Centred on a healthy lifestyle

A FEW years ago, Brian Wong’s chief ambition was to reach the top of the corporate ladder in the shortest time possible. A graduate in accounting and finance from the University of New South Wales in Australia, Wong had co-founded a successful Internet company in the late 90s. Before he turned 30, he had become its chief operating officer, heading its regional operations in Singapore. 

But he soon realised there is a price to pay for being at the top. “At that time I was probably reaching the peak of my career, moving up, but my health was going that way,” he says, pointing downwards. 

Wong remembers being constantly ill: “I was sick every weekend – flu and all that – and I was fed up. So one day I woke up and I thought there's only so much I can take.”  

He decided to take time off for a long holiday in Australia, Japan and Britain. He also went to Fiji to visit a health centre there. It is a world-renowned detoxification centre, he says. 

“I went through a detox programme there, and it changed my life completely.” 

The experience certainly made a deep impression on him, and two years later he became the co-owner of a health centre, Purehealth Sdn Bhd.  

Like Wong, his partner Wendy Tee also gave up a fast rising career in the corporate sector to go into the healthcare business. Tee, who is also Wong’s fiancée, was a lawyer and was working with a regional consulting company as a strategic consultant before she decided to opt for a slower, healthier lifestyle. 

Wong describes Purehealth as a professional wellness centre specialising in products and services for cleansing, detoxifying and rejuvenating the body. His mission, he says, is “to help clients achieve optimum health and maximise their quality of life.” 

Wong was introduced to various detoxification therapies while working in his previous company. “I went to a series of seminars in Singapore and became more and more interested in health,” he says. 

It was during one of these seminars that he heard about colon hydrotherapy. 

Sometimes also known as a “colonic”, colon hydrotherapy is basically a detoxification method where sterilised tubes are used to gently infuse purified distilled water into the anal passage in order to remove accumulated toxic faecal matter from the colon.  

Wong says the procedure has often been viewed as a radical, even strange method of removing toxins from the body. 

“It’s not a topic you talk about over dinner,” he says, laughing. 

He admits that he initially had no intention of trying it himself. 

“When I first heard about colon hydrotherapy, I swore that I would not be able to go through with it.” 

However, his resolve crumbled when he attended the eight-day detoxification programme in Fiji in 2001. 

“It is probably the best programme in the world, and one of the speakers when I was there was Deepak Chopra,” Wong says.  

“Participants were required to subsist on a liquid diet and undergo colon hydrotherapy treatments. At the end of the eight days, everyone had so much energy. There were older people who previously had aches and pains in their legs but they were running around the beach like children.” 

When he returned to Malaysia, a refreshed and rejuvenated Wong immediately set out to convince Tee to enrol in a similar programme. After going through it, Tee was just as impressed as Wong with the result.  

It was then that they decided to open a wellness centre that focused on detoxification. 

“I thought, we must have this available to our family and our friends, people we care about,” says Wong.  

Realising that he would be dealing with a serious issue – the health of others – Wong decided to acquire the appropriate qualifications before he opened the centre.  

He did a course in holistic nutrition with the Global Institute for Alternative Medicine in the United States, obtaining a degree in the process. He and Tee have also formally studied how to perform colon hydrotherapy, and are now certified with the Mind Body Institute in San Antonio, Texas. They are also registered members of the International Association of Colon Hydrotherapists. 

Purehealth offers therapies that are geared towards improving overall physical health, Wong says. Besides colon hydrotherapy, the centre also offers Infra-red Therapy, Lymphatic Drainage and Oxygen Therapy.  

At Purehealth, we try to create awareness among clients about the importance of paying attention to what one eats, Wong says. 

“If the wrong type of food is consumed, it can actually poison the body from the inside. It’s like putting diesel into a car that requires unleaded fuel.” 

To create more awareness about the importance of adopting healthy lifestyles, Wong conducts free seminars to the public. 

“I lay it all down. I don’t preach, and I don’t tell you what you should do. I just tell you the facts about how your body works and what happens, for example, when you include a lot of sugar in your system.  

“My aim is to educate and not to dictate. I just want people to make an informed decision.” 

According to Wong and Tee, the centre, which is just five months old, already caters to clientele of 80 people. And a very special client visited their centre shortly after they opened their doors, they say.  

That guest was Anthony Robbins. Wong had heard that Robbins is an advocate of colon hydrotherapy and when he learnt of the motivational guru’s impending trip to Malaysia, Wong sent out an e-mail to inform Robbins of the services offered at Purehealth. 

Wong says he never really expected a response, but much to his amazement, he received a phone call from Robbin’s public relations firm informing him that the latter was interested in making an appointment.  

“He was only in KL for three days but he came over and spent an hour talking to us before going for the treatment. He says that he does it before each of his seminars.” 

Wong is confident that the day will come when detoxification will become a very common practice.  

“You mark my words. In five or 10 years’ time, you won’t be able to avoid the word detox if you want to have good health.” 

For more information, Brian Wong can be reached at 03-6203 2097 or log on to: http://www.purehealth.com.my/  

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