She's made her first million at just age 26

Leong Chan Teik
982 words
28 January 2007
Straits TimesEnglish
(c) 2007 Singapore Press Holdings Limited

She earned over $200k in her first year as insurance adviser and is her own boss now. When Ms Merry Riana stepped into a car showroom in Ubi three years ago, she was just 24 but had her eyes set on her first car - a black Mercedes-Benz E200 costing $180,000. The car salesman checked her income documents to ensure she qualified for a loan. She certainly did: In the previous year, her first year of work after graduating from university, she earned more than $200,000 as an insurance adviser - a never-say-die one who usually worked seven days a week. When she bought the car, she had just been promoted to the post of manager, training and overseeing six advisers. She subsequently set up her own insurance firm - Merry Riana Organization - in Anson Road and now has more than 40 advisers and support staff. Last month, she received an Outstanding Young Alumni award from her alma mater, Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

'It's because of my initial difficulties that I have worked very hard to succeed.'

She says over tea in her office. She has found marital bliss, too. Her husband, Mr Alva Tjenderasa, 26, is a fellow Indonesian who helps her with her business.


Q : What was the starting point in your journey to success?
A : My father had a small engineering business and earned about $1,000 a month. My mother was a housewife. They had no plans to send me to Singapore for studies as it would be too costly. However, they changed their minds during the 1998 anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia as they feared for my safety. I came to Singapore on my own with $1,000 from my father. I took up a DBS study loan and a tuition-fee loan, which helped me with living expenses.


Q : Moneywise, how did you live during your undergraduate days?
A : Usually every Sunday after church, I'd go to the ATM to withdraw $10. That would last me until the next Sunday. My Indonesian friends and I would go back to our NTU hostel after church. Or we would go to the supermarket to buy cheap oranges, apples and loaves of bread, and then go back to the hostel.


Q : You studied engineering. You later went into sales because that was more rewarding financially?
A : I knew that as a fresh honours graduate, I would earn $2,500 a month, which would become $2,000 after CPF deduction. After deducting $1,000 for living expenses, including apartment rental, and $500 for my parents, I would have only $500 left. It would take me 10 years to repay my study loans, including 4 per cent a year interest. By then, I would be 32 years old with no savings, no car and no house. That's why I decided to spend another six months studying to qualify to become an insurance adviser while waiting for my Singapore permanent resident status.


Q : When did you repay your loans?
A : About six months after I started working. I went to the DBS Bank branch in Choa Chu Kang and handed over $40,000 to settle the entire debt. I gave cold, hard cash as I did not have a cheque book. It felt good calling my parents to tell them: 'You don't have to worry about the debt any more.'


Q : Did you have rich Indonesian clients to boost your sales right away?
A : No tycoons - most clients were average Singaporeans. I sold policies covering 265 lives - the highest number of new clients for that year among all advisers of the insurance company I represented.


Q : You have to tell me the secrets of successful selling.
A : I worked 14 hours a day, seven days a week. I approached strangers at several places such as Raffles Place and outside the Tiong Bahru shopping centre, and those waiting for buses at City Hall. I always had a smile for people. I would ask if they could spare a few minutes talking about their insurance needs. We would exchange telephone numbers so I could make an appointment to see them. There were rejections, of course. I wasn't used to that initially. But I told myself, the person rejected the idea of insurance, not me as a person.


Q : Have you made your first million?
A : Yes. I can live comfortably but I don't spend money frivolously.


Q : Why buy a Mercedes then?
A : When I moved into management, I started recruiting advisers. How could I convince them to join me if I didn't even own a car? Young people's perception is like that.


Q : And your home is ...
A : A four-room HDB flat in Tanjong Pagar costing about $300,000. My husband and I paid $100,000 cash and took a loan for the rest. The flat is mainly a place for us to sleep. Most of our time is spent in the office - until 10pm or 11pm every day.


Q : How do you invest your money?
A : A lot of it is in my business - to pay for office space, infrastructure and support staff. I have whole-life insurance policies and unit trusts. In Jakarta, my husband and I have booked a new two-storey terrace house.



Thrifty student
'Usually every Sunday after church, I'd go to the ATM to withdraw $10. That would last me until the next Sunday.'
Ms Riana, on her undergraduate days.


Tenacious work attitude
'I worked 14 hours a day, seven days a week. I approached strangers at several places such as Raffles Place and outside the Tiong Bahru shopping centre, and those waiting for buses at City Hall.'
Ms Riana, on the secret of successful selling.