With the intention of forming a medical network to help small clinics band together and cut costs, Make Health Connect (MHC) Asia Group created the first web-based medical claims system in Southeast Asia to simplify healthcare with information technology, back in 2000. The man behind the success is Dr Low Lee Yong (Class of 1987).
Today, the CEO and founder of the MHC Asia Group is helping medical students in financial need to achieve their own potential through the establishment of the MHC Bursary in September 2014. Beginning in 2016, the MHC Bursary will support at least one student at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine every year.
Dr Low firmly believes that having business know-how is a gift that should be used to add value and touch lives. “What did MHC exist for? Is it to go into IPO? Is it to earn more money? I did a lot of soul-searching and I realised that MHC should exist to give back to society, to contribute to the less fortunate and help them get out of the poverty cycle,” Dr Low says.
On choosing to give back to his alma mater, Dr Low explains, “Increasingly, there has been a lot of controversial news regarding medical ethics. In giving back to NUS Medicine, I hope to drive the message that as doctors, we have a social obligation to do good and be transparent.”
The journey Dr Low took was one fraught with many difficulties and setbacks. He wants to share the lessons he learnt with the Bursary recipients. “When you have reached the bottom, the only way is to climb up. You can choose to stay down, wallow in self-pity and wait for others to help you, but you still have to pick yourself up.”
“A rainbow usually comes after a heavy storm. Sometimes the end is so near, you just have to persevere a little longer to see the rainbow. There may be a lot of stumbling blocks along the way, but rise up and step on these stumbling blocks – you will not only become stronger but you will also gain new perspectives,” he concludes.
