Greed is his downfall.

I was close to a Chinese physician. He was very good at his profession. In recognised official medical examinations, he topped the list of physicians. He did very well as a result of his capability and reputation.

First, he worked for a medical hall. Inspired and encouraged by his wife, he started his own clinic. With that move, he became rich. There were lots of patients and money was never a problem.

Though money was not a problem, he was not satisfied with his wealth. Once, when I visited him, he told me of a research he had been doing. upon hearing the word research, I thought he had found a solution to one of the medical problems that his clients had brought to him.

But no, that was not the case. I was surprised upon being told that he had collected all the three and four digit numbers for the last ten years. Now, what connection are those to his profession? No, it certainly had no connection. It was his way to wealth, according to him and he was generous enough to share it with me.

"Ai Wei, do you see thid four-digit number. Last month, it came out as second prize in a draw. Two months previous to that, it appeared again as the first prize in a draw. Ai Wei, do you know how much that would give you, if you had put RM100 on it?
"Well, I don't know. I do not buy four digit or any type of numbers. So, I don't know." I frankly told him.
"My dear friend, If you had done that, you have no more problems with money." He quote a sum of money that was so huge it would have taken twenty years of my pay to equal it. "And even before these two times, the same number had appear numerous times. You see, there is a trend in its appearance."
"What if it does not appear for the next three months?" I asked.
"That's not a problem. All you need to do is to start with a certain amount. Foryou, maybe, a ringgit (Name of the Malaysian currency). If it does not appear in the draw, put in two ringgit for the second draw. If it still refuse to appear, bet four ringgit for the third draw, and carry on doubling your for every subsequent draw until the number surfaces in one of the future draws. When you strike, you are sure to be rich! It's a sure winner formula, my friend."

Wow! Here's the sure way to get rich, I thought. However, if we bet thus, it would be one ringgit, then two ringgit, then four ringgit, then eight ringgit, then sixteen ringgit, then thirty-two ringgit, then sixty-four, one-hundred, twenty-eight, two hundred, fifty-six, five hundred and twelve, one thousand and twenty-four ringgit for just a bet! W@ow! Where the hell could I find that type of money to pursue this dream? No way when my pay at that time was about three hundred and fifty only per month!

Besides, I do not believe in gambling as a way to riches. I could not persuade him to forget the dream. I tried to impart my 'What is yours will be yours and what is not your can never be yours' philosophy to him to no avail. I told him betting was just a luck game; with no skill involved, there's no certainty of winning.

Luckily, I was so much poorer than this friend. Otherwise, like my rich friend, I would have to disappear into the night one day never to be heard of again for approximately twenty years.

You see, he had to run away from his debtors, the people who allowed him to bet on credit because of his great wealth. He reached a stage where he owed them so much that they knew he no longer could pay up. To avoid bankruptcy and whatever threats he might have to face, he left his home, his property, his car and disappear with his wife and a child without any other relatives' knowledge of his family's whereabouts.

Well, the poor rich guy failed to achieve his dream because he might want to believe it but it was simply not conceivable. And luck was not with him. So, that was the downfall of a physician's success story. Greed which, like cancer, is domant in every one of us got the better of him.

That is why I have always stressed on discipline. It's the one essential factor that looks after our dignity, our ability to withstand lots of human storms and take us safely through our weaknesses.