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Gazing out from his office window one December afternoon, Tan Kin Lian, Chief Executive Officer of NTUC Income (INCOME), reflected on the key events that had taken place at the closing of the 20th century - the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and 1998, regional political upheavals, and the impending Monetary Authority of Singapore''s (MAS) plans to liberalise the financial sector including the insurance industry. The co- operative had come out of the crisis relatively unscathed. INCOME''s free reserves and investment gains of S$544 million at the end of 1996 had cushioned the co-operative against a paper loss of S$360 million in investments resulting from the financial meltdown. To assist policyholders who were suffering from financial hardship due to the crisis, INCOME undertook several measures such as a temporary suspension of premium payments for up to two years, interest rate reductions on policy and mortgage loans, and reductions in monthly mortgage payments for up to three years. Recently, INCOME had celebrated its 30th anniversary. It was an important event for the co-operative as marked by the attendance of the Prime Minister of Singapore. INCOME had enjoyed years of tremendous growth. ''What would the next thirty years hold?'' CEO Tan wondered. The teaching note was written by W Beng Geok.