This was despite an unprecedented move by the US government to bail out AIA's parent company AIG with a US$85 billion loan.

At noon, the waiting line to get a queue number snaked all the way to the back of the centre. To cater to the swelling crowd, AIA extended its customer services to the ninth floor of AIA Tower building, next to its customer service centre.

One concerned customer was AIA policyholder Ms Karen Tan, 45, who planned to surrender a whole life plan that she has held for 20 years.

'The policy has broken, so I might as well surrender it now. Even with the bailout by the US government, everything is still so uncertain. I'm afraid I won't get anything if AIG collapses,' she said.

Another customer, who declined to be named, said that despite the rescue efforts of AIG, no one knew 'how big the hole is.'

To allay the fears of customers, AIA staff were seen displaying newspaper articles assuring customers that AIA can meet all its obligations, as well as copies of press releases giving the latest updates on AIG.

Still, there were some in the crowd who were unaware that AIG has managed to successfullly secure financial help from the US government.

One AIA customer, who wanted to be known only as Mr Sim, had earlier planned to terminate four endowment policies but decided to re-consider after The Straits Times informed him about the latest action by the US government.

Said Mr Sim, 66: ' I have three more years to go before my policies mature. Now that I'm clearer of what's happening in the US, I will check my cash values now and re-consider my decision to terminate them today.'

For the past 18 years, he has been paying total premiums of $30,000 annually for his four policies.

By late afternoon, the Singapore office could not handle any more queries and asked hundreds of customers to come back on Thursday.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore on Tuesday night said AIA has sufficient assets in its insurance funds to meet its liabilities. It also urged customers not to terminate their policies hastily as they may stand to lose cover and suffer losses. -- Additional information from AFP