Sunday May 12, 2013

Healthy ties that bind

By HARIATI AZIZAN
sunday@thestar.com.my

Shared passion: Beh and his sons (from left) Garvy, Chevy and Joevy in a classic pose at the polo club field in Tambun.

Playing and working together can keep families happy together.

TEAMMATE and workmate that is how BP Healthcare Group executive director Chevy Beh sees his father Datuk Beh Chun Chuan.

Just like the familiar adage, “Families that play together, stay together,” Chevy, 27, and his 57-year-old father are bound closely together by their love of one sport: polo.

“Every week we will make the effort to get together as a family and play polo together. When we are not playing, we will be talking about polo: how we played, who played well and about the horses,” says Chevy, who travels home to Ipoh from Kuala Lumpur every weekend to train at his family's BP Polo Club.

And since he joined the family business some three years ago, their bond has grown even closer, adds Chevy.

“Our family discussions now are a hybrid mix of work and polo,” he says with a laugh.

Still, Chevy considers it lucky that he and his siblings sister Lovy and two younger brothers Joevy and Garvy share a common interest in polo and healthcare with his father.

“It is a good family bonding activity and, in a way, playing polo is like running a business. It is a team effort and you have to ensure that everyone in your team, including the horses, is healthy and fit. You have to make sure that they are exercising right and eating right.

“Polo also has many transferable skills that can be applied in business teamwork, fitness, performing at your peak at the critical times (in the matches).

“Ultimately, you have to make sure that the players can play together to win. You need to divide the tasks according to each player's skills and talents, and work as a team. It's not like one player can play solo and win.”

Chevy, who learned how to play polo from his father when he was seven, is ranked in the top three polo players in the country, along with his brothers. They have won many international championships and awards over the years.

Unfortunately, with the siblings' growing responsibility at work and youngest brother Garvy furthering his studies in the United States, polo has become more of a hobby to the Behs.

“Initially, we were thinking that upon graduation we would have more time to play but now all of us are getting more and more involved in business so we have less time to play,” Chevy shares wistfully.

The lack of competition aside, Chevy still keeps to his strict fitness regime, a habit that his father has instilled in him and his siblings.

“My father is a very disciplined individual. He wakes up early to go riding before going to the office. After work in the evening, he will train and play polo. That has been his routine for the last 18 years.

“When I was a teen, I was curious and wanted to check out the night life. All my father said to me was You can stay out as late as you want, but you have to be on a horse at seven in the morning.'”

Not surprisingly, Chevy now prefers to have an early night so that he can wake up early in the morning to exercise.

“Even when I was studying overseas and could not go riding, I still exercised every morning to keep fit, on top of eating right and getting enough sleep. If you are healthy you can focus well and get the job done,” he adds.

It is his father's value of balancing work and personal life that is inspiring him, Chevy says.

“As a kampung boy from Bagan Serai, my father worked very hard until he built this successful business but I feel he still managed to strike a good balance as a father and businessman.

“Even though he was often busy when I was younger, he still managed to make time for us and have a good family life.”

His father got into polo because he was worried about his health, Chevy says.

“He was a workaholic. One day, his client told him that he looked unhealthy and invited him to play polo with him.”

Beh agrees, saying he took up polo because he wanted to stay healthy and be there for his loved ones.

“When I started my career, the most important thing to me was to serve the company and customers,” says Beh.

It was only after he founded BP Healthcare, which grew steadily with a lot of hard work, that Beh managed to spend more time with his family.

“Luckily, since I was self-employed, I was able to bring them along to the workplace. I also made sure that I was available whenever my family needed me. And, of course, enjoying a common team sport made us grow closer,” he says, adding that this has not changed over the years.

An advantage of being his own boss, he says, is that he was able to balance the demands between his career and family further by exercising priority appropriately and formulating right time management.

“I have also structured it such that all key leaders are running the operations, so that I don't have to be involved in the daily routine operation. My main job is making decisions and approvals. This allows me to spend more time for healthy activities and sport, as well as with my family.”

Despite his success, Beh still holds on to the values that have been passed on from generation to generation in his family.

“I grew up only exposed to simple basic needs provided by my humble parents. While my children are enjoying more than basic needs now, I still try to instil in them the same values that have been instilled in me, specifically Integrity', Honesty' and Simplicity'.

“Family basic values are important and are evergreen,” he notes.

Fortunately, these are values that are also shared by his wife and business partner Datin Poh Lay See.

Poh, whose late father Poh Chee Meng was one of the founding members of IGB Corporation Bhd, one of Perak's major corporations, also believes in simplicity, integrity, honesty and good health.

“My grandfather from my mum's side passed away last year but he used to walk to work every day. He did it for around 40 years, even after he became successful,” Chevy recalls fondly, adding that the values espoused by his father have also become his own principles in life.

“I believe that at the end of the day, moderation and discipline is the key. Sometimes I think I am now more disciplined than my father. He even complained to my mother once that I am too controlling, and often asks me, Who is the father here? You or me?'” he jokes.

Chevy vows to pass on the same values he has learnt from his parents to his own children in the future.

All parents want their children to be better than them, he opines, but as more and more of the younger generation travel and study overseas in an increasingly borderless world, they need family values to help anchor them and give them a strong sense of identity.

Like his father, his mother is also a “health freak”, says Chevy.

“My mother is more health-conscious and disciplined than us, I think. They have instilled this in us to always keep healthy and fit.”

It is no surprise then that BP Healthcare Group has grown into a leader in the country's healthcare industry, serving more than 35 million customers over the last 30 years.

“Without health, there is no fire to do anything. Good health prepares me to accept more challenges in life,” attests Beh.

We often take our health for granted and delay in starting a health regime, be it going for a workout in the gym or maintaining a healthy diet.

Similarly in getting a health protection plan, most people tend to delay and postpone the process when they are at a healthy state and only realise the importance of a health protection plan when they have experienced some health issue or illness.

When that happens, it may be too late as rising medical and hospitalisation cost can cause a major dent in their life savings. By having a comprehensive health protection plan, one can manage the unknown and uncertain risks.

Lamenting Malaysians' low awareness in the importance of investing in health protection, Chevy says, “It's all a mindset. If you don't listen to your body and take preventive measures, you will end up making costly mistakes.”

Other than keeping a strict health regime, Beh says he also advises his children to have regular medical health screenings to ensure their state of health.

Crucially, he says, it is important to take care of your health for your loved ones.

“Of course your loved one should enjoy similar good health so that everyone can share happiness together. Having a lame or mobility-restricted loved one can badly affect all at home. This is why I strongly believe that good health is the foundation to wealth and happiness.”

Chevy agrees that it is important for everyone to take care of their health for their loved ones so that “you are always there for them and that they are always there for you. Even in families that are close-knit, it is sad if you are not able to be there physically for them.”

As he points out, the global trend is moving from diagnostic treatment to preventive healthcare.

“That is why it is important to do a screening every year as a minimum.

“Many people forget their health in their pursuit of wealth, but how can you make more wealth if you don't have health?”

It is a situation where one cannot exist without the other. Therefore, one has to find a balance of both to make life great. Rewarding yourself on a job well done is important to acknowledge the achievements and accomplishments to move forward with life's goals and being there for their loved ones.

“It is not worth having a lot if you are not healthy enough to enjoy life, if you don't have a healthy lifestyle,” Chevy notes.

Interestingly, in line with the aspirations of many to stay healthy for their loved ones, comprehensive health plans that reward their customers as they stay healthy have been introduced in the market.

This revolutionary step in health insurance recognises people's effort to stay healthy and rewards them on two levels, firstly by reducing the cost of insurance they pay and secondly, by enhancing the annual coverage they enjoy every three years. The reduction in the cost of insurance, which takes place annually, can scale up to as high as 25% while the triennial increase in the annual coverage will be at a quantum of 10%.

After all, a valuable family value can only be passed on only if one stays healthy and is able to nurture the next generations.

Ultimately, you need to take as much protection and preventive measures as you can to guarantee your health as you are irreplaceable to your loved ones.

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Sunday May 12, 2013

Healthy ties that bind

By HARIATI AZIZAN sunday@thestar.com.my

By HARIATI AZIZAN
sunday@thestar.com.my