Jho Low donates US$50m for cancer supercomputer after cancer scare

KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 — Jho Low has donated US$50 million (RM189 million) to a US centre to try to turn the Watson supercomputer into a cancer expert after the young businessman suffered a cancer scare and his grandfather died of leukemia.

The controversial Malaysian businessman told US daily The Washington Post that with his US$50 million gift, his largest philanthropic donation yet, to the project at University of Texas’ MD Anderson Cancer Center, he hoped IBM’s Watson computer system, which has won the television quiz show Jeopardy, would be able to analyse patients’ questions about their condition.

Low, a 33-year-old businessman who used to be known for partying with celebrities like Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian, said he turned his attention to charity work and started the Jynwel Foundation in 2012 after he got a cancer scare when he went for a medical checkup in Switzerland.

“I remember going into this room and the doctor looking really concerned. The doctor told me I was likely to have Stage 3 lung cancer,” Low said in the interview with Washington Post published yesterday.

“This was the first time I felt a sense of hopelessness. I don’t smoke any cigarettes. I smoke maybe a cigar every month or less. My family doesn’t have a history of smokers.

I felt like my world had fallen part. I was just 30. I took the next flight to Abu Dhabi for a meeting, and it was the most miserable flight I ever had. I didn’t know what to do,” added the businessman implicated in the controversy surrounding the debt-laden 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Low said he then went to MD Anderson in Texas that told him it was actually an infection, not cancer.

“I felt this was a clear sign that the next phase of my life needed to be different, and I decided I was going to spend the same amount of effort and thought on building the Jynwel Foundation as I had in my investments,” he said.

According to Jynwel Foundation’s website, the philanthropic arm of Low’s family investment and advisory firm Jynwel Capital based in Hong Kong focuses on healthcare, environmental conservation and education.

Low told Washington Post that shortly after his cancer scare, he found out later in November that year that his grandfather had leukemia.

“I was very close to him and used to see him every Sunday with my brother, and he would sit down and give us advice and talk about principles of doing good and so forth,” he said.

The businessman said his grandfather, who was in Penang at that time, was too weak to be flown out to Texas, and so he got MD Anderson’s head of leukemia to talk to their physicians in Penang.

He said this made him realise what a difference it made having access to such expertise, noting that his grandfather’s leukemia could have been identified much earlier and early precautions taken if they had been able to access the doctors before. His grandfather, however, was misdiagnosed and later died in February 2013, almost one year after Low faced his own cancer scare.

“And that’s when I decided how important helping build OEA [the Oncology Expert Advisor, MD Anderson’s name for the Watson cancer program] could be to the world,” Low told Washington Post.

When asked if he imagined the Watson supercomputer to be akin to a Siri on steroids that knows a lot about cancer, Low said it could be as easy as a patient picking up a phone and asking questions about their condition.

“The questions and data could go back to OEA for analysis and maybe even back to their home clinic for analysis. The doctor could then call the patient and say, “I need more data,” and send them off to get some tests,” said Low.

Low said his family’s investment company, which he heads, would like to get to a level where they donate half of income generated from their business, but stressed that his family is still considering this.

The Washington Post reported that Low, the youngest of the third generation of one of Malaysia’s richest families, has been giving millions to charity over the past two years, including US$25 million to save the United Nations’ news service from closure, US$20 million to a conservation fund, US$5 million to National Geographic and US$1 million to Children’s National Medical Center in Washington.

“I always tell my friends I find moderation really difficult when I do something I am very passionate about. When it comes to work, when it comes to having fun and partying, I sometimes go all out. This is my time to take this approach with philanthropy,” Low said.