MALAYSIANSKINI | When his father passed away in a tragic accident nearly two decades ago, Dr Khor Swee Kheng was just three months shy of his university graduation.

He remembered how his life changed from the impact of that loss.

“My father's passing from a traffic accident is the single largest influence on my life.

“His passing taught me that everything is impermanent, and it is a leader's responsibility to build institutions and systems that can survive the leader's departure,” Khor said.

That lesson stayed with him throughout his career from his days as a doctor at the Taiping Hospital to the times he held various senior positions at multinational pharmaceutical companies, and eventually co-founded the Malaysian Health Coalition (MHC), the first organisation to unite 48 health professional societies in the country.

The now public health expert and Malaysia’s first fellow at the Centre for Universal Health at Chatham House, Khor has always tried to carry the lesson he learned from his dad and turn it into building systems and institutions that last.

“Even till today, I still have my father's...