44 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017
an ink painting by Chinese artist Fan
Zeng portrays Hua Tuo, the ancient
Chinese father of medicine, tenderly
examining a young patient. Strapped to
his waistband is a Chinese gourd with
medicine and a jade amulet—to bring
good fortune and ward off evil.
Loo says he spends time thinking
during major decision points in life,
talking to friends and “communing
with the Almighty.” Reflecting back,
he says the biggest hurdle of his career
was the Asian financial crisis in 1997
when a series of problems put plans
for the flagship hospital on a razor’s
edge. At the time, Raffles Medical had
teamed up with Pidemco Land (the
predecessor to government-owned
CapitaLand) to buy a former office-
and-shopping block for the hospital
site—but Pidemco was balking about
going ahead in a weak market. Also,
there were hiccups in the buyout of
a hawker center at the site and in the
construction work.
“We knew the crisis would pass in
due course,” Loo says.
Likewise, he still thinks full-year
growth at Raffles Medical will ap-
proach 4% for 2017. “The only stress
I feel is when my tennis partner hitscal tourism numbers as flat as they’ve
been since 2009. How will Raffles fill
that $220 million addition in Bugis
when it opens later this year?
Loo acknowledges the hurdle but
insists his plans are justified. The
hospital currently runs at 80% oc-
cupancy—rates range from $132 per
night in a six-bed room to more than
$2,200 for the top-priced suites—with
a majority of the floors dedicated to
specialty clinics and centers, among
them neuroscience, oncology, cardiol-
ogy, Chinese medicine, pain manage-
ment, dermatology and plastic surgery.
“We have used the current building for
15 years, and we are squeezed. We will
use some of the new space immedi-
ately and bank some space for future
expansion. In the meantime, we will
rent the unused space out.”
Loo likens Raffles Medical to
America’s Mayo Clinic, which invited
Raffles Medical to be the first Asian
member of its clinical network. “No
single doctor can look after all critical
needs. Our specialists practice team-
based care,” which means doctors col-
laborate on patients’ cases. To rein in
physician charges, Raffles has internal
fee schedules, peer reviews and regu-
lar audits. “We know the dangers of
private practice so we put in checks.”
A general practitioner himself who
gave up the last of his patients three
years ago, Loo is Raffles’ managerial
backstop. “I am the odd-job man,”
he says from a boardroom seat. “All
the things that others don’t like to
do—they arrow to me.” He prefers
to handle as much as possible before
lunch. “I am at my best in the morning.
That’s when I do a lot of mental work.”
Propped up in the boardroom is the
group’s 30th anniversary book, Journey
of Faith. While Loo identifies as a prac-
ticing Christian, he says the title refers
more to faith in the team. “We’re a mul-
tireligious group,” he says as the call to
prayer bellows from the Sultan Mosque
just outside. The twin theme also
echoes in his adjacent office, where
a good shot to my backhand corner,”
Loo chuckles, noting he plays singles
games on his home court several times
a week—his primary exercise. He finds
time to manage two civic assignments:
Loo is chairman of JTC, Singapore’s
state-owned industrial property com-
pany, and its nonresident ambassador
to Poland.
While Loo seems at home among
the elite—he displays photographs of
handshakes with prime ministers Lee
Kuan Yew and Lee Hsien Loong, and
U.S. president George W. Bush, whom
he hosted for golf—he is quick to recall
humble beginnings in a Hokkien im-
migrant family. His first love was not
medicine but math and physics, which
he studied at Raffles Institution. At his
father’s urging, he trained in medicine
at the National University of Singapore
to help support six siblings.
Loo spent formative time in Lon-
don studying cardiology and going
to law school at night—the latter he
finished by correspondence during
his national service years in Singapore
but never put to use. After a stint at
Singapore General Hospital, he started
Raffles Medical with schoolmate
Alfred Loh (who remains a minority
shareholder and practices actively at
the hospital).
Loo gives no hint of a retirement
date or successor but says it is unlikely
to be either of his children, who are
doctors in government hospitals. He
could still be a nonexecutive chair-
man and perhaps teach health care
management.
“I am doing what I love, with
people I like to be with,” Loo says, with
a twinkle in his eye. “It’s not too bad.
Why should I retire?”
Meanwhile, the setting sun outside
has given way to a breeze. Workers are
hoisting cement slabs by crane up the
bones of the new building. Each floor
still looks like a shell from the outside.
Three years after breaking ground,
there’s plenty more work ahead for
Raffles Medical’s odd-job man.Singapore’s 50 Richest
LOO CHOON YONG
FFlagship Raffles hospital in the Bugis district
and its long-awaited 20-story extension.MUNSHI AHMED FOR FORBES