MetLife Bolting From India

US insurer Metlife Inc plans to exit its India insurance venture to concentrate on its home market where challenges are mounting. The Indian venture has grown significantly in the past few years after Punjab National Bank became a 30% stakeholder in 2013. 

But the US company is among the few overseas investors that didn’t take advantage of the rise in the limit on foreign holding in insurance to 49% from 26%, a shift that has sparked consolidation in the industry. PNB Metlife is valued at about Rs 6,500 crore, said two people aware of the development, with an embedded value of Rs 2,100 crore. 

“Metlife is planning to sell its (26%) stake in the Indian life insurance venture,” said one of them. “Discussions have begun with global investment banks. Metlife is looking to globally restructure its businesses.” 

“Metlife’s senior management visited India recently and they have decided to exit this market owing to the poor performance of the JV,” said the second person. “They have hired an investment bank and are reassessing the market.” 

Stand Up & Fight Bully

Don’t you wish you could say “no” to your manager when he bullies you to do something? Being forced to do something, perhaps even something troubling, is the worst feeling. It is not easy to say “no.” Just thinking about it can be terrifying. You may fear for your job or that you will no longer be liked. Your goal is to be respected, not liked.Saying “no” will help you gain respect as a professional. Here’s how to say “no” to your boss, the right way:

1. Stick to the facts.

Remind your boss of the facts. If your boss tells you to do something that jeopardizes your existing commitments or even runs counter to priorities, let her know.

For example, if your manager tells you that she has placed you on a project team that meets every Thursday afternoon and you had both agreed previously that you could leave early that day to train for an upcoming marathon you are running. Remind her of this. Or let’s say your boss tells you to publish an article for the company website about a successful project completed for a client. When you realize that making this public might jeopardize an upcoming IPO by that client, speak up.

Your boss will respect your ability to maintain boundaries and that you are thinking beyond the immediate task to ensure the organization’s overall success. Stick to the facts. Tell the truth as you see it. The last thing you want to do is lie to get out of a request.

2. Share how you feel.

It is hard to argue with how one feels. If your boss requests that you do something you feel uncomfortable with or that is unrealistic, tell him.

Your boss might tell you to search the company’s HR system for a colleague’s employment history — something to which you feel you should not be privy. Saying that you feel uncomfortable doing this may help him to realize it is unethical.

If your manager’s request is unrealistic, tell him how you feel and offer an alternative. If you feel the project does not utilize your skills, offer to train a colleague to help with the effort. Your manager will respect your awareness of your abilities and limitations and ability to delegate like a leader.

3. Never show your emotion.

If you want to say “no” to a bully boss, leave your emotions at the door. Do not feed the troll. Even if you feel intimidated, try not to buy into or react outwardly to bullying tactics. If you know in advance that you are going to say “no,” anticipate how your manager might react and practice remaining strong. Sometimes, bullies respect only those who can hold their own and say “no.” When they see they cannot walk all over you, they are more likely to stop their behavior.

Bully bosses can make things uncomfortable (or even unbearable) at work, but do not let them abscond with your self-respect or ruin your reputation. Say “no” to take the lead in your career and gain respect.

Single Mother in Malaysia

Manis Baba, a 64-year-old single mother, hopes for government action to ensure that no other person will experience the hardship she faced when she was younger and had to raise four children on her own. Recalling her past, Manis said that she was forced to auction her house and file for bankruptcy after her husband left her and the children 14 years ago.

“It’s hard to express in words the pain and the hardship I had to go through,” she told FMT. “I don’t want any other woman to have to go through that same pain.”

After the house was auctioned off, she and her four children went to live with her parents in a house built on rented land. In order to make ends meet, she said, she worked as a cleaner at a hotel and earned only RM200 a month.

In all those years of hardship, she envied people who were entitled to government subsidies or other forms of assistance. She wondered why single mothers were left out. She says this hasn’t changed. “It’s almost as if the government has completely forgotten about us single mothers. And the number of single mothers is rising.”

Single Mothers Friends’ Network coordinator Veronica Anne Ratnam, in a recent statement, noted that according to 2010 statistics gathered from the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, there were 830,000 single mothers in the country. She said the number would have risen by now.According to a ministry official, the 2010 statistics were the latest on file.

PAS Scams Orang Asli

More than 600 Orang Asli from six villages at Pos Bihai have put up anti-logging barricades after the state government announced restrictions on lorries transporting logs from the Balah Permanent Forest Reserve at Kampung Petei, Pos Bering.

The state government restruction was announced on Oct 3, and came after barricades were set up by Orang Asli on Sept 26. However, the Orang Asli community said that the Kelantan government had allowed logging to be carried out on 150 hectares of the land several weeks ago.

Kelantan Orang Asli Village Network secretary Mustafa Along said the community had given the state a grace period of one week to hold negotiations or face the consequence of blockades being set up as was done in Kampung Petei.

“We are not against logging but the government must ensure that it is done in a sustainable manner,” he told reporters at the barricade at Kampung Sungai Peralong, here.Also present was Association for the Protection of Natural Heritage of Malaysia president Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil.

Mustafa said the Orang Asli community here had set up a barricade six days ago. “Previously we had put barricades at Pos Parik, Pos Belau and Pos Gob as well as Kampung Petei. “However, four of our blockades had failed, but the one in Kampung Petei had successfully stopped the logging activities of two companies in the area,” Mustafa said.

On Oct 3, the state government issued a directive to suspend logging at the Balah forest reserve after more than 200 Orang Asli obstructed the logging track at Kampung Petei from Sept 26.

The group called for all logging activities there to cease. They said the logging had caused damage to the environment and damage to the forest, affecting their livelihood. Shariffa Sabrina said the Orang Asli were now more educated and knew their rights, and called for discussion of the issues brought up.

Who is Dr Lutfi Fadil Lokman

Since his fledgling days as a medical student, Dr Lutfi Fadil Lokman had been looking for ways not only provide healthcare for the poor, also to keep the effort financially sound.

He co-founded Hospital Beyond Boundaries (HBB) on May 22, 2012 while still studying at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), and went on to set up a clinic in Cambodia made of repurposed shipping containers. Work is under way to expand it to include a maternal hospital.

HBB also runs a health screening programme for the homeless in the Chow Kit area, Kuala Lumpur.

Little had he known however, his efforts would propel him to international renown on Sept 19, when he was among 17 people given recognition by the UN as Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals during a ceremony at the UN headquarters in New York. They were selected from a pool of 18,000 nominees from all around the world.

His efforts also earned a special mention during Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s address to the UN General Assembly that month, and during Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s budget speech on Oct 21.

Lutfi - who had just turned 29-years-old last week - is a medical officer at the government’s Institute of Health Systems Research’s (IHSR) health economics department since April.

He shared his story during an Oct 4 interview with Malaysiakini in Kuala Lumpur:

MOST OF LIFE I HAVE BEEN LIVING AS A ‘SON OF A DOCTOR’ - always seeing my father (an ear-nose-throat surgeon and academician) going on-call, always seeing my mother (a pharmacist) with all the medications and drugs.

That’s how I grew up, seeing nothing more than to be a doctor.

Honestly, now I’ve discovered that my interest is more towards economics, social economics, so that’s what I am growing to specialise in the field of public health.

I am interested in treating patients, but I believe that treating the system is much more interesting for me, and treating the whole community.

I AM IN THE (IHSR) HEALTH ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT. In health economics, we study about the economics of health - how can we finance health, how we can make it sustainable.

For example, under the current system where you pay RM1 for all your medication and you can see a specialist for RM5. It is one of the best in the world actually, but we study how can we maintain that or how can we fund that.So basically, it is about researching on health systems and advising the government how to proceed with the future of healthcare.

I SPENT MY FIRST THREE YEARS (OF MEDICAL SCHOOL) IN BANDUNG, INDONESIA - Padjadjaran University in Bandung - and the following three years in UKM. It was my first year in Bandung that was the first time I managed to get out of Kuala Lumpur and live among extreme poverty in Indonesia.

When I lived among the poor, I realised that in Indonesia, I like their system because although as a country, their economy is not that good, but they still try and strive to give treatment to the rural and to the poor people.

It was in Indonesia, actually, that I discovered this field of public health, where... all these things lah, like how you finance the poor, how you treat the whole community by creating a system that works, by community empowerment.

All these things got me interested in the field of public health.

Accident, Jobless & Homeless

The streets of downtown Kuala Lumpur are home to many. They depend on soup kitchens and services provided by NGOs and philanthropists to survive.

This is a story of one man, served by the Teddy Mobile Clinic which provides health services to the homeless and urban poor every Wednesday. Once a family man, he shares how a bus accident changed his life forever. He requested that his face is not shown, as his family does not know that he is homeless.

“The bus accident changed my life. I was a bus driver for Plusliner, but after the crash, I lost my job and my ability to do work and am now living on the streets. The accident happened at Machap, Malacca. The tyre exploded and the bus crashed into the telephone pole and divider.

The air system also failed, and a bus relies on the air system for its brakes and to open the doors - without it I couldn’t do anything. As we crashed, the cars at the back also hit us. The front mirror and side view mirror cut my face, my lips, and my tongue. My backbone was also injured. And two passengers died that night as well.

That was when I realised I cannot work any more.

The thing is, it’s hard to have a family when you cannot work and have no income. My wife works at a prison at Seremban and her pay is not enough for the family, what more I am just a bus driver who now is out of work. So I was forced to leave home, and I made that decision.

Within the first six months, I couldn’t do much jobs with my condition so I took up security guard jobs. Last time as a bus driver I would get RM1,800 but as a guard, it’s terrible, it’s only RM700-RM800 a month. The rent for a room is already easily RM400 - the money simply isn’t enough.

Not long after, my wife asked her sister to meet me and get the divorce papers signed. Her sister shouldn’t have become involved, but that’s how my wife wanted to communicate, she was asking for a divorce. So it happened and the process was automatic.

The worst part about jobs now is that you work three or four months but in the end they don’t pay the salary. And we can’t protect ourselves - it’s up to them if they want or don’t want to pay. 

It’s not that I don't want to work, there is just no chance to work. I would do any odd jobs for people - paint for them, wash clothes or clean a stall - and I’m okay, especially if accommodation is provided. I’m now 58 years old, I’m not young any more. Old people can’t do as much as young people.

When I was younger at 30, I wasn’t like this. I was busy looking for money, I bought a house, a car... but now I gave it all to my children, and I decided I should just not be a burden and leave (home).

I know that I’m old but I don’t want to be depending or asking people or my family and sons for help, I have to stand on my own.And my sons... you know lah, they are closer to their mothers than their dads.

During Ramadan I still fast, and I break my fast at the mosque and I’m thankful there’s food but it’s so little, and it's the only thing I eat for the day. Sahur (pre-dawn meal) was harder as there’s not much food going around.I’m already old, it’s hard to find jobs and be paid after doing it and I don’t want to be a burden to my family.

I will be happy if I could have a job where there’s an accommodation, and a place to stay even if it pays RM 1,000. But for now, for now I am on the streets.”