has such a conversation in " is not bad for money " written by Zhao Benshan .
"The most painful thing in life is that when a person dies, the money is gone."
"The most painful thing in a person's life, do you know what it is? The person is still alive, but the money is gone."
will share this conversation Combined with the ending of the skit, we can know that these two sentences are a joke on the supremacy of wealth. After all, they did not spend any money, and they still went to the Avenue of Stars.
Regarding wealth, everyone has their own values.
For Richard Teo, a medical aesthetics doctor in Singapore , he has been a loyal supporter of wealth for most of his life.
In order to make money, he changed his career from an ophthalmologist to a medical aesthetics doctor. After making money, he bought luxury cars and lived in luxury houses, treating every patient as money.
But his mind changed when he was suddenly diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
Wealth-obsessed
"I am a typical product of today's society."
This slightly harsh self-evaluation comes from the reflection of a Singaporean doctor after he fell ill.
Zhang Qingxiang, born in 1972, was born into an ordinary family in Singapore.
Born into poverty, he has been influenced by the media since he was a child, equating happiness with success based on social evaluation standards.
Success is the most important thing to Zhang Qingxiang. Whether it is study, sports or social interaction, he has achieved excellent results by relying on the competition methods he has learned.
As a "typical product", Zhang Qingxiang's first half of his life was almost as hard as he said. After graduating from
, he fulfilled his wish and became an ophthalmology intern at a public hospital in Singapore. Once he completes his residency training, he will officially become an ophthalmologist with a high income.
But during the long wait, Zhang Qingxiang lost his patience.
"A few years ago, when I was an ophthalmology trainee, I saw many of my doctor friends leaving state-run hospitals one by one to practice medicine in private companies, and all of them were making a lot of money. I began to feel impatient. I said to myself at the time, Enough is enough, the road I am taking now is too long. "
In Singapore, the status of doctors is very high. Even the lowest-paid new doctor can earn an annual income of SGD 50,000 to 60,000, which is equivalent to more than 20 yuan. Ten thousand yuan, and this income will increase exponentially as the doctor's experience increases.
But compared to changing careers to the medical beauty industry, the income is too low, or too slow.
For Zhang Qingxiang, who measured success by money at that time, the reason for him to switch careers was simple - medical aesthetics made more money, and the money came in faster.
Singapore’s medical aesthetics industry is very strictly controlled. You need to pass a series of assessments and obtain a medical aesthetics license issued by the Singapore Medical Council before you can obtain the qualification to practice medicine.
Even the name of the clinic needs special annotation, such as "Aesthetics Medical Clinic" or "Medical Center".
Many medical beauty equipment can only be operated by licensed doctors.
In addition, Singapore has hot and humid weather all year round and strong ultraviolet rays. Many wealthy Singaporeans have various skin problems such as dark spots and wrinkles. The medical beauty market here is very huge.
As the saying goes, rare things are valuable. Under the strict control of the industry and the huge market, there is countless wealth buried in the rules.
Wonderscape, a medical beauty company in Singapore, had revenue of S$52.89 million in 2019.
This means that the annual revenue of this medical beauty company in Singapore alone has reached more than 200 million yuan. What
needs to know is that nearly 50% of their income comes from their main hair removal business, rather than other more profitable medical beauty businesses.
There is no doubt that as a medical practitioner, Zhang Qingxiang knows what Singapore’s medical aesthetics industry represents better than a layman.
“Forget ophthalmology, I want to work in the cosmetic medicine industry."
At this point, Zhang Qingxiang, who insisted on making a lot of money, decided to give up the ophthalmology field that he originally regarded as a success and go to the medical and aesthetic field where he could make more money.
Soon, Zhang Qingxiang, who had always been smart and hard-working, passed the examination and got the medical degree.
After changing careers, Zhang Qingxiang found that this is really a good place to make money.
“When I came here, I found that some people were unwilling to spend more than 30 yuan. Yuan (about 150 yuan) to see a general practitioner, they will complain unhappily: 'Wow, doctor, this is too expensive! ’, but the same group of people are willing to spend 10,000 Singapore dollars (about 50,000 yuan) for liposuction surgery , and 15,000 Singapore dollars (about 70,000 yuan) for breast augmentation surgery enlargement without any scruples. "
After discovering this fact, Zhang Qingxiang said to himself: "The fact is that no one will regard you as a hero unless you are a rich man or a politician, so I want to be one of the rich or famous people. So I said to myself: ‘Okay, I’m not going to treat people anymore, I’m going to be a beautician, a beautician with a medical background. '"
Zhang Qingxiang completed the transformation from an ophthalmologist to a medical aesthetic doctor, and he also became a rich man as he wished.
liposuction, breast augmentation, eyelid cutting, Zhang Qingxiang can do countless things at his fingertips He can earn a lot of money after each operation.
“We will do whatever you want. "
Zhang Qingxiang, who is obsessed with pursuing wealth, plunges into the operating room like a machine.
When Zhang Qingxiang's clinic started, his clients had to wait a week if they wanted to have surgery. But as Zhang Qingxiang's fame grew, his clients' The waiting time for appointments has become one month, two months, three months, or even half a year.
Regarding the enthusiastic customers, Zhang Qingxiang later said sarcastically: "The demand is so great that people have to queue up to wait for plastic surgery. Conceited woman, wonderful life! ”
For Zhang Qingxiang, his patients are no longer patients waiting for treatment, but stacks of banknotes that lead him to success.
As the business became busy, Zhang Qingxiang began to hire other doctors.
One, two, Three, four...
With the development of the hospital, Singapore's local business can no longer fill Zhang Qingxiang's expanding ambitions.
After having enough capital, Zhang Qingxiang even opened a hospital in Indonesia to attract Indonesian ladies. Of course, the money that comes with the wives is rolling in.
"Everything is so beautiful, I am there, and my time has come. "
This is Zhang Qingxiang's description of how he felt at that time.
Sudden illness
As his wealth grew, so did Zhang Qingxiang's desire.
After earning enough wealth, Zhang Qingxiang began to squander his wealth, buying luxury cars and mansions, and traveling to high-end hotels. Restaurants and clubs.
By squandering his wealth, Zhang Qingxiang successfully entered the high-end circle.
He continued to turn high-net-worth acquaintances into his customers and took out huge amounts of money from their pockets.
He began to cooperate with these customers. , and even bought and sold land to build a house with a banker with an annual income of more than 5 million Singapore dollars.
When wealth was rapidly pouring in, Zhang Qingxiang achieved his wish but also lost his goal. He began to become arrogant. And arrogant.
When describing himself at that time, Zhang Qingxiang revealed that at that time, he thought that patients were checks rather than human beings.
“I became so obsessed that other things didn’t matter to me. Patients are just a source of revenue, and I try to squeeze every penny out of these patients. ”
Under the temptation of money, he lost himself.
Zhang Qingxiang, who even believed in Christianity at the age of 20, directly told others after being late for a prayer: "Do you know? Ask your pastor to change the sermon time to two o'clock in the afternoon. At that time, I may consider whether to go to church. , If God really wants me to go to church, He will give me instructions."
At this time, Zhang Qingxiang no longer had any fear.
As the saying goes, if you want to destroy a person, you must first make him crazy.
Zhang Qingxiang, blinded by arrogance, soon encountered an accident.
In March 2011, 39-year-old Zhang Qingxiang suddenly felt abnormal pain in his back that lasted for a long time while exercising.
As a doctor who works out six days a week, he quickly realized this was a bad sign.
Zhang Qingxiang, who noticed the abnormality, went to the hospital for an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). In his judgment, he may have suffered from a lumbar disc herniation. Although it was serious, as long as he paid the money, he no longer cared about the small money.
While waiting for the results of the photography, he was lifting weights and squatting in the gym as usual.
But after he got the results, he could no longer think about going to the gym.
The results showed a metabolic problem in his bone marrow, which as a doctor he knew meant he probably had cancer .
After another more detailed examination, Zhang Qingxiang accurately learned about his condition—stage 4B terminal lung cancer.
His condition was very serious. At this time, the cancer cells had spread to his brain, half of his spine, two lungs and other organs. His body was covered with dense tumors.
"I said to myself, this is impossible! I went to the gym yesterday to lift weights. What on earth happened? One moment I was standing on a high mountain. How did I know that I would receive such news like a bolt from the blue the next day? , my world was suddenly turned upside down."
After learning about his condition, Zhang Qingxiang was devastated. He didn't understand why he would encounter such a thing at the peak of his life.
He has over a hundred relatives, none of whom have ever had cancer, even though many of them are chain smokers.
Zhang Qingxiang always believed that he had good genes, so he couldn't figure out why he was the one suffering from lung cancer. The day after
learned about the condition, Zhang Qingxiang, who had just undergone puncture surgery, still could not accept the fact.
Looking at the ceiling above his head, Zhang Qingxiang began to reflect on his life in his mind.
Deathbed Reflections
After falling ill, Zhang Qingxiang suddenly found that the wealth he was proud of no longer worked.
He is no longer an admired rich man, but a patient waiting to die in a hospital bed. Ironically, not long ago, he regarded patients like him as nothing more than money.
"I have always been proud and talented, so I don't think I need to rely on anyone in my life. I am full of confidence and self-confidence. If I have stage 1 or 2 cancer, I will work hard to find the best." The cardiothoracic surgery performed incision and then chemotherapy, because the recovery rate of this treatment was very high, but I was suffering from stage 4B, and no one could save me. "
At that time, Zhang Qingxiang was always low and high. With his arrogant head, he began to realize that he was not omnipotent.
Although he knew it was difficult for him to survive, his survival instinct still kept Zhang Qingxiang obediently staying in the hospital for treatment.
When Zhang Qingxiang was receiving brain electrotherapy in the second to third weeks, the doctor began to prepare him for chemotherapy.
At this time, a new bad news made Zhang Qingxiang feel collapsed.
During chemotherapy, the hospital will use ZOMETA (zoledronic acid) to prevent Zhang Qingxiang from suffering strong compression fractures, but the side effect of this drug is that it can cause osteonecrosis of the patient's jaw.
This means that Zhang Qingxiang must have his wisdom teeth removed before undergoing chemotherapy.
In the subsequent speech, Zhang Qingxiang described his pain at that time.
"I was lying on the operating chair and asked myself, who was suffering from the side effects of electrotherapy: Isn't all this enough? Now I have to endure the pain of tooth extraction .”
At that time, Zhang Qingxiang asked the doctor if he could choose other solutions and whether he could not extract the tooth.
Zhang Qingxiang did not get the answer he wanted.
After the operation, Zhang Qingxiang asked his oncologist how long he had left .
The other party’s answer was no more than 6 months.
As his condition worsened, Zhang Qingxiang became more and more desperate. Whenever he opened his eyes, he hoped that this was just a dream and that it would pass as soon as he woke up. The pain in his body is telling him that the terrible lung cancer is taking away his life.
Lung cancer has the highest mortality rate, even if breast cancer, , colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, are the most common diseases in Singapore. The combined mortality rate of cancer is not as high as that of lung cancer, because you can remove the breast, , large intestine, and prostate, but you cannot remove the lungs.
For patients suffering from cancer, the only thing that can make them feel better. There is a special mutation in their genes.
This mutation is called EGFR mutation, and the probability is about 10%. More than 90% of patients with such mutations are Asian women who have never smoked.
For Zhang Qingxiang, this is. The situation made him collapse, because he was both a male and a light smoker.
Neither he nor his doctor had any hope that he had an EGFR mutation.
Zhang Qingxiang was in despair as he entered the countdown to life. He began to reflect on his past actions.
He no longer believed in his previous values of money first.
In his subsequent speech, Zhang Qingxiang said that his change came from a dream.
In that dream, he heard a command. Help people in distress. "
The voice in the dream made Zhang Qingxiang, who was in despair, find his goal again.
"I used to think that having money means happiness, and happiness means constantly pursuing wealth. But when I was on the verge of death, my Ferrari sports car , the land and house I bought, and my business had become meaningless to me. None of these things could bring me any comfort or happiness! "
In the past, during the New Year, Zhang Qingxiang would drive his sports car to the homes of relatives and friends.
Because he knew that he had these things that others did not have, and he thought this was happiness.
But after getting sick, Zhang Qingxiang discovered that he had I am too stupid.
"So we build our happiness on the pain of others. That is not happiness. When I face death, I can't imagine that I can still hold my beloved sports car and feel happy. Real happiness comes from communication between people. A few months ago, when I was still feeling very depressed, I found that communicating with my family and friends can make me more powerful. They share my pain and joy with me, and that is the real happiness. "
Regarding what happiness is, Zhang Qingxiang gave his own conclusion on the cliff of death.
"Do you know what can make you smile? That joy comes from helping people who are suffering. We must recognize the key points in our lives as early as possible, and the sooner the better. Don't be like me. "
When Zhang Qingxiang changed, life gave him a small reward.
His test report showed that he was EGFR positive, which meant that he had a small probability of EGFR mutation. He did not need to undergo chemotherapy. As long as It can be controlled by taking oral medicine.
After that, the number of Zhang Qingxiang's tumors began to decrease, and 90% of the tumors that once covered his body were eliminated. This number will even decrease after a few months.
This makes Zhang Qingxiang happy. According to the news, even though his cancer cells will continue to spread after developing drug resistance, he has extended his life countdown.
It is always happy to live longer.
After the disease was under control, Zhang Qingxiang began to treat the disease. Share your experiences with others.
He is no longer the rich man who put money first. He implements the new principle of helping others and visits fellow cancer patients to provide encouragement and comfort.
He took his own experience to give speeches and share it with other colleagues, and warned them not to wait until they were seriously ill to realize that money is not that important.
There is no doubt that Zhang Qingxiang has changed.
But the sad thing is that when he found true joy and happiness, he had already reached the end of his life.
“What really brings me joy these past days are my interactions with people, my loved ones, my friends, people who really care about me, who laugh and cry with me, who can identify with the pain and suffering I’ve been through. , We need wealth, but not just for ourselves. I have experienced it, and I know that only wealth in life is very empty. "
On October 18, 2012, Zhang Qingxiang passed away at the age of 40. He did not have the wealth he pursued before. Leave with him.
Information source:
Singapore Eye "A beauty doctor with a net worth of millions died young, and his last words were read by thousands of people"
China Health World Network "Singapore doctor became a billionaire but unfortunately died of cancer"
