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SINGAPORE: It's that time of the year where you spot random people toting giant plush toys on the MRT. That's right, the Prudential Marina Bay Carnival is back in town, offering more than the chance to win an over-sized toy unicorn, a rainbow lion or a pug with doe eyes. The carnival - touted as Singapore's biggest - opened its doors to the public on Saturday (Dec 22) with 22 rides, three of them new. Notably, prices for most rides have been lowered this year, with the exception of that for the Mach 5 which is priced at 14 tokens. And if you’re worried about long lines, here's a quick cheat sheet on what's worth the wait. 1. Freak Out/Spring Break A new addition to the carnival, this ride starts off easy, but at full throttle, it’s a heart-stopping thrill. Not knowing which or what way you’ll be spinning, while plunging down face-forward definitely adds to the exhilaration. Just remember to keep your game face on at all times – the ride's seating arrangement allows full view of your fellow riders and their scream faces. 2. Wave Swinger This new ride is as family friendly as they come. It was flown in from Italy for the first time to Southeast Asia and features mural panels of iconic Singapore landmarks such as Gardens by the Bay and Marina Bay Sands. But be warned, it quickens to an exciting spin after a couple of slow and steady beginning rounds. Perfect reason for dating couples to cling on to each other. 3. Jumper Jumper An experience that would make 90s hip-hop duo Kris Kross so proud, this turned out to be the most unexpected ride of the lot. Incredibly harmless to start before descending into a series of stomach-churning twists, turns and giant hops. Imagine jumping and spinning around on an office chair. 4. The Star Flyer No visit to the carnival is complete without an Insta-friendly shot of the neon-lit Star Flyer which rises almost poetically amongst the steely backdrop of CBD buildings. It moves at a slower pace than the Wave Swinger. 5. Mach 5 Still the most expensive ride in the carnival at 14 tokens, but definitely worth going on for a stomach-dropping spin. Hop on the impressive 55m-tall monster mechanical arm for a great view of Singapore at its peak, before plunging down at 130 kmh and finishing off with 360-degree flips. Pro-tip: Don’t gorge at the food stands before you get on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Llhmk5_tF8I 6. S$3 million worth of carnival prizes Tossing a ring on a bottle, flinging a hoop over a Carebear or knocking a trio of milk jugs down with a ball – it all sounds easy but let's just say the games look deceptively simple. They actually require some strategy, skill and a whole lot of luck. If you do manage to score a giant unicorn or banana plushie, a Yoda doll or a sequinned doughnut – remember to hoist it on your shoulders so everyone knows you're a champion. There's also a grand lucky draw with a S$10,000 prize. 7. Food, glorious food The food on offer isn't your usual carnival fare of hot dogs, candy floss and popcorn. You can get a bucket of meatballs (chicken or beef) from Sofnade heaped on twister fries and potato mash topped with cheese sauce and cranberry (S$12) or a bucket of milk tea or lemonade (S$7). There's also an assortment of churros flavours – ondeh ondeh, Oreo, chilli crab, salted egg from Loco Loco (S$6 a cup). For those who need a bigger carb-hit, SingaIndo serves up various Indomie dishes including Aburi shrimp mentaiko, a super-spicy sambal gila, Thai basil and cheesy cheese. The carnival will be open from 4pm to 11pm daily save Jan 18, Jan 24 and Feb 15, 2019 and runs all the way till Mar 24. It is just a stone's throw away from Bayfront MRT station.

SINGAPORE: Refunds have been made to the Prudential policyholders affected by erroneous deductions, the insurer's payment bank Standard Chartered Bank Singapore said on Friday (May 25). “We acted immediately and contacted all the respective banks servicing the impacted Prudential policyholders to reverse the transactions," the bank said. "As of 1.15pm this afternoon, we have been informed by all the respective banks that all inaccurately deducted amounts have been refunded to the policyholders.” A Prudential spokesperson later confirmed that all refunds have been completed, adding that customer policies were "not affected in any way". On Thursday, some Prudential policyholders encountered erroneous deductions from their bank accounts, with several telling Channel NewsAsia that they had seen deductions 100 times their premium amounts. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) confirmed the incident, adding that it was "not a cyber attack but an operational lapse". MAS also said that it had directed Prudential and its payment bank, Standard Chartered Bank Singapore, to return the funds without delay, to keep customers updated and to investigate the root cause of the incident.

How many of you guys here receive sales calls on a continual basis from Pudential and its agents? They are damn thick skinned, thick in the skull and just god damned irritating. I get as many as 3 calls PER DAY and its pissing me off real bad. If any Prudential agents happen to read this, well bugger off. The world can do without you f--kers giving yourselves a fanciful title of FINANCIAL ADVISOR/CONSULTANT. What makes you think you're qualified? Just because you passed some mickey mouse papers? Stop ruining the name of finance. Sorry, just wanna vent some anger here. If this isn't appropriate please take it down.

be warned, those who are using this card! although the prudential website says that annual fee will be waived if you spend $6k and above per year, they will deduct your stnd$ to offset your annual fee!!! this happened to me. i actually spend $15k on this card in the past year. not difficult since insurance premium is also inclusive. so i had some pts in the card. and they just deducted when the time came to pay annual fee! called up the hotline and the stupid CSR just keeping repeating her standard answer that becoz i have unused stnd$, they will offset that against the annual fee. i ask her if i spend $6k in the past yr? she said yes. BUT... becoz blah blah blah... pissed off.. ask for CEO email. refuse to give. ask to speak to manager. finally he agreed to reinstate my card and points. also said he will liaise with prudential to change the wording on their website. really waste time. guys, if u using this card, make sure you note when the pts expire and redeem them b4 it gets offset against your annual fee. and the best part is - i asked the manager why no one complain b4... he said.. he work there past 3 yrs... no such thing happen. he din even realise the website liddat say. wah.

By Juan Lagorio and Bill Rigby NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prudential Financial Inc is the latest major insurer to warn its quarterly profits would miss forecasts, as the shares of rivals were pummeled on concern they would need to raise capital. The second-largest U.S. life insurer said on Thursday that third-quarter profit would be cut sharply by losses on poorly performing annuity and investment products and a charge for a legal settlement. That followed recent profit warnings at U.S. life and property insurer Hartford Financial Services Group Inc and MetLife Inc, the largest life insurer in the United States. The latter sold new shares at a discount on Wednesday to bolster its capital, raising $2 billion, while Hartford earlier this week received a $2.5 billion capital injection from Allianz SE, Europe's biggest insurer. "Insurers made big investments in mortgage-related securities and are also big holders of stocks and bonds in financial firms that have been wiped out or badly damaged by the credit crisis, such as Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual, said Alan Rambaldini, a life insurance analyst at investment research firm Morningstar. "On top of that, bigger life insurers like Prudential get fees on the size of stock investments behind annuity products they sell to customers, which will drop sharply as the broader market plummets," he said. 'TRADING ON FEAR' Among other life insurers, Lincoln National Corp, fell 35 percent to $18.31, Principal Financial Group Inc lost 27 percent to $15.79 a share and Unum Group fell 30 percent to $14.77. Life insurance, as measured by the sectoral S&P Life & Health Insurance index, was down 17 percent, making it the second-worst performing sector after automakers. Even beyond life, XL Capital Inc, a large Bermuda-based reinsurer, fell 54 percent to $4.01. "The group (insurers) are trading on fear right now," said Bret Howlett, Standard & Poor's life insurance analyst. "A lot of investors are worried about capital positions in this unfavorable operating environment. "People are worried about whether these companies are going to need to raise additional capital. In this environment, it's going to be difficult to raise that capital." American International Group Inc shares fell 25 percent to $2.39, one day after the company said it would get more liquidity from the government. AIG, once the world's largest insurer, got an $85 billion loan from the government three weeks ago when it was on the brink of collapse. Under the new plan, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York will take up to $37.8 billion in investment-grade, fixed-income securities from AIG in exchange for cash. "The government has effectively provided them support for $110 billion. I think they have exhausted that avenue and so I think as they move forward their options have diminished," said Keith Wirtz, president and chief investment officer of Fifth Third Asset Management. UNDER PRESSURE Citing market volatility and extraordinary events affecting financial markets, Prudential has suspended all purchases of its own stock. It said it has liquidity to meet requirements at the parent company and at all operating subsidiaries and, unless it enters into any strategic deals, its need to access the capital markets before the end of the year would be modest. "We are comfortable with our risk profile and believe that we are in a strong position to manage through the current environment," said Prudential Chief Executive John Strangfeld, in a statement. Prudential did not say when it would report third-quarter earnings. Insurers have been under pressure to keep solid capital positions to maintain their ratings after their investments lost value as financial markets sank in recent weeks. Keeping high ratings is essential for insurers because lower ratings can mean higher costs and, in some cases, even a loss of business. (Editing by Toni Reinhold and Andre Grenon)