In memory of Tsung-Shien Tsai
TIMA Taiwan
"If everybody can keep trying to be a white knight of somebody else, I believe, this is what I have dreamed of! " With radiant smile, Dr. Tsung-Shien Tsai had been trying to be to a white knight to others as his lifetime goal. Tsung-Shien Tsai resolutely joined the Northern Chapter of TIMA Taiwan after the 921 earthquake in 1999. Though he had to rely on crutches because of polio, he had volunteered to travel with TIMA to available rural area in the mountain in Taiwan to provide free clinics. And he was nearly indispensable in global TIMA missions.
More than that, he kept shuttling between Taipei and Hualien, even Yuli, a Township in southern Hualien, since 2004 to offer outpatient clinics. The only reason was that he knew "our"(Tzu Chi) hospitals were short of dentists because of their remote location. Whenever he was not working for the patients, he would help deliver medical records or push the bed as a regular medical volunteer, never letting a split second slip by.
Being the youngest son of the four children in his family and he suffered from polio when he was one-year-old, so extra love was showered onto him by his family since he was young. He had been so conceited that he had led a permissive life. Though he had learned that he has hepatitis B when was twenty years old, he still drank relentlessly, in addition to smoking and eating seafood. He was also very disappointed with the society of Taiwan and wanted to migrate to Singapore.
In 1999, the 921 earthquake though devastated Taiwan, also resonated the love deep inside Dr. Tsai's heart. He felt the changes in his mentality. In Tzu Chi, he saw the due respect paid in medical duties. Afterwards he had worked with TIMA with determination, dedication and devotion. Many volunteers joked that Dr. Tsai as having taken helicopter to show up in every TIMA mission. Though physically disabled, he had been carrying with him a James Bond style suitcase filled with dental equipment around Taiwan. He joined free clinics after the tsunami in South Asia, earthquake in Sichuan, and helped to build houses in the Philippines. Dr. Tsai said: "I have to take a nap after taking about 10 patients in my own clinic, due to the fatigue from cirrhosis. I never feel tired even after taking dozens of patients in TIMA missions". "From free clinics, I learned gradually the meaning of being rich. I found that real rich people are those who are willing to give out helping hands and blessings to others anywhere, anytime."
"I often feel very lucky." Since his father had been a silent mentor, Dr. Tsai made a wish that he could be silent mentor, too. He had made an appointment with his wife, Tzu Chi commissioner Wei-Hua Wang, that Tzu Chi will be the same old place for their rendezvous in their next life. Dr. Tsai regarded his handicapped feet as a white knight showing him rare sceneries that are not available to others.
Master Cheng Yen encourages everybody: "We cannot predict how long we can live, but we can go as wide as we can. For Dr. Tsai, his life is wide enough for him to shuttle freely between Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Philippines and Mainland China. Watching him walk all the way and climb all these mountains and sail across the seas to reach the spot where free clinics are needed. These are not sightseeing tours. These are the TIMA missions to the relief of the impoverished nations, the disasters and the backcountries. What a brave life! "
In the morning of September 20, 2012, Dr. Tsai Tsung-Shien waived goodbye to his brave life on this land to fulfill his wish to be a silent mentor, at the age of 55.
What a pity that we can no longer hear his generous and jolly laughter with radiant smiles!