Tan: Turning vegetarian changed my life for the better

PETALING JAYA: Sharing his transformation on the journey to healthier living, Tan Sri Vincent Tan said he has been “psychologically and spiritually healthier” since he became a vegetarian.

The founder and chairman of Berjaya Corporation, who suffers from psoriasis, a skin disease marked by red, itchy and scaly patches, said he stopped eating meat and seafood about four years ago.

“I stopped eating beef when my mother got upset with me for bringing in McDonald’s to Malaysia. As a staunch Buddhist, she asked how could I sell the meat?

“I told her it was a big business opportunity. But I made her a promise to stop eating beef from that day. It was 40 years ago.

“Four years ago, I went on a totally no-meat diet. I might have lost only a little weight, but I certainly feel much healthier, ” he told some 500 people during the 9th Malaysian International Conference on Holistic Healing in Cancer yesterday.

Tan, 67, said he is a strong believer in the greater health benefits of eating vegetables and fruits, and added that he had also been strongly encouraging his family and friends to go vegetarian.

Expressing concerns on rising food wastage despite the occurrence of famine in other parts of the world, Tan said the people’s focus had changed from quality and healthy food to tasty dishes.

“People are exposed to a variety of stylish food these days.

“We should train ourselves to stay away from tasty but unhealthy choices such as sweet food, ” he said, adding that becoming vegetarian also helped to reduce food wastage.

Perak-born Dr Lim Yet Mee, who shared her experience in battling stage four stomach cancer 12 years ago, claimed that a holistic approach consisting of diet, exercise, spiritual approach and natural herbal remedies saved her life.

“I was only given six months to live.

“Things changed after meeting a friend, a cancer survivor, who introduced me to a doctor who runs a herbal therapy cancer clinic in Penang, ” said the 61-year-old.

Dr Lim, who underwent six cycles of chemotherapy, said she followed strictly the treatment and diet, consuming nothing that came from animals and also avoiding sugar, durian and salted fish.

After a year, she said her cancer markers went down and she was well.

Separately, Tan, who has been active in scuba diving and snorkelling for over 30 years, said he started a company – Save The Sea Pte Ltd – to convince regional governments to clean up rivers and prevent marine debris.

“Every time my friends and I go diving in Redang or Kota Kinabalu, we bring nets and hooks with us because there is a lot of rubbish underwater, mostly plastic.

“Plastic pollution in the sea is prevalent in the world. I’ve been reading a lot on this and I want to do something.

“The waters of Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia are full of rubbish. It is not even safe to eat big fish now because they usually ingest a lot of microplastics, ” he said.

Tan said the initiative is still in the early stages, and that he would hold talks with foreign governments, while urging the Malaysian government to join in the efforts.