Doctor combines business, medicine

Doctor combines business, medicine

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Upon entering the University of Indonesia's microbiology
laboratory on Jl. Pegangsaan Timur, Central Jakarta, every new
medical student is greeted by a plaque on the doorway that reads
"to become a doctor is noble, to become a businessperson is no
less noble, but to combine the two is loathsome".

The maxim, first pronounced by a senior lecturer at the UI
school of medicine, carries a critical moral lesson to all would-
be doctors that they ought not to take advantage of their
occupation for personal and material gain and that they should
selflessly labor to serve the public.

However, there is a graduate of the state university who has
defied the maxim for a long time but has somehow managed to tread
the fine line between business interests and serving the public
and has been successful in both fields.

During the past 30 years, physician Kahar Tjandra has been an
example of how a doctor can run a successful business empire
while continuing to serve the public, even if at times he has had
to dig deep into his company's pockets to do so.

With a holding company administering several business lines --
a pharmaceutical company producing antiseptic solution, drug
stores, a gourmet food shop, hotel and a supply chain service --
Tjandra can say he is a successful businessman.

His pharmaceutical company, PT Mahakam Beta Farma, a producer
of a well-known antiseptic solution, ranked 60th in the top-200
pharmaceutical companies operating in the country last year and
was included in the "superbrands" campaign of popular products.

A four-star boutique hotel, which he constructed in the mid-
1990s, is now the powerhouse of his business empire. Managing to
survive the financial crisis, it has had an occupancy rate of up
to 85 percent during the past four months.

Tjandra's supplier company now has over 400 employees and over
200 vehicles that transport goods including medicine, canned
fish, condiments and fake plastic trees and flowers to various
destinations throughout the country.

However, not all his business endeavors have been so
successful. Tjandra says he suffered the greatest loss in his
business when he decided to procure state-of-the-art medical
equipment for the state-owned Cipto Mangunkusumo hospital.

In 1990, he decided to purchase a Magnetic Resonance Imaging
(MRI) machine, a sophisticated device capable of effectively and
accurately detecting patients' illnesses, for the hospital, then
the only one in the country.

"The device cost US$2 million and I made the purchase in
collaboration with some big companies. But after realizing that
patients would be charged only a small fee for its use, my
partners quit the deal and I alone was left to foot the bill. In
the end, I suffered a Rp 2 billion loss," he told The Jakarta
Post in a recent interview.

Tjandra said that the device, which he considered more
advanced than X-Ray or Computed Tomography (CT) Imaging would be
of great assistance in detecting serious illnesses, especially
among the poor who could not afford expensive health treatment.

Tjandra, however, did not mourn his financial loss as came to
a realization that it was part of a sacrifice he had to shoulder
to help the poor to get decent medical services, in the same way
as he has continuously provided medical services for patients who
have queued up at his clinic during the past 25 years.

He said most of his patients were from the lower-income
bracket, who live in the poor neighborhood around his clinic in
Palmerah, South Jakarta.

"In my 25 years of experience as a doctor, I have never turned
down a request for a visit from my patients. I would attend even
if it was 3 a.m.," he said.

And to maintain his professionalism as a doctor, Tjandra said
that his business activities were conducted outside the time he
devoted to counseling patients, prompting him to work extra
hours.

Hard work seems to be a hereditary trait he has possessed
since early childhood.

Born 75 five years ago in Padang, West Sumatra, to a Chinese-
Indonesian family, Tjandra was engaged in trading at the tender
age of 12.

By the time he got to the junior high school, he conducted all
his bookkeeping for his business activities, something he did
until recently.

When Tjandra enrolled at the UI School of Medicine, he kick-
started his supplier company, which later became the springboard
for the rest of his businesses.

Soon after graduating, Tjandra was recruited by the
Indonesian Military (TNI) to become an Army doctor, an
opportunity that would serve to support his business enterprise.
The new doctor cut a major deal when the United Nations Children
Fund (Unicef), which awarded him a contract to procure milk for
families of an Army unit.

His brief stint with the military won him close acquaintance
with a number of influential figures who later helped smooth his
way in business.

In recognition of all his achievements, Tjandra's alma mater
recently honored him this year with the title "distinguished
alumnus."