Hello Mario Babin! CEO of Global Assistance and part-time investor of Canada bar.
Mario Babin
You sound French, but not. Where are you?
I'm from Montreal, Canada. I'm not French, but I can speak French. In fact, my French is better than my English!
What do you do in Jakarta?
I look after both companies; Global Assistance and Medical Center Healthcare and Global Assistance. I am the CEO of the group, so my job is just to try to steer the ship, but we have about 300 employees, so that the ship is managed by staff but by me.
what global Assistance?
We try to be the same set of clinical practice of good family you get back in Europe or America or Canada on your street corner. We cover Indonesia for evacuation services and customers can call 247 to get medical advice and evacuation, and we even make the passport recovery. The center is open 24 hours with practitioners and specialists in internal appointment - it's basically a family practice. PT comprehensive assistance and health clinics also provides for the mining and oil exploitation in remote sites. It is very essential for companies to send employees healthy at these offshore sites. The only way to prevent the disease is to make sure they are healthy when you hire them and give them annual physicals.
How did you get started Global Assistance?
The company was incorporated in 1993 and took over the property in 1998 and never looked back. The medical center has come at a later stage. In 2005, we created our own medical center and we moved to Cilandak Commercial real estate there two years ago. Now we have our own laboratories, drug testing and hi-tech equipment. We also have dental services and observation rooms.
Are you guys just based in Indonesia?
We started in Indonesia and now we are also in Singapore. We have a network of correspondents around the world for emergency aid in 78 countries. If you get sick and need medical evacuation in one of these countries, we will call you to our correspondents emergency evacuation.
So what else do you have to offer?
We have certification for first aid training so we provide first aid training with / without certification basis for the first most advanced care in the home or office. We give health advice to work for our customers and staff should be trained in emergency. We come to you with a dummy and we train and provide refresher training too. Every business should have this training because it is vital that staff know what to do in an emergency.
have you How long was in Indonesia?
I came here in 1995 for one year, and a year has become second year and second year became a third year and my business was sold wholesale and is when we acquired and implemented our own assistance company. From day one, I want to say that I had easy because many of our previous guests decided to follow us and to date, we have become a profitable business. Indonesia is an attractive country and it is difficult to believe in a short time I have been here for 16 years!
Where did you live before Indonesia?
Before Indonesia I was in Vietnam, Korea, Australia, China and Switzerland.
How do you like living here?
Indonesia comes with good and evil, like all countries. Everyone insists on traffic, but overall we have our ups and downs and if you look at where you are, it is a fantastic place to live. Life can be good here if you learn to manage stress. Once you manage stress, it is a beautiful place to be. Perhaps traveling between Bali and Jakarta more often.
What advice do you manage stress in Jakarta?
Move as close as you can to your office and learn to manage your time better. Read jalan tikus (small back roads) and do not buy too large a car so you can go through more jalan tikus . You can save half an hour or an hour a day using these roads. I would also advise to put a TV in your car and watch a comedy. My secret is that I download the stand-up comedy and I put it on my iPad so I look through the circulation and helps relieve stress.