Group picture with the witnesses of the signing ceremony. From left to right, front row are Choo, Regal Lands executive director Nicholas Wong, Dr Turner, Law, Su, Lai, Chua, Dr Chai and Tay.
Su presenting Law with a token of appreciation. Also seen are (from left) Dr Turner, Lai and Chua.
KUCHING: Local developer Regal Lands has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Thryoflex Global, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yast Group, to bring the first thyroid care centre in Sarawak into its flagship development – Tropics City.
The signing ceremony took place on Sunday night at Regal Land’s sales gallery, which also saw the signing of two more MoUs – one with Yast Management, another wholly-owned subsidiary of Yast Group, and another with Bloom Med Group.
The MoU with Yast Management is to explore more potential business collaboration in the future, while the MoU with Bloom Med Group is to bring in a wellness centre specialising in stem-cells into Tropics City.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, chief executive officer of Regal Lands, Dominic Su, said the collaboration with Thryoflex global, Yast Management and Bloom Med Group would help enhance and elevate Tropics City’s retail component from being just merely a retail mall to being an ‘enrichment mall’.
“In Kuching, there are too many shopping malls. So, we want to be different and create an enrichment mall – a neighbourhood centre which can bring conveniences to the residents of Tropic City and surrounding areas.
“We are also trying to bring in other wellness centres to our shopping mall so that it will be something new and beneficial to the people of Kuching.
“That is what we are trying to do and with Yast group, I think we can do more in wellness, medical tourism and also connecting Kuching to the world, and the world to Kuching.”
Dr Daryl Turner, the inventor of the Thryoflex test system, explained that the thyroid care centre would employ his test system to help accurately diagnose those with thyroid disorders so that they may be swiftly treated.
“The thyroid is a little thing at the base of your neck that controls all key functions of your life, from your brain function, to your weight, to the quality of your life. If your thyroid is not right it will deteriorate your life expectancy and quality if you do not address it.
“Now the traditional method of testing thyroid disorders is to do a blood test, but the problem is that only 18 per cent of hormones are found in the blood, so it’s not a very accurate test.
“Wanting to address this, I went into a research and development programme in the US to create a new testing system, and there I did clinical trials on 2,300 people over a period of two years. I am published, peer-reviewed and FDA (US Food and Drug Administration certification) and CE (European Economic Area certification) approved.
“The testing system is unique, it takes only four minutes and we can accurately identify people at risk of thyroid disorders. And the treatment programme is a product that I developed and is successful.
“So through Yast and Regal, I am happy to be able to bring this brand new medical breakthrough to the people of Malaysia, centred out of Kuching.”
Dr Turner explained that the thyroid care centre would be highly beneficial to the local populace as it is estimated that 80 per cent of the population suffers from thyroid disorders.
It is understood that the Thyroflex test has a 99.8 per cent accuracy rate and will cost under USD$100 while treatment from the centre will cost under USD$15 per month.
The centre will also be working with local healthcare institutions and doctors to employ the test and treat patients found to have thyroid disorders.
For the wellness centre specialising in stem-cells by Bloom Med group, its chairman Colin Lai had this to say: “I am a stem-cell provider, and the only stem-cell provider in the world with a AUD$20 million insurance, so that shows the safety aspect of ours. We are also TGA exempted which means that we are able to do stem-cells legally in Australia where my lab is based in.
“We are hoping to bring this technology to Kuching to benefit its people and believe that we will become a reputable source because of the insurance and safety we’ve demonstrated and the number of people we have treated.”
According to Lai, the stem-cells he provides are made from components in our own blood which his technology is able to convert back to stem-cells.
His group is currently operating in several countries worldwide, namely Australia, Thailand and Hong Kong and will soon be operating in India and Indonesia.
Previously acting as vice-president and director of a cancer hospital in China, Esther Law, who is the chairman and founder of Yast group, says that she now wishes to contribute for her home land and that the first thyroid care centre will only be one of many of the endeavours she has planned for Kuching and Malaysia.
“I knew that there was a calling for me to come back to Malaysia, so I was asking myself what are the things I could do for myself so I can build up my financial arm to ensure that I could reach out to more people.
“So Yast group’s goal is to connect the world through medical, through education, through agriculture, through aquaculture, through investment and also through business opportunities. We hope that will be able to connect the world through our strengths.”
Following that statement, Su added that Regal Lands would be continuing their efforts in increasing international connectivity in Kuching and that their next step is to bring in a charter flight to connect Hainan to Kuching.
“We are currently at the last stages of this agreement and we believe we will be able to finish it.”
Also present at the signing ceremony were members of the Malaysian Retail Chain Association (MRCA) president Datuk Seri Garry Chua, deputy president Datuk Vincent Choo, vice president Datuk Seri Dr Chai Kee Kan, vice president Shirely Tay and other key council members.