做保险，你不害怕吗？加入保险业前，你该知道的真相 Afraid to Join Insurance? What You Should Know Before Making the Leap

当初加入保险业，我真的很怕 When I Joined Insurance, I Was Genuinely Scared

很多人问我：「HOW哥，你当初加入保险业，不怕吗？」 People often ask me: "KokHow, weren't you afraid when you first joined the insurance industry?"

我老实说——是真的很怕。怕被拒绝，怕别人用异样眼光看你，怕打电话时对方一接就挂掉，怕自己做不起来，怕走到一半走不下去。那种恐惧，是真实的，不是我编出来的。 Honestly — yes, I was. Afraid of rejection. Afraid of what people would think. Afraid of calls getting hung up before I finished a sentence. Afraid I'd fail. Afraid I'd quit halfway. That fear was real — I'm not making it up.

2005年，我从量师（Quantity Surveyor）转行，加入了Hong Leong Assurance。那是一个很不一样的世界。没有固定薪水，没有固定路线，只有你自己和一张白纸。 In 2005, I left my career as a Quantity Surveyor and joined Hong Leong Assurance. It was a completely different world. No fixed salary, no fixed route — just me and a blank page.

但后来我慢慢发现，我更害怕另一些事情。我更害怕：有一天我不在，家人没有准备好。我更害怕：如果我没有努力过，孩子将来少了很多选择。我更害怕：二十年后的自己，看着孩子的人生，心里偷偷埋怨当年的自己——为什么当初没有勇敢一点。 But slowly I realized I was more afraid of other things. Afraid that if I were gone tomorrow, my family wouldn't be prepared. Afraid that by not trying, my children would have fewer choices in life. Afraid that twenty years from now, I'd look back and silently blame my younger self — why didn't you just be a little braver?

所以每次恐惧袭来，我就跟自己说：不要让「更可怕的事情」发生。咬紧牙关，过了这一关，就过去了。 So every time the fear hit, I'd tell myself: don't let the bigger fear win. Grit your teeth, get through this one, and move on.

就这样，我走了将近二十年。 That's how I've kept going for nearly twenty years.

我从哪里来：红砖厂、巴刹、和一辆电单车 Where I Came From: A Brick Factory, the Wet Market, and a Motorbike

很多人以为我做保险是顺理成章。其实我的起点，比大多数人想象的低。母亲一个人扛起四个兄弟姐妹——白天在学校食堂打工，晚上帮人缝衣服，后来当保姆，最多同时照顾九个孩子。我从小学的周末和假期开始，就在舅舅的红砖厂打工：搬满五百块砖算一个板子，工钱七十仙，平均一天搬二十板，一个月才四百二十令吉。那时候我就知道，钱真的来之不易。 People assume insurance was a natural path for me. The truth is my starting point was lower than most would imagine. My mother raised four children alone — working in a school canteen by day, sewing for others at night, and later becoming a nanny caring for up to nine children at once. From primary school onwards, I spent weekends and holidays at my uncle's brick factory: hauling five hundred bricks counted as one board, at seventy sen per board — about twenty boards a day, RM420 a month. That was when I learned how hard money really is to earn.

中学毕业后，我一个人到吉隆坡拉曼学院念书。那五年没有青春，只有一份接一份的兼职：麦当劳两块八一小时，Speedy Video 三块半，Legend Hotel 四块，Shangri-La 五块，Istana Hotel 六块。我没有资格喊累，更没有资格生病——因为我多赚一块钱，妈妈就少辛苦一点点。为了完成学士学位，我向 KOJADI 申请了升学贷款。 After secondary school, I went to Kuala Lumpur alone to study at Tunku Abdul Rahman College. Those five years had no youth in them — only one part-time job after another: McDonald's at RM2.80 an hour, Speedy Video at RM3.50, Legend Hotel at RM4, Shangri-La at RM5, Istana Hotel at RM6. I had no right to feel tired, and no right to fall sick — because every extra ringgit I earned meant my mother suffered a little less. To finish my degree, I took a KOJADI study loan.

英国大学毕业回来，我进了上市公司当估算师（Quantity Surveyor），月薪不到两千令吉，每天骑电单车日晒雨淋地上下班。有一次在路上遇到一位开轿车的中学同学，那是我第一次问自己：读同一间学校，为什么人生差距那么大？我每一天拼尽全力，却没有换来我想要的。直到我在书里读到一句话：The richest man in the world is the best salesperson in the world——世界上最富有的人，都是顶尖的销售高手。我承认我一开始非常抗拒，因为我脸皮薄，又自觉是大学生。但这句话彻底打醒了我。 After completing my UK degree, I joined a listed company as a Quantity Surveyor — earning under RM2,000 a month, riding a motorbike to work through sun and rain. One day on the road I ran into a secondary-school classmate driving a car, and for the first time I asked myself: we went to the same school — why are our lives so far apart? I was giving everything, and it wasn't getting me where I wanted to go. Then I read a line in a book: "The richest man in the world is the best salesperson in the world." I'll admit I resisted it at first — I was thin-skinned, and proud of my degree. But that line woke me up.

我先转去一家日本公司做销售，收入翻了三倍；2005年，我加入 HLA，一做就是二十年。这条路不轻松，却让我有能力照顾家人、陪伴孩子成长，也为千千万万个家庭送上保障。与其帮别人挑水，不如为自己挖井。这就是我转行的全部理由。 I moved first to a Japanese company in sales, where my income tripled; in 2005, I joined HLA — and stayed for twenty years. The road hasn't been easy, but it gave me the means to care for my family, watch my children grow, and bring protection to thousands of households. Rather than carry water for someone else, dig your own well. That is the whole reason I made the switch.

客户说「不」，拒绝的是时机，不是你 When a Client Says "No," They're Refusing the Timing — Not You

这是入行后我学到的其中一件最重要的事。 This is one of the most important things I've learned in this industry.

想象一下：你走过一个面摊，摊主热情地问你——「老板，要不要来一碗面？」你微笑摇头，走向隔壁的鸡饭摊。这是拒绝吗？是。但卖面的摊主会因此收档回家吗？不会。他继续招呼下一位客人。 Picture this: you walk past a noodle stall and the vendor cheerfully asks, "Boss, want a bowl?" You smile and shake your head, heading to the chicken rice stall instead. Was that a rejection? Yes. But did the noodle vendor pack up and go home? No. He turned to the next customer.

很多入行的伙伴，却因为客户一句「不」，心情低落，甚至开始怀疑自己。其实那个「不」，很可能只是「现在不是时候」。它是一个延迟的「是」，不是一个否定你这个人的判决。 Yet many people in sales take a client's "no" personally and start doubting themselves. That "no" very often just means "not right now." It's a delayed "yes" — not a verdict on your worth as a person.

只要你持续耕耘、持续存在，总有一天，那个人会回头找你。真正重要的，是在这个行业里活得久、做得稳、走得远。这样，当机会来临时，你才接得住。 As long as you keep showing up and keep doing the work, some of those people will come back. What matters most is lasting long enough, staying steady enough, going far enough — so that when the opportunity arrives, you're there to catch it.

马六甲鸡场街的断臂书法家，让我重新定义「坚持」 The Armless Calligrapher of Jonker Street Who Redefined "Perseverance" for Me

你相信吗？在马六甲鸡场街，有一位没有双手的书法老师，靠半截右臂夹着毛笔，一笔一划写下人生。她叫何雪梅，二十岁时因意外失去双手。别人以为她的人生就此坠入谷底，她却把兴趣和信念变成精神寄托——从残障中心到鸡场街，再到如今的字画店，坚持用断臂写字，甚至用嘴巴盖章。真正亲眼看到的那一刻，那种震撼会让你重新思考：我们日常觉得辛苦的，真的算什么？ Would you believe it? On Jonker Street in Malacca, there is a calligraphy teacher with no hands, who grips the brush with half a right forearm and writes out her life stroke by stroke. Her name is Ho Xue Mei. She lost both hands in an accident at twenty. People assumed her life had hit the bottom — instead she turned her passion and conviction into her anchor, from a disability centre to Jonker Street to her own calligraphy shop today, writing with her forearm and even applying her seal with her mouth. Seeing it with your own eyes makes you rethink everything: what we call hardship in daily life — what is it, really?

她常说，名字是父母给的第一份礼物，承载着祝福和期盼。写名字，不只是写字，更是提醒大家好好珍惜自己的名字和人生。许多顾客收藏她的作品——不只因为字美，更因为敬佩她那份自信、乐观和不放弃。或许这就是「人如其名」：在寒雪中傲然绽放的梅花，坚韧而有底气。 She often says a name is the first gift our parents give us, carrying their blessings and hopes. Writing someone's name isn't just calligraphy — it's a reminder to treasure your name and your life. Customers of every background collect her work — not only for its beauty, but out of respect for her confidence, optimism, and refusal to give up. Perhaps that is what "living up to one's name" means: a plum blossom standing proud in the snow, resilient and unshaken.

每次有伙伴被拒绝得灰心丧气，我就想起何老师。她能用断臂写书法，我们是不是也能咬紧牙关，继续往前走？做销售缺的从来不是完美条件，而是不肯交出去的那一口气。 Whenever a teammate is worn down by rejection, I think of Teacher Ho. If she can write calligraphy with half a forearm, can't we grit our teeth and keep moving forward? What a sales career demands was never perfect circumstances — it's the fight you refuse to surrender.

骑电单车的她，如今站上世界舞台 She Rode a Motorcycle in the Rain — Now She Stands on the World Stage

我太太Julia，是一个很平凡的女人。家境贫穷，排行最大，要照顾两个妹妹和一个弟弟。中学一毕业就出来工作，两年后选择加入寿险业。 My wife Julia is an ordinary woman. She grew up in a poor family, the eldest of four, responsible for two younger sisters and a brother. She started working right after secondary school and joined the life insurance industry two years later.

那时候，她只是一个骑着电单车的内向小女生，不太会讲话。多少次，她冒着暴雨骑车去见客户，雨水淋湿了文件，也淋湿了她的心。被拒绝、被冷言冷语，回到家只能躲在房里偷偷哭。 Back then, she was just a quiet, introverted girl on a motorbike who didn't know how to talk to people. Time and again she rode through heavy rain to meet clients, her documents soaked, her spirit worn thin. Rejected, spoken down to — she'd come home and cry quietly in her room.

但她没有停下。因为贫穷，从小就教会她一件事：「我不敢放弃。」她咬牙坚持，相信保险在关键时刻能救一个家庭。 But she didn't stop. Poverty had taught her one lesson from childhood: "I cannot afford to quit." She held on, believing that insurance, at the right moment, can save a family.

我常说，她不只是我的太太，更是我最佩服的女人。她用自己的人生证明了一件事：坚持，不是一个励志词汇，它是一个每天做出的决定。 I often say she's not just my wife — she's the person I admire most. Her life proves that perseverance isn't an inspirational word. It's a decision you make, every single day.

想了解Julia的故事与我们走过的路，可以读这篇：HOW哥的故事KokHow's Story。 To learn more about Julia's journey and how we got here, read: HOW哥的故事KokHow's Story.

我们不是那种只讲「KPI、奖金、冲业绩」的团队 We Are Not the Team That Talks Only About KPIs, Bonuses, and Targets

在我身边，有一群让我深深敬佩的合伙人。他们来自不同的行业——有企业主管，有全职妈妈重新出发，有年轻人勇敢转轨。但他们有一个共同点：心中有爱，肩上有责。 The people around me come from all kinds of backgrounds — corporate managers, full-time mothers re-entering the workforce, young people making a bold pivot. But they share one thing: they care, and they take responsibility seriously.

我们谈的，不是怎么冲单，而是：怎么帮客户预备好未来，也替自己活出更有底气的人生。这也是我们为什么专注做长照险这条路。我们见过太多家庭，因一场意外或疾病，陷入长期照护与财务的双重崩溃；也见过有人提早规划，哪怕晚年失去了自理能力，依然活得有尊严、不拖累家人的人。 What we talk about isn't how to hit numbers — it's how to help clients prepare for what's ahead, and how to build a life we ourselves can be proud of. That's why we focus on long-term care insurance. We've seen too many families crushed by the dual weight of caregiving and finances after an accident or illness. And we've seen people who planned early — still living with dignity in their later years, not burdening the people they love. You can read more about 长照的真实费用the real cost of long-term care in Malaysia.

这份工作，对我们而言，不只是职业，更是一种使命。我们倾听故事、传递温度、做有价值的事——为别人，也为自己。 For us, this work is more than a profession — it's a calling. We listen to people's stories, we bring warmth into difficult conversations, and we do something that genuinely matters — for others, and for ourselves.

如果你正在考虑转行——一起成就更好的自己 If You're Thinking About Making a Change — Let's Build Something Better Together

我不会告诉你这条路很容易。我告诉你的，是它值得。 I won't tell you this path is easy. I'll tell you it's worth it.

如果你正在寻找一份可以长远经营、有专业积累、有温度、有使命感的事业；如果你愿意认真对待客户的信任，也想为自己的家庭打好未来的基础——我想和你聊聊。 If you're looking for a career you can build over the long term — one with professional depth, genuine purpose, and real human connection — and if you're willing to take clients' trust seriously while also building a solid foundation for your own family, I'd like to talk.

不是来招募，是来了解彼此。因为加入一个团队，是双向的选择。 Not a recruitment pitch — a conversation between two people figuring out if there's a fit. Joining a team is a two-way decision.

联系 KokHow 聊聊Talk to KokHow，告诉我你的背景，你的顾虑，以及你想要的未来。我很乐意听听你的故事。 联系 KokHow 聊聊Talk to KokHow — share your background, your hesitations, and what you're hoping for. I'd genuinely like to hear your story.

我是 HOW 哥，四宝爸，槟城长照规划顾问，CEO Advisory。二十年，守护超过一万个家庭。 I'm KokHow — father of four, long-term care planning consultant in Penang, CEO Advisory. Twenty years. More than 10,000 families protected.