Thousands of AIA policyholders had a harrowing week. Thinking of cutting their losses, many made the agonising decision to terminate their policies. More than 2,000 policies have been terminated. There are 2.6 million AIA policies here.

Businesswoman Sharon Lee, 49, surrendered her investment-linked policy on Friday. The decision cost her $4,000. 'They advised me to transfer my money to other investment funds but I didn't want to do that. I don't trust the company anymore,' she said.

While some have made a U-turn - more than 20 customers had reinstated their policies by last Friday - seven customers who surrendered their policies said they had no plans to do so.

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