February 15, 06:20 PM 
514 Chai Chee Lane 03-16, Singapore 469029 The Internet went up in arms when they found out Mediacorp artiste Rebecca Lim wasn't REALLY retiring from showbiz. But instead was endorsing NTUC Income's retirement planning products.
Lim did say she was "sorry for any misunderstanding" but added she would not have done things any differently.
NTUC Income, in a Facebook post, said that "We did not set out to mislead through Rebecca's 'retiring' announcement. Instead, we hoped to draw attention to the importance of securing one's financial future."
NTUC Income regrets upsetting people
NTUC Income's chief marketing officer Marcus Chew told The Straits Times, "We did not set out to mislead anyone. We regret upsetting anyone over the weekend. Our intention for the post was really to draw attention to retirement planning, and retiring as a journey."
'Retiring' was used to emphasise retirement is a journey.
ST reported NTUC Income's head of strategic communications Shannen Fong saying, "We wanted to introduce the concept of retiring as a journey. Therefore that word was used. If you notice, we didn't say 'retiring' to what. It was very generic ... The real intention was to draw attention, and we were hoping for the opportunity like in this instance to be able to articulate what was the real concept of 'retiring'." (emphasis ours)
You can watch NTUC Income making these statements from this Channel 8 News clip:
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Problematic explanation
Before we explain why we think this explanation is problematic, here's what Lim said about her 'retiring' that started this whole brouhaha:
She has deleted the caption that said she was 'retiring' while leaving the post with a photograph up.
According to ST, the wording of Lim's post was a collaboration between NTUC Income and Lim.
It is tough to think of retiring as a journey if you read Lim's statement even after NTUC Income's explanation.
There is very little wriggle room for the imagination when Lim says something like "Yes, I am retiring".
According to the Oxford dictionary, retire or retiring means to "leave one’s job and cease to work, typically on reaching the normal age for leaving service".
Leaving one's job (as an actress) and not work at Mediacorp anymore - that will probably be the interpretation by most Singaporeans.
How else should Singaporeans interpret this statement? There was no immediate clarification from Lim nor NTUC Income when that statement was released and no immediate response after the media reported on it.
In fact, Lim and NTUC Income did not provide clarifications even after being contacted by the media. The Straits Times journalist noted that he "tried in vain to contact her and her manager on Friday to clarify the post".
And if the intention was not to mislead but to re-frame retirement as a journey, Lim's initial statement should already have talked about retirement as a journey. As a matter of fact, "retirement as a journey" was exactly the message NTUC Income conveyed in its video with Lim - something they should have done in the first place.
The statement is what it is - a teaser (a very good one judging by the amount of media buzz it generated) which made people think a young rising starlet was indeed calling it quits with the industry.
And when it turned out Lim was not really retiring, is there any wonder why people feel the statement was meant to mislead?
Semantics?
To drive home the point, here's how incredulous Lim's statement sounds if one word was changed. Let's see how you would feel after reading this:
Hi everyone ✨ I've decided to do something that will change my life. I have been thinking about it for a while now as I know it has to be done. Yes, I am dying. I know you may have questions for me and I will answer them real soon. Meanwhile, be happy for me. ❤
Everyone is on a journey to their own death, just like how everyone is on a journey towards retirement (following NTUC Income's logic for 'retiring'), but how would regular people react if someone posted a statement to say that they are dying and will answer questions "real soon".
What you intend to communicate, regardless of good intentions you have, will be interpreted/perceived by others on their own terms.
Not easy to market retirement planning, but that's no excuse
Granted, insurance and retirement planning is not an attractive topic to talk about and insurance agents are usually avoided on the streets when they ask to do 'surveys'.
Two words that kept cropping up in NTUC Income's subsequent explanations - NTUC Income's Facebook post, Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Strategic Communications - are not 'retiring', 'retirement planning', 'financial future' but 'draw attention'.
But to draw attention and get people to talk about insurance and retirement planning at the expense of their trust is definitely not the way to go.
A proper apology is needed to win back trust, not a statement that says NTUC Income regrets that it upset Singaporeans.
Top image is a screengrab from NTUC's video with Rebecca Lim.
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