Singapore, 11 December 2019 – CaregiverAsia Pte Ltd, an online aggregator of trusted on-demand health and caregiving services and Great Eastern, a market leader and a well-established trusted insurance brand in Singapore and Malaysia, have partnered to offer a first-in-market program to ensure that children with special needs are able to continue with their therapy for up to 15 years with accompanying care services such as medical escorting and childminding should something happen to their parents or guardians.
Senior Minister of State at the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and Ministry of Communications and Information, Sim Ann said: “While many important social services are publicly funded, there are also meaningful opportunities for corporates to contribute to social good. This can be done not only through outright donations in cash and in kind, but also through offering services at low-bono rates. Today, three organisations from the private sector and people sector have come together to do something for families of children with special needs. This collaboration embodies the spirit of SGTogether and SGCares. I hope to see more corporates stepping forward to forge similar partnerships with the people sector, bringing us towards a more inclusive and compassionate society”.
“Singapore has more than 30,000 students with special needs and it is proven that early intervention and continued long term therapy is key to ensuring a life that is healthy and happy,” said Ms Yeo Wan Ling, CEO, Caregiver Asia; “There is, however, a market gap in products that ensure that financial safety nets are available for children to continue with their therapy when their families go into financial duress. As such, we are so pleased, to partner with Great Eastern and Extra•Ordinary People to provide this ground-up enterprise-led initiative to launch the Extraordinary Care Plan, which will benefit thousands of families”.
The Extraordinary Care Program (EOCP) seeks to support children with continued long-term therapy and professional care services through an insurance pay-out of SGD150,000 in the event of accidental death or permanent disability of the parent or guardian. This pay-out will ensure that the child receives regular therapy and care services for up to 15 years. Additionally, the EOCP will provide families with immediate access to complimentary hours of care services and comprehensive therapy services at highly subsidised rates1.
Said Mr Ryan Cheong, Managing Director for Digital for Business at Great Eastern; “We are thrilled to be part of this partnership where we create products that protect our community in meaningful and relevant ways. We believe that we should continue to look towards contributing to an inclusive society. The launch of the EOCP is a small step in this direction.”
The EOCP will launch with Extra•Ordinary People as its inaugural therapy partner. A Singapore-based charity, Extra•Ordinary People provides child-centric and multi-disciplinary therapy services for special needs persons through their one-stop integrated therapy centres in Joo Chiat Place and Beach Road. The program is open to all integrated therapy service providers, and hopes to see more providers come forward with their services in future. Mr Wee Boo Kuan, Co-Founder of Extra•Ordinary People, shared; “This is a much needed initiative. Therapy services are crucial in the continued wellness for persons with special needs, and unfortunately, this is also one of the first things to go when families face financial difficulties. The financial pay-out, together with the weekly medical escorting services that come along with it, will ensure that families have both the financial means and the peace of mind to make sure that their children continue with their therapy”.
In addition to securing the means to long term therapy, the EOCP is also designed to assist parents in safe escorting of their children to the therapy sessions by means of the accompaniment of trained Caregivers skilled in working with special needs children. In preparation of the increase of demand for such Caregivers, CaregiverAsia will augment its pool of freelance Caregivers by working closely with the South West Community Development Council (CDC) on the Caregiving @ South West programme. “Caring for special needs persons require special skillsets and training,” said Mayor of South West District, Low Yen Ling, “Through this effort, we hope to expand the resources and care options for parents with children with special needs to give them greater support and peace of mind. This is part of growing our Caregiving @ South West programme, which will also widen the careers of freelance caregivers as they up-skill their knowledge to include care for children with special needs.” Underscoring the merits of the EOCP, Mayor Low added, “This programme is an example of how the private sector can work closely with the community to identify win-win solutions and meet relevant needs together.”
The Launch will see some 50 enterprises2 and individuals3 contributing more than 300 of the EOCP to be given to networks of families with children with special needs. Said Ms Lynn Chow, Executive Director of Nursing Home Charis Manor and CEO of healthcare education institute CSM Academy International, “When we were approached to pledge our support for the EOCP, I immediately agreed to it, as it is doing our part as a Singapore enterprise to show that we stand behind the Special Needs community and we will continue to do our part to support inclusiveness”.
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About Caregiver Asia Pte Ltd
CaregiverAsia is an online aggregator of health and caregiving services. Through its award winning platform, CaregiverAsia has created an online marketplace leveraging on a shared economy of Careseekers and Caregivers. Careseekers can access on-time, trusted and transparent home care services; whilst freelance Caregivers and healthcare professionals can practice independently with full control of their schedules and terms of services.
In Singapore, CaregiverAsia works with more than 10,000 freelancers providing services from home nursing, to therapy services, baby-sitting, companionship and home cleaning. CaregiverAsia also specialises in healthcare recruitment and the placement of healthcare professionals and locums into leading healthcare institutions.
Headquartered in Singapore, CaregiverAsia has a growing presence in Malaysia and the USA. CaregiverAsia is also a member of The Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise (raiSE). For more information, please visit https://www.caregiverasia.com and https://thecaregivergroup.com.
About Great Eastern
A market leader and a well-established trusted brand in Singapore and Malaysia, Great Eastern was founded in 1908. With S$85.0 billion in assets and over 4 million policyholders, it has three successful distribution channels – a tied agency force, bancassurance, and a financial advisory firm, Great Eastern Financial Advisers. The Group also operates in Indonesia and Brunei and has a presence in China as well as a representative office in Myanmar.
It was named Life Insurance Company of the Year at the Asia Insurance Industry Awards in 2011 and 2013 by Asia Insurance Review. The Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Limited and Great
Eastern General Limited have been assigned the financial strength and counterparty credit ratings of “AA-” by Standard and Poor’s since 2010, one of the highest among Asian life insurance companies. Great Eastern’s asset management subsidiary, Lion Global Investors Limited, is one of the largest private sector asset management companies in Southeast Asia.
Great Eastern is a subsidiary of OCBC Bank, the longest established Singapore bank, formed in 1932 from the merger of three local banks, the oldest of which was founded in 1912. It is now the second largest financial services group in Southeast Asia by assets and one of the world’s most highly-rated banks, with an Aa1 rating from Moody’s. Recognised for its financial strength and stability, OCBC Bank is consistently ranked among the World’s Top 50 Safest Banks by Global Finance and has been named Best Managed Bank in Singapore by The Asian Banker.
OCBC Bank’s key markets are Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Greater China. It has about 560 branches and representative offices in 19 countries and regions. These include over 290 branches and offices in Indonesia under subsidiary Bank OCBC NISP, and over 90 branches and offices in Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR under OCBC Wing Hang.
CaregiverAsia media contact:
Ms Carolyn Ong
Director, Marketing
Tel: (65) 6258 6683 / (65) 9689 2311
Email: carolyn@caregiverasia.com
Great Eastern media contact:
Ms Crystal Chan
AVP, Group Corporate Communications
Tel: (Tel: (65) 6248 2056 / (65) 9646 6361
Email: crystalchanh@greateasternlife.com