and Viagra.

Danger drug

Said Dr Seow Swee Chong, Consultant, Cardiac Department, National University Heart Centre Singapore: 'Medications like Viagra, Cialis and nitrates also work by causing relaxation of smooth muscles.

'When combined together with 'poppers', severe reductions in blood pressure can result and lead to death, heart attacks or strokes.'

Dr Seow advised thrill-seekers not to experiment with poppers.

He said: 'My best advice... is to stop using them; and those who have yet to do so, not to start.' And not all will experience enhanced sexual pleasure, he said.

Poppers are readily available at some gay spas or supplied by freelance 'nutritional' salesmen.

Just ask and outcomes the drug.

Out of the 12 gay spas The New Paper on Sunday contacted, five said they would 'rather not talk over the telephone about poppers'.

Their standard reply was: 'Why don't you come over and we'll see what we can do for you.'

Three spas we visited sold poppers only to customers who signed up as members.

At two of the spas in the city, the male receptionists said they were out of stock.

The bottles cost between $25 and $30 each. We saw members take them and quietly shuffle into the spa's dark hallways.

If the spas run out of poppers, salesmen like John (not his real name), gladly sell you their own supply, at a higher price.

We reached John through one of our contacts, and here turned our SMS within 10 minutes.

He met this reporter one afternoon with a box full of poppers from various brands.

John said: 'They're $35 each. If you take three, I'll sell them for $90. Don't worry, if you get caught, just say it's for aroma therapy.'

John didn't stop his sales pitch there.

He also offered what was claimed to be a generic version of Viagra and an exotic aphrodisiac pill called African Black Ants.

His products, he claimed, are not fakes.

Such claims should ring a loud warning bell, especially after fly-by-night salesmen sent men to the grave after giving them banned sex pills like Power 1 Walnut and Urat Madu.

One US-based popper manufacturer claims that all its nitrite-based products are sold for ordinary household purposes.

It said it is not responsible for media claims that its products are said to be 'sex drugs'.

We opened one such bottle and found out that it smelled like a strong solvent.

One gay Singaporean professional, who is in his 30s, said that while poppers may smell like solvents, the effect it gives leads some people to abuse it.

Another user, Daniel, 24, said he was introduced to poppers by an older boyfriend.

Daniel, a student, said: 'At first, I was afraid that it might impair my senses. I had never heard of it before. 'But over time, I got used to the mild headaches.

And at most (sex) parties I go to now, there will always be poppers readily available.'

Daniel added that if poppers are abused, it's hard to maintain an erection.

Poppers seem to be more talked about now, compared with five years ago, judging by the chatter on two local gay forums.

One gay lifestyle website said that in a 2006 survey, many claimed to have used poppers.

They had used them for various reasons - some for the head rush, and some said it made sex less painful.

In Singapore, another survey on a gay website, conducted in March and April this year, showed that more than one in 10 claimed they combined sex with drugs like Ecstasy, Viagra, Ketamine, poppers, GHB and cocaine.

'Smelly socks'

But not all in gay forums agree that poppers should be used during sex.

Some netizens discouraged its use, saying the fumes reminded them of 'smelly socks' and that prolonged use could lead to erectile dysfunction.

The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said that it is aware that some lifestyle establishments have brought in such chemicals.

But its spokesman warned that, 'the use of alkyl nitrites (the chemical found in poppers) is dangerous as this class of chemicals has been known to cause serious adverse effects such as loss of consciousness, shortness of breath, muscular weakness, coma,and even deaths.'

HSA added that 'with the exception of amyl nitrite, which is regulated under the Medicines Act, all the other chemicals in this class are not medicinal products'.

Lawyer Satwant Singh felt a parallel can be drawn with glue-sniffing.

He said: 'It is not illegal to own glue, but the act of abusing it can be illegal and punishable under the law. The same can be the case with poppers.

'The authorities should step in and investigate the extent of the abuse. They may then classify the drug and prosecute both buyers and sellers.'

my comments:

the stark reality of the report stated that poppers are being circulated and the ease at which the new paper on sunday team investigating this form of drug abuse is surely cause for alarm.

and is it worth the price to pay for a fleeting moment of pleasure? and i do not mean the monetary price for a popper because poppers can kill.

is any single human life priceless? and yet if we equate the price of a popper at $30 to $35 a pop, does this mean that the people willing to try this drug see their life worth this mere pittance?

dicing with death? one verse in the bible says it best as in the book of james, chapter 4 verse 14:

"For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away"


and what has this report got to do with wealth protection planning?

even more so when we consider that every single human life is precious and indeed, priceless.

Problem of 'consumables' in medical insurance claim

Problem of 'consumables' in medical insurance claim

I REFER to the letter by Ms Cheam Teo Seng, 'Medical insurance' (Oct 10), and AIA's reply, 'Her insurance plan was meant to cover government hospitals' (Oct 24).

I had the same problem with my MediShield claim as Ms Cheam. My mother had surgery in March and spent one night in a B2 class ward. Although her MediShield plan was for the designated class B ward, the insurer paid only $300 while she paid $2,700 (that is, she bore 90 per cent of her bill). We had expected the MediShield plan to cover at least 50 per cent of a hospital bill after deductibles and co-payment, so we were appalled as she had paid annual premiums of about $1,000.

The problem is the definition of the term 'consumable'. 'Hospital medical consumable' charges include consumables incurred during surgery (about 50 per cent of the bill). Yet the insurer does not consider this item under the MediShield plan benefit - 'approved medical consumable', which has a higher claim limit - but classifies it under the room benefit, which has a lower claim limit.

Thus, the insured will always be in a disadvantaged position because the 'consumable' in the hospital charges is normally quite high but not really covered by MediShield - unless the patient stays longer in hospital to get more room benefit to cover this consumable item.

We felt the hospital, insurer and Ministry of Health should look into this discrepancy as this was not clearly spelt out and would not be expected by those who signed up for the MediShield plan.

Rachel Lee (Miss)

my comments:

if i'm not mistaken, for medishield, ms rachel lee should be mindful that the daily ward and treatment charge is restricted to a dollar-capped specified amount. furthermore, what may not be so apparent is that this daily ward and treatment charge in not inclusive by itself but lumps in items like meal charges, prescriptions, professional charges, investigations and other miscellaneous charges.

the other point is the surgery that ms rachel lee's mother went through is subject to a classification system from table 1a to table 7c, according to their level of complexity. however, the surgical operations table also come with claim limits ranging from $150.00 to $1,100.00.

therefore, ms rachel lee may wish to source for another possible solution and that is to consider an integrated shield plan that come with 'as-charged' benefits.

aviva myshield/myshield plus - LOG (letter of guarantee)

when aviva rolled out the enhancements to their myshield/myshield plus products in a soft launch near the end of may 2009, one of these was in the provision of a letter of guarantee.

details:

Letter of Guarantee

Letter of Guarantee allows the waiver of deposit required by the hospital in the event of hospitalization or surgry

• Provided for the following selected hospitals

– National University Hospital
– Singapore General Hospital
– Tan Tock Seng Hospital
– Alexandra Hospital

• Inpatient treatment with estimated bill amount higher than the plan deductible

• If the patient is covered under MyShield Plus, the Co - insurance amount will be included in the LOG amount.

• Any expenses not payable under MyShield or MyShield Plus will have to be paid by the policyholder to Aviva or the hospital.

and now the good news is that Changi General Hospital joins the earlier list of 4 hospitals linked-up for policyholders to enjoy the provision of the LOG.

and the additional good news is that aviva is continually working to deliver more value to her customers.

great eastern life - launch of 3 year cash saver

today, great eastern life launched the new tranche of their 3 year cash saver.

what is 3 year cash saver?

this is a 3 year term non-anticipated, participating single premium endowment product.

minimum single premium: $8,000.00
open to: cash and srs
projected yield at maturity: 2.10% (<$50,000.00)
2.25% ($50,000.00 and above)

details:

1. Death Benefit

The sum assured or the surrender value of the policy, whichever is greater, will be payable upon death.

However, during the first 2 policy years or if the Life Assured's age at entry (next birthday) plus policy term exceeds 70, the guaranteed death benefit is reduced to 101% of single premium. The death benefit payable will be the guaranteed death benefit or the surrender value of the policy, whichever is greater.

2. Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) Benefit

(subject to a maximum sum assured of S$2,000,000 on any one life)

If the Life Assured suffers from TPD before the policy anniversary preceding his 65th birthday, the death benefit will be payable in one lump sum up to $650,000. The remaining balance, if any, will be payable in one lump sum in any of the following events, whichever occurs first:
i) 12 months from the date of the first TPD payment; or
ii) upon the Life Assured's death; or
iii) upon maturity of the policy.


However, the death benefit will be payable in full amount under the following circumstances:
(a) total and irrecoverable loss of the sight in both eyes; or
(b) total and irrecoverable loss of the use of two limbs at or above the wrist or ankle; or
(c) total and irrecoverable loss of the sight in one eye and total and irrecoverable loss of the use of one limb at or above the wrist or ankle.


3. Surrender Value

Surrender values will be available after the single premium has been paid.

At present, a loan may be taken on the security of the policy, provided that the premiums are paid in cash monies.

4. Maturity Benefit

100% of single premium plus attaching bonus, if any, will be payable at the end of the endowment term.

important notes:

This is not a contract of insurance. The precise terms and conditions of the plan are specified in the policy contract.

Buying a life insurance policy is a long-term commitment. An early termination of the policy usually involves high costs and the surrender value payable may be less than the total premiums paid.

This blog is for your information only and does not have any regard to your specific investment objectives, financial situation and any of your particular needs. You may wish to seek advice from a financial adviser before making a commitment to purchase the product. In the event that you choose not to seek advice from a financial adviser, you should consider whether the product in question is suitable for you.