Did your family open a Chinese medical shop back in KL as well or did he start with no experience, no contacts etc.?
The traditional business of my family is passed down from my grandfather/mother/uncle to my father and mother, who are piles specialists (also hemorrhoids). And that was how my father started. However upon resettlement in Queen's Street, because of various reasons, certain things that happened along the way, my father decided to change it to a medical hall. But since young he had been exposed to Chinese medicine, since he was a little boy. And for me, since young wherever he'd go I'll tag along. Even in business meetings and all that I was also with him.

Then you always had the intention of taking over the business?
I wouldn't say so. I had actually wanted to have my own career. I actually graduated from Business Administration and after that as I had my children, my first child, I decided that I wanted to become a full time homemaker. It was only in the recent year 2002 that I started to work full time again here with my husband.

What happened is 6 years ago, my father actually passed away. It was a very sudden thing and overnight at that time I also just had my baby, so my husband decided to quit his job and thus he stepped into the business. Since then it is my husband who is actually holding the reins of the business. I was more very much background. Over this period of time we had our family of 3 children, 2 daughters and a son and it has only been a year, more recently, that I worked more actively. Other than that I was still supporting him from at home.

Was this your first job? Did you work somewhere else before?
I did. When I first graduated I worked in SPH as an executive administration officer. After that I was an insurance salesperson for some time before I got married and started a family.

Your father, when he came here and started the business, did he originally think of working for somebody else or did he always have the intention of setting up his own business?
I think my father is a very classic, you would say 'bai shou qi jia de ren'. He always had wanted to be a business person and, as I was telling you, he started with a piles clinic. That was only the beginning; along the way he did many other businesses too, which he tried, but unfortunately they failed. So all this while he only had interest in doing business.

So your family has always encouraged this sense of entrepreneurship?
I wouldn't say in words, because in that generation they are not many-a-time so verbal about how they feel. They do not express it so openly. But I would say that he has always wanted to do business and it just kind of passed down to me since I was young. But from his failures and also his successes in business I could see that he has always wanted to be an entrepreuner. And finally I would say that he succeeded.

So are you his only child? Were you obliged to take over the business?
Yes. I think that was my position when he passed away but over these past few years as we carry on, I realized that I am getting that spirit from my father in me. This is what he has left me. It is not just a business but it is a legacy and even up till now, my husband and I are still servicing his clients. They will still say "Oh Daddy…" and things like that. I guess it is not just a business per se but also a relationship process. Like you said, you actually went to visit this medical shop you used to visit when you were a child. So I feel that it is not just business -- but business is also about building and maintaining relationships, human contact. I feel that it is not just an exchange of money which is a pure transaction. So I think this is where my husband and I get a lot of satisfaction whereby we service not only my father's clients but also my mother's clients and right now we also see our clients bring their children to our shop. And it is indeed about creating an experience for them.

So how old are your children? Do you intend them to take over your business or is it up to them actually?
I've got three, aged 6 years old, 3 years old and 2 years old. I would say my husband and I will leave it to them but of course our hearts' desire is that they will take it over. But if they don't, it's alright. I just hope that my passion -- My passion is to bring healing, to use the herbs that we have to bring healing to people. Because everyday I see sick people and I would say when I was very young, I would feel very helpless because they are sick and yet I couldn't help them. Just to give an example. Last year, there was a couple that came to my shop who had an eleven year old boy who had asthma since he was a child. What happened was that that the doctors wanted to increase his dosage of the steroids to control his condition. However the parents were not very open towards that because they were afraid that they would have to keep increasing the dosage. So out of desperation, I would say, they were recommended by our close friends to our shop and we actually prescribed the medicine to him made of pure Chinese herbs, which is a prescription from my father. You see, my father not only left me the business, he left me prescriptions that with his calligraphy he handwrote. And I used the prescription to give to this couple to their little boy and within 2 days of taking that medication the boy was having relief from his asthma. Up till now he only had one attack at the Jurong Bird Park Maybe it was the feathers or the faeces of the birds that triggered another asthma attack. So this is what I think beyond making money, to be profit driven, to bring healing. This dear couple has since become our friends and the hearts of my husband and I are very warmed. I mean, I didn't make very much money or become a millionaire out of it but I'm just happy that this family and this child could taste the healing of Chinese medicine and I hope that with this passion that I have I can pass it to my children. So like today, you are aware that one of my little boys had diahorrea and vomiting and my little girl had diahorrea and I administered Chinese medicine to them through my Chinese physician here.

So are you considering expanding the business?
Definitely I would say I would want to expand the business, even beyond the shores of Singapore. But I'll take it one step at a time.

So when your father had the shop, did you give him any ideas (because you were from Business), or values on how to improve the shop or the business?
There is, I would say. For instance, I helped him organize all these plastic bags. Before, they were just flying all over. And since I was a teen I would come and do packaging and moving cartons of 25 kgs or even more. Just doing whatever that needs to be done here since I was young, serve customers and things like that. I did not take a leadership role because at that time Daddy was very much in charge and at that time I was still studying. So I wouldn't say I was very much on the decision making side but on the shop floor, I was very much involved in the arranging, display, packaging, organization, writing of checks for customers and things like that.

Have the economic recessions affected your business, or the fact that there are many medical shops being set up nearby? Is there any way that you differentiate yourself from your other competitors?
I thank God we were not affected because we rely very much on our regulars. My husband and I believe very much in doing business honestly and with integrity because this is one trade whereby there are a lot of tricks of the trade. Many people do not know much about it. Something with a market price of $5 can be even sold for $50. But that is not what my husband and I seek to do. So because of this policy that we have, we have a lot of regular customers. Because of that we do not really feel the impact of the economic crisis or even the 911 incident as I feel that we are doing the business on very firm principles and foundation. And the way that we want to conduct the business is very transparent with our customers, even. If you want a $1 thing, this is what you get. If you want something which is the best, say $5, this is the best that you can get. We leave it to our customers to choose what is it which they want. As for the competitors around here, initially when we started here there were only 2 shops. And the last count that I made, there were around 50 shops. I think the way that I want to differentiate myself is, if you look carefully at each of the shops, many of them they do dried goods eg. Ikan bilis, dried shrimp, mushrooms and stuff like that. But if you look carefully, we are one of the few medical shops here that you can count with even one hand. So I want to concentrate on healthcare. Like I was sharing with you, I do not just want to sell you mushrooms that will fill your tummy but I want to sell you something that will bring healing to your body.

Can you tell me roughly how your business works? Do you buy goods on consignment or do you buy goods from wholesalers and sell at a profit, etc?
I do both. Consignment is not much, so far the suppliers that I have are not very open on consignment. Quite a lot are on cash terms. Secondly, there are those that are on credit terms and thirdly, those that are on consignment, which is very little. We basically get the suppliers that my father had dealt with. I'm still dealing with them so every thing is very much status quo, just that my husband and I try to modernize it a little bit here and there, like offering seats and serving drinks to our customers and talking to them. So these are areas that we hope to differentiate ourselves. I managed to get a very good Chinese physician. Not only is he Chinese physician trained, he is also a Western pharmacist. So he is someone who knows Western medicine and at the same time Chinese herbal remedies, so we can get, I feel, a very balanced treatment for the patient. And with his vast experience, despite having started for only 2 - 3 weeks, he has already got repeat customers. So I would say he has a very good skill at the diagnosing of sicknesses and at the same time, he has a heart of compassion. I guess you and I know that sometimes when we see a doctor, somehow within you, you can feel if this doctor is after my pocket or is he after healing me. So with that, I am very confident in my Chinese physician.

Can you tell me some stories about the hardships you faced when you started the business or any sacrifices that you had to make on your part as a result of operating the business, eg. Family time etc.?
I think this sacrifice of time and family is all the time. Even as I sit here with you, I could be at home especially with my two children not feeling that well today and my elder daughter just started primary school so I actually have to pick her up after school. I think in life, whatever you want to do there will always be a sacrifice and there will always be a price to pay. For me the highest price to pay would be that I had to lose my father for me to step into the business. And of course, my time with the family. Even my friends know that during lunch time I cant even meet them. I mean, they do have lunch time because they're working in an office but for me, that is the busiest time, so I don't have that. And I don't have public holidays and I don't have weekends because we're open 360 days throughout the year. We only close four days for Chinese New Year and 1 day for Christmas. There is always a constant flow of customers in the retail trade. Even for lunch we buy food from the hawker centre and we eat it here and halfway if a customer comes by, we also have to serve them. So you do have interrupted lunch which can be a frustration. And we do have pretty long hours from 8.30 to 5.30. If customers still come in and purchase things, sometimes we will open to 7 because, it's like while we are serving one customer and another comes in, maybe it's the Chinese culture - you feel obliged to say 'yes' and we don't close the shop. I know for instance, like in Europe or even Australia, if the shop closes at 4.30 the store closes at 4.30. I have a neighbour who is staying in Europe who once when she had no more bread at home for her children and went to the bakery, they said' "I close at 4.30." and they don't care if your daughter is hungry, they'll just say 'sorry'. So I guess that is what we feel is very hard to do. If we can do it, even if we have to climb through all that after packing up the shop, we will still take a bottle of medicated oil which is 50 cents for our customers to help them, because most of the time the other shops are closed already. Of course, even though you see me dressed like that today because of the interview, you saw me on Sunday very casually dressed as we always have to carry cartons of goods and seal them and arrange them in the shop and all that, so it is still very much a laborious job. It is not so much desk bound, like working on the computer or typing letters. It is very much manual and interpersonal as we interact with customers. Sometimes you do meet some customers that throw abuse at you. It's part and parcel of doing business. So these are what I would say are sacrifices and things that we find a challenge in this business.

Do you have any values for doing business? What do you think are the qualities to succeed in this business or any other business in general?
I think I did share with you just now the principles of our firm foundation like integrity and also transparency. Everything in my shop is price tagged. I see a lot of tourists here everyday because this is a tourist area. But everything in my shop is price tagged so whether you are a Japanese or you are a Nigerian (I've got all types of customers walking into my shop) you pay the same price as a local. And if you take a look at the weighing machine in my shop, we actually face it out which is for our customers to look at because I feel that, for weights and measures we have to be honest, otherwise it is blatantly cheating which my husband and I do not subscribe to. And I guess even though I haven't been in any other business before I would like to apply this to any other business because everybody wants to deal with somebody who is honest. Neither of us wants to be cheated. I guess you can recall at least one experience where you feel you have been cheated and it leaves a very bad taste and you say,"I'll never go back there again." It's like in Chinese you say "Yi chuan shi, shi chuan bai". One dissatisfied customer will spread to 10 and 10 will spread to a hundred and the progression is tremendous. But for us it is the other way round because we have customers who come back referring other customers. I feel that this is our principle and even though times are bad, and are likely to get even harder, I am very confident that if my husband and I abide by this principle, we can only succeed and not fail. I mean, how many times can you cheat a customer. And if you cheat everyday you wouldn't feel happy. My husband and I really enjoy doing this business. And indeed, I will share it with you, there are people who will constantly come back and say,"Hey, I took this herb and my cough is gone. I saw 3 doctors and I wasn't healed whereas one medicine from you and it's done." So these are the things that really warm our hearts - to say that this is not just a job. It is a practice we do for a living for our family and ourselves but at the same time many of our customers have become our friends, who bring us Chinese New Year cookies and all that, so I am very confident that the only way is up for us.

Is there anyone in business whom you admire or in any field in general? Or do you have any role model or mentor?
I think ever since I was young, I have been looking for that role model. But sorry to say I have not found one, because being human, we are all imperfect and as the Chinese say even with our 10 fingers, there are short and there are long. I guess for me I have one role model and that is a lady that is written of in the bible in Proverbs 31. There is a long description of what she has done and that is my role model as well as the other women that have been mentioned in the bible. These women are my role models -- they are a whole spectrum, not just an isolated woman, because each one of them has their own strengths so I hope to draw from each of their strengths.

Have you ever felt like giving up or is there any particular incident that made you feel very frustrated or very helpless while doing business like any financial problems and such?
I think the frustration comes from being me and my husband being human, if you have observed long enough, my husband and I have one heart, one vision, and one mind for this business. So far we have not been able to replicate ourselves. The staff that we have here are my father in law, who is 70 years old, Auntie who is a part-timer and another auntie, also a part timer who is about 65 years old. They are moving towards that -- the service standard that is set by and for myself and for my husband. However we have not found somebody who can do likewise. That is one frustration and I feel that there is a lot I can do, Chinese medicine being a sunrise industry. There is so much to do but I only have 24 hours a day. Maybe that is a frustration that all of us face and I really hope to see more out of this business, that more people can be helped, especially what I shared with you about that little child with asthma. I am a mother too and it is very painful to see children suffering. I mean we have to fall sick once in a while I guess, but if you find out more about asthma, it is something which you must live with everyday that children have to face up to. So I hope I can do more, and more people can be helped.

Do you need to have a special license to operate this business besides your Chinese doctor who has to be certified? Do you need any special concession by the government or anything?
I think at the moment I am very appreciative of our government because they are so open towards working together with universities and businesspeople to encourage entrepreneurship. Our Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong talked about in year 2001 the 8 hour hinterland around Singapore that we can reach out to and last year he was talking about the spirit of entrepreneurship. You see, not many governments in the world are like that. Some governments just leave it to you, whether you live or die but our government is very supportive. For me to function as a business, I only have to register with the RCB. However for my doctor, he is a Western pharmacist so he is registered as a pharmacist and at the same time he is also registered as a Chinese physician. This license has to be renewed yearly.

When your father first started, did he have to borrow from somebody or did he work to save up his own funds for all his business ventures?
I'm not sure when he started when he was 18 years old, I was nowhere to be found. But when he started this business here I was very clear that my mother had to empty her bank account. I will always remember that I actually walked into a pawn shop at Serangoon Road to pawn jewelry to fund this business. The picture that I got was that my father placed all his bets here. For us right now, I want to tell you that we are debt free. My husband and I do not believe in borrowing, even to expand the business. We do not believe in bank drafts and stuff like that. We believe in working with what we have. However, that does not mean that we are not open to investors, which is a different story.

Finally, is there any other story you would like to tell me that I can tell young people concerning starting a business or operating a medical shop or such?
I think the heart of the issue here is the passion and what is it that drives you. For me and my husband it is Chinese medicine. Our focus of the business, as I have shared with you, is that we want to bring healing. So this is the thing that we are moving towards. I think maybe to young entrepreneurs, even to people like you who are going to step into the working world, if you feel that you want to do something as an entrepreneur my encouragement to you is to do something that you are full of passion about. Well I would say that there are people who see things in terms of dollars and cents, nothing wrong with that, every business must turn a profit or else you should be a charitable organization. However I feel that dollars and cents is a very myopic and short term goal because it is not going to bring you very far as I feel that our career and our business is going to be lifelong. It is a marathon, not just a hundred metre sprint. And I feel that if the goal is measured in dollars and cents, when you get there the satisfaction drops and ends there, you see. My encouragement is for budding entrepreneurs to look beyond that because there is more to life and businesses than the dollars and cents. Many a time the hearts of my husband and I are warmed not by good sales figures but because instances like that testimony I was sharing with you about that eleven year old boy. Stuff like that. So these are things that will stay with you forever. I mean I wouldn't say "What was that sales figure that particular day when we did so well?" I can honestly tell you that I don't remember. But this testimony of this little boy who had been helped will stay with me forever.

End of interview.

Student Interviewer's Personal Comment