STORY BEHIND THE NAME | How it began

It was in 2015 when I decided to register my Sole-proprietor Architectural Practice. The Malaysian Board of Architects requires that the name of SAPs must be derived from the founder's name.

Well, my name is Tan Bee Eu, so I have to start with that. BEu Tan Architect seemed straightforward enough, and it allowed for the acronym BETA. I remember at this point regretting not having a “Y” in my name. I always thought CMYK sounded cool, and I had always felt envious of Designer Firms with a “Y” in their acronym. It looks good written on paper and in a logo.

But my name allows for the acronym BETA; that’s not bad, not bad at all. That can match all the stylish and catchy acronyms so many of my practicing friends and idols had.

Now, seven years later, it is amusing to remember how much I stressed myself over the naming of my sole proprietorship. But once I settled on BETA, the logo was a given. I love the shape of the Greek alphabet Beta — β.

It felt just right, except for one thing. BETA always comes second, after Alpha. Will that mean that BETA is jinxed to come second at everything? This gave me pause. After much deep thought I decided, “Nah” In fact, as architects, we should never be the Alpha. Architects should serve humanity and nature.

To me, being an Architect is to serve Nature, and to serve Humanity. Nature comes first, we come second—always. To be brutally honest, when we work with Clients, Clients come first, we as service providers always come second. This is simply because I believe that we should NEVER design to satisfy our own egos. It is not about creating the largest, the tallest or the longest... Our designs must respect Nature, solve problems and generate creative and calming space for the community and the Client.

With name, logo and ideology clear in my head, seven years ago, I signed, sealed and sent the registration form in. The rest is history.

We kickstart BETA BLOG with this short reminder to myself as inaugural post. Follow us, as we curate 100% original content for you, our friends in Penang and beyond!