It all started when Bristow called me in mid-December 2001. He introduced himself over the phone and expressed his interest in interviewing one or two volunteers from our foundation. He then subtly listed the criteria of the potential interviewees: trade or industry leaders, active Tzu Chi volunteers and, last but not least, those who had a good command of English.

Tzu Chi is never short of enthusiastic volunteers, but it still took me some time to get hold of Dr. Duh, a Stanford University-trained scientist and currently the chairman of the Silicon Integrated Systems Corporation, who met Bristow's three conditions perfectly. Fortunately, our magazine covered Dr. Duh's story in the Summer 2000 issue. I e-mailed it to Bristow for information. He phoned me a few days later and told me he had read the article and found it rather amusing that Dr. Duh, a billionaire and the greatest philanthropist in the history of Taiwan, would sweep the streets in the community he lives in at 6:30 every morning. Our article pointed out that Dr. Duh sees his daily street-sweeping activity as a form of spiritual cultivation. In the beginning, people in his neighborhood even mistook him as a new street cleaner. They gradually became aware that this slender, gentle person was in fact the president of two big electronics corporations. Feeling embarrassed, the neighbors also began sweeping the areas in front of their residences.

"Can I follow him as he sweeps the street?" asked the British journalist.

"You certainly can, but please be aware that he lives in Kaohsiung [a city located in southern Taiwan], not in Taipei." A sigh of disappointment echoed on the other side of the phone. "But, don't worry, there's a little park adjacent to our Taipei office. Maybe you can do your interview there." This suggestion immediately cheered Bristow up.

After I hung up the phone, a better idea popped into my mind. I picked up the phone again and dialed Dr. Duh's number. The call went through at once. I explained to Dr. Duh about the BBC man's idea of doing the interview in the park in order to liven the program up a little. I then audaciously asked if he could do some sweeping in the park. Without any hesitation, Dr. Duh consented by saying, "I'll do anything you say to make the interview go smoothly."

It was a beautiful winter morning when the interviewer and interviewee met at the Tzu Chi office in Taipei. Everything went smoothly in accordance with the agreement. Dr. Duh modestly took off his jacket and began sweeping the sidewalks in the park. I was deeply impressed with some of his answers to the BBC reporter. For example, Bristow asked him if he wanted to be remembered a thousand years from now as a successful tycoon or just a Tzu Chi volunteer. Dr. Duh calmly selected the latter. He explained that a sudden heart attack nearly took his life in 1987, and he felt that the remaining time of his life was something extra.

"I also realized how insignificant power and wealth were to me," he said. "All I want now is to do everything I can to help Master Cheng Yen fulfill her ideas of helping the needy."

As the interview went on, I grabbed my camera and snapped a few photos of the interesting event. Looking at the 63-year-old entrepreneur humbly sweeping the park, I could not help but think of the two major goals that Master Cheng Yen tries to accomplish: "Help the poor and educate the rich." The Master hopes that she can educate rich people to share what they have received from society with other people. Observing Dr. Duh's modest, amenable behavior, I could tell that the Master's idea is not merely a fable from One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. It is indeed realizable.