FAMILY MATTERS

Fourth-generation shipping tycoon and passionate proponent of conscious entrepreneurship Chavalit Frederick Tsao says family businesses are uniquely empowered to change capitalism for the better

- Christian Barker

Chavalit Frederick Tsao ushers us into a meeting room in his handsomely decorated office spread across two floors of prime real estate in Singapore's central business district. He is wearing a vivid blue suit cut from what appears to be a wool-silk-linen cloth, accessorised with a belt bearing a golden peace sign. "I grew up in the 1960s," he explains. "Anti-authority, the hippie movement, communal living, free love, great music. Then gradually, we moved into the 'Me' era. Wall Street. Greed is good! Consumerism. Globalisation. Full-blown market economy."

With an accent that reveals his cosmopolitan upbringing-born in Hong Kong, raised across Southeast Asia, college-educated in the US-Tsao speaks in concise sentences, a mix of whispers and exclamations. (His cadence and philosophical tone are reminiscent of Bruce Lee: "Empty your mind. Be formless. Shapeless, like water.") He also frequently finishes statements with a cry of "Right?" or "Correct?". Tsao seems eager to get your buy-in; it's like he wants to bring you around to his unique perspective on things. "When we change our world view," he says, "how we change our way of seeing informs how we think, how we feel and how we respond."

Tsao's own outlook was forever altered following a spur-of-the-moment visit to a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine 30 years ago. He recalls: "I went in to see this doctor. I was a young man then. I was not sick. It was just curiosity." There, Tsao was exposed to the ancient Chinese practice of qigong. "This is interesting," he thought. "Better do some more research."

Intrigued by his discovery when he first began exploring qigong exercises, Tsao says: "I could feel the qi moving. 'Wow, it's a miracle. Something is moving. This qi thing is real! Let's study some more. Then, as I practised qigong, I started doing meditation."