"I actually think that in the long term, if we could also improve diagnostics to detect early disease, that would actively help the therapeutic space. You can go in earlier and treat problems earlier, and just like anything in life, the earlier you figure out the problem, the better you solve it." - Dr. Joshua Wang
"From a biological perspective, we know that Asians tend to develop complications from having excess fat, specifically visceral fat, at much lower BMI thresholds. As a result, we may not look obese on the outside, but we hide it really well around our waistline. This type of fat tends to be highly pro-inflammatory and contributes significantly to diseases like heart disease, vascular diseases, and kidney disease." - Dr. Sue-Anne Toh
"Everything works so well in Singapore that people do not have to think very hard as they go through life, meaning there is less of a survival mentality or sharp problem-solving skills born out of necessity. While this creates a phenomenal quality of life for citizens, it can dull the disruptive entrepreneurial spirit. Conversely, this is exactly why immigrant founders flock here—they see the operational chaos elsewhere and realize that in Singapore, they can focus entirely on company building." - Adriel Yong
In 2016, Singapore declared a War on Diabetes. This BRAVE compilation looks at what the Singapore blueprint gets right on health and public policy, and what that stability may cost in entrepreneurial drive.
Dr. Sue-Anne Toh of NOVI Health explains TOFI (thin outside, fat inside), why Asians develop diabetes at lower BMI, and how insulin resistance works. Adriel Yong of Clouted lays out the efficiency paradox: when public services work this well, fewer people grow up as problem solvers, and state ownership leaves few business families to build on. Dr. Joshua Wang of VerImmune covers why cancer is detected too late, why new therapies are tested on late-stage patients first, and how diabetes went from a death sentence to a chronic disease.
Watch the full episodes:
E718 Dr. Sue-Anne Toh, Co-Founder, CEO & Medical Director of NOVI Health
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP0L_qhSRJA
E705 Adriel Yong, Co-Founder & COO of Clouted
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOimzcac29w
E628 Dr. Joshua Wang, Founder & CEO of VerImmune
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roXPyXASiRk
00:00 Intro
01:02 Dr. Sue-Anne Toh: Singapore's War on Diabetes
01:47 TOFI: thin outside, fat inside
03:38 Insulin resistance and the pancreas "factory"
06:43 AI, manual labor and the WALL-E future
08:28 Adriel Yong: the Efficiency Paradox
10:04 Temasek, GLCs and the missing business families
11:39 Focus or numbing? HF0 and founder distraction
14:21 Why swing for a billion?
16:12 Dr. Joshua Wang: therapeutic, not preventative
18:36 Why cancer is detected too late
21:27 From death sentence to chronic disease
22:55 Outro
Keywords: Singapore Healthcare, Biotech Innovation, Asian Metabolic Phenotype, Cancer Immunotherapy, Startup Ecosystem, Preventative Medicine, Public Health Policy, Immigrant Founders
