Playing to win

'I MAY not look like it, but I play to win," Tan See Leng says in an even tone, smiling slightly. The words may have rolled off his tongue with only a hint of firmness, but make no mistake, the down-to-earth doctor who now helms Asia's largest (and the world's second largest) listed private healthcare group, IHH Healthcare Berhad, is quite the go-getter. Beneath that tailored suit and genteel exterior lies a competitive streak - a trait that has stood the 52-year-old in good stead.

A family physician by training and the only child of a bus timekeeper and housewife, Dr Tan, at the age of 27, dived right into private practice after completing national service in 1992. He broke his bond with the Ministry of Health and took a S$90,000 loan to start Healthway Medical Group with three friends, one of whom became his wife.

Healthway Medical flourished into a network of more than 30 branches and was later sold to the British United Provident Association for an undisclosed sum. And like that, Dr Tan, armed with sharp business acumen, joined the millionaire club in his mid-30s.