SEEING LIFE DIFFERENTLY BY SYIDA LIZTA AMIRUL IHSAN- NST

Thank you Syida Lizta Amirul Ihsan from the New Straits Times (NST) for the lovely written article at the NST newspaper today on Tuesday, 31st January 2012. For full NST article.. click HERE. Check out the striking Vibram Five Finger shoe.. to buy.. click HERE (sorry ar.. marketing sikit). 

(Click on Picture to enlarge)

 

When life has no insurance.....

I sat stressfully at my office buried in piles of paper work and reviewing the endless schedules of meeting when i received a Skype message from my sister Emi. It was merely a reminder for me to attend a medical check up for an insurance policy. I have been ignoring emails and sms's from Mahadi, CIMB Wealth Advisers whom has been pestering and reminding me to go for medical check-up for a life insurance plan that my mother is subscribing for all her children.

I ignored the various requests for medical check up because i knew what the outcome will be. Since 1997, I had underwent various medical check up for all form of life insurance packages or life insurance related saving plans. I had submitted to almost all the insurance companies and had lost tracked of the many proposals submitted (since 1997) i have tried all... you name it... Prudential, AmAssurance, AIA, public and MNI. I gave up applying and attending to any life insurance agents or the now commercially known as wealth advisers.

In 2005, a childhood friend, Al Jazzura previously from MNI, approached me and proposed a life insurance savings plan...... again I thought, but he was very persistent and insistent. Being an old friend, I could not say no.... especially after his assurances ..... He even brought his boss or was it his partner.. that they will speak to their underwriter to lobby for my policy.

He too failed. The policy was rejected and i gave up completely. Since then, anybody from any life insurance or so called wealth advisers whom contacted me... i would just denote, "Don't waste both yours and my time... unless, you can 'guarantee' that you can get my insurance plan approved!".

All except for a few insurance companies rejected my applications for any life insurance related plans. The few that did not reject, imposed a ridiculous high loading for the premium to pay akin of a more polite way of rejection.

When Emi reminded me of the medical check-up requirement, I practically told her it will be a waste of time and money but since Emi was the donor for my bone marrow transplant and being the darling brother that i am, i indulged in her and did my medical check up.

Two weeks later, i received an email informing me the insurance plan was rejected!

The concept of Life Insurance is NOT to provide an umbrella for rainy days. The concept of life insurance was for the insurance company to simply multiply the money paid by the customer from the premium and pray hard (via the underwriter's calculated risk) that you wont fall sick before they triple your money and make more money for themselves... and pay you back in 40 years.

However, if you do fall sick, to the insurance company's dismay, you will benefit from the coverage.

If you ever have the chance to buy life insurance (or life insurance saving plans), signed up now... before its too late... once you are ME.. although it has been 20 years since i was diagnosed to have Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia and although i am cured, I will NEVER be able to get any life insurance coverage.

NO.. I AM NOT A LIFE INSURANCE AGENT OR A 'FINANCIAL WEALTH ADVISOR'.

I was fortunate to be diagnosed with leukaemia before my 18th birthday, hence, the Malaysia government bear the medical expenses (for leukaemia and the Bone marrow transplant) because my father was a loyal government servant... otherwise, we may have to auction our home, car and utilised all savings just for me to undergo the Bone Marrow transplant. The cost of the Bone marrow transplant operation was closed to RM300,000.00. In 1990, the Bone Marrow Transplant surgery was not available in Malaysia.

Ironically, the majority of Malaysian still do not have any insurance planning for their future. I urge everybody to seriously consider some form of life insurance or savings plan before its too late................



.

Armin, cigarette and cancer...

Why do I smoke? Having survived terminal cancer and being given second lease of life, I should really stopped smoking. It pisses my sister Rose Emini the most. Emi donated her bone marrow when I underwent the Bone Marrow Transplant for Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia more than a decade ago. My dad will say it is all in the mind reminding me that I can do whatever I want to do.. if I want to!

Moreover the fact that I now run marathons and participated in various dualthon and triathlon series, I have all the reasons to stop smoking. My parent, siblings and friends had retired in their many attempts to ask me to quit smoking.

Why I did not stop smoking? When I was an undergraduate at the University of Buckingham, I took an optional dissertation Health Economics paper to research and study Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) of a terminal cancer patient. QALYs is usually used as a measure to calculate the utility gained (quality of life in years) against cost (of treatment). In my case the quality of life that I would have gained, against the cost of the Bone marrow transplant,

I was keen to understand the quality of life that I will have in QALY measurement. In short, given the age of diagnosis, the age I underwent the bone marrow transplant, the year I had the relapse, the post-bone marrow transplant (after relapse) treatment and assuming similar technology and lifestyle, I will have a good quality of life until the age of 45 years old.

My quality of life as a smoker, given the number of year I have been smoking, the amount of cigarette i smoke and lifestyle, will began to deteriorate after the age of 56 years old. Meaning, given my past medical history, my life will end before the cigarette takes effect on my quality of life.

Yaa.. lame excuse but it is a logic :-) Nonetheless, I can participate in various dualthon and triathlon series and can run the full 42km marathon as well as ultra marathon which many non-smokers cannot do. BUT really unless you have had terminal cancer, you should really stop smoking… :-D ;-)

TIME is of the essence...

yes indeed. If there is any pressure in life, it should be 'time'!



i understand the essence & the importance of time the most, having being told that i ONLY had 3 years to live. well.. that was 19 years ago. yes... i had cancer. to be specific i had Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia but now i am okay. Although it had been 19 years since my diagnosis, half of my teenage life was to come to term with it and after going through 'hell'.. it kinda shape up my thinking... that luxury is not measured by money or any tangible items but instead by how much 'time' i have to do things that i want.



Now, 19 years later, i am still in the same predicament. i just simply do not seemed to have enough time to do everything that i want to do. we only have 24 hours in a day.. or 31 days in a months (or worse 28 days in a month in February). that is a fact and nothing can change that, even if we want to extend an extra hour in a day, we simply cannot.



If we lost a thousand ringgit today, we can always work harder tomorrow or save more in the future to recover the lost thousand ringgit. But if we lost an hour today... it is simply gone forever...!!!!!



With 24 hours aday, i had to have enough sleep and wake up as early as 6am to run daily as part of my get healthy 2008 new year resolution (yaa we all have resolution), write and complete my book that i targeted to launch next year, manage my 40 odd fasfik branches, make sure that my proton sales dealer achieve my target sales and most importantly, spend quality time with my love ones. Time is so scarce with so much to do.



It is base on 'time' that my Fasfik concept was developed... or at least one of it. Before i established my Fasfik workshop. I always relate my experience when i sent my previous BMW to the BMW workshop in Glenmarie after making a 9am appointment a week in advance, to be told that the car will be ready in the afternoon and when i came back in the afternoon, i was told that the car was not ready and to come back again later. Similarly with Mercedes. every appointment that was made a week advance will require a whole day without specific time of completion. That is why, i specified all timing for Fasfik principal products and services which is prominently display on a 42" plasma TV located at the entrance of every Fasfik outlets ala flight departure schedule at the airport. the plasma tv display the time the job is expected to began (incase there is a long waiting/que) and the time the job is expected to complete.



It is also because of 'time' that i never took up golf... i only have 24 hours in a day and i have other priorities... the most urgent priority now, is to ensure the success of Fasfik and to complete my book.... my book will provide an insight of the mind of a terminal cancer patient.. for those who wants to understand the predicament of their family members or relatives or friends who are suffering from a terminal cancer or undergoing major operation such as the Bone Marrow transplant that i underwent in 1990. i plan to launch the book next year, the 20th anniversary since i was diagnosed. Proceeds from the book will be channel to a cancer research such as MAKNA or Majlis Kanser Nasional.



But the most important factor about 'time' is how we spend it. If we win a RM1million lottery today, i am sure we all know where to shop and what we can do with the RM1m but here we are... gifted with 24 hours a day but do we really know how to spend our scarce 24 hours aday.



if we spend our time productively at work, we will be well rewarded (in bonus, promotion or incentives), if we spend our time attentively with family, even an hour or less, they will feel much appreciated. if we spend an extra few minutes listening to our customers/family/friends predicament, they will feel better. If we spend a few moment to pray, our prayers will be heard. If we spend a fix quality time daily to exercise, we will be healthier



The truth is, whatever problem anybody is facing.. is all related to time.