“We have become decent people,” said newly certified Tzu Chi commissioner Cheng Mei-hui to Hung Wu-cheng as they held each other’s hands right after the certification ceremony for central Taiwan Tzu Chi commissioners on December 30, 2003.

They first met each other at Cheng’s nightclub two decades ago. Cheng was seen as an underworld “godmother” figure and Hung was a generous customer.

“We met each other at that den of iniquity about 20 years ago, but now we meet again at Tzu Chi,” said Cheng as she marveled at the karma that brought them together. Hung, a notorious prodigal son who has become a Tzu Cheng Faith Corps member after years of underworld life, sighed, “We’re getting old.”

A tough figure

Memories flash by like car lights outside a window and draw Cheng back to her “glorious” past.

In 1983, 32-year-old Cheng was a physical education teacher. She broke her leg and had to rest up at home. All of Taiwan was crazy about an illegal lottery called “Everybody Happy.” Cheng was enticed by a “big sister” to act as a bookmaker and invite people to choose numbers. Every day, the “big sister” would hire someone to drive Cheng to various markets. When Cheng rolled down the car window, people would approach and choose numbers. A ticket cost NT$100 (US$3) and she could earn a $20 commission for each set that people bought. One day could bring her at least $1,000, and she thought that making money was “a piece of cake.”

After her leg healed, Cheng tried to earn more money by making some small investments on drinking and gambling. She got all her money back in six months. She quit her teaching job and opened a nightclub. She also came to know quite a few sugar daddies as her patrons, and money constantly flowed into her pocket.

At that time, Cheng was quite influential in central Taiwan. She owned a high-rise building: on the first floor was her tour bus company, on the second floor a video arcade, on the third floor a gambling parlor, and on the fourth floor a private, illegal loan-sharking operation that would suck every drop of blood from its customers. She dressed up beautifully every day and had over 10 people serving her. She had a chauffeur to drive her around. If she wanted tea, someone would bring it to her. If she was hungry, she could just wave her hand and all kinds of delicacies would be made ready.

Every evening when all the lights had been switched on, it was time for Cheng to start her day. She could drink 40 or 50 bottles of beer a night, so she was nicknamed, “Beer Queen.”

She was good at all kinds of dissoluteness: eating, drinking, playing, gambling, stealing, deceiving, robbing, lying, and illegal investments, among other things.

At that time, Hung Wu-cheng and his “brothers” patronized Cheng’s nightclub. Now Hung’s face is chubby and he smiles constantly, but in the past, as Cheng recalls, he was very skinny and his gangsters liked to flash their guns to frighten people. Cheng never thought that Hung could undergo such a tremendous transformation.

Gone in one night

The major earthquake that struck Taiwan on September 21, 1999, knocked down Cheng’s business empire. The company went bankrupt, she lost all the money, and all her servants ran away…. She had nothing to eat, and she did not even have enough money to buy herself a train ticket to seek refuge with her family in Taipei. However, another chain of events really pushed her to a dead end.

A man from Cheng’s company and a group of thugs broke into the company office, stole all the valuables, and pawned the title deeds for the real estate that she owned. He even stole Cheng’s personal ID card to borrow money from a bank to buy a car which was later used in robbing jewelry stores.

Following the leads they were given, the police arrested Cheng. Even though her name was cleared, she became depressed and drank a lot. When she was drunk, she would hurl things at cars and stores. She became hysterical several times and was hospitalized for treatment.

While in the hospital, Cheng noticed a photograph of a Buddhist nun in the Tzu Chi Monthly magazine. The nun, wearing a straw hat, was inspecting an earthquake disaster area. Suddenly, Cheng was awakened. She saw that this petite, frail nun could shoulder such a heavy burden while her own life was completely pointless.

Cheng’s first close encounter with Tzu Chi was in 2002. On May 25, there was an airplane crash in Penghu. Tzu Chi volunteers helped with the disaster relief work and also soothed bereaved families around Taiwan.

Six volunteers in Taichung went to find a bereaved family who happened to live in the same community as Cheng. One morning, Cheng ran into these volunteers several times, and she finally asked them, “Are you Tzu Chi people? Can I join you?”

Being straightforward

“I want to join Tzu Chi, and I want to ask you for donations. So bring your money down to the first floor.” The first step for Cheng to become a Tzu Chi commissioner was to solicit donations. She didn’t know how to raise money, so she simply pressed the intercoms of all the residents living in her apartment building.

Her neighbors had seen her act like a lunatic after drinking, so there was little reaction. However, over 20 people really brought NT$100 each down to the first floor and gave her the money. Cheng later recalled that her kind neighbors probably thought that she was drunk or she had no money to buy beer…. They simply wanted to give her the money out of charity.

A month later, Cheng handed the receipts back to her neighbors. When they asked around and found out that Cheng had held several fundraising tea parties in the community, they realized that she was serious about joining Tzu Chi.

Cheng made a spectacle of herself several times during her training to become a commissioner. When she was having meals with other volunteers, she didn’t know that everyone had to use the serving spoons on the table to take food from the serving dishes (so as not to spread colds or other diseases). She sat with her legs crossed (which is considered rude by many Chinese) and picked up food from the serving dishes with her own chopsticks. She knew nothing about Tzu Chi’s special terminology, so she raised her hand immediately when her team leader asked if anyone wanted to be a “Blessed Field Volunteer”--a volunteer janitor!

To become a Tzu Chi commissioner, all her past “expertise” had to be corrected. That was a major challenge for her. The idea of quitting drinking was horrible enough to make her body quiver. When she had arguments with other people, she could only go home and punch pillows to vent her anger since she wanted to abide by Master Cheng Yen’s admonition to humble oneself. When her old friends asked her out for a drink and she refused, they would get angry at her. When friends brought barbecued meat to her home and she refused to take it because she had become a vegetarian, they sneered at her….

She once wanted to quit the training, but another Tzu Chi volunteer, Liu Hsiu-luan, accompanied her throughout that period and Cheng was able to make it.

After quitting drinking, Cheng joked that the one who lost the most was perhaps the convenience store in her neighborhood, where she usually went to buy beer. The owner once said to her with a smile, “When you joined Tzu Chi, I lost a generous customer.”

Lousy mother, well-loved mother

Cheng had once been a teacher, so after she joined Tzu Chi, she went back to teaching again. After receiving training for women returning to the job market, Cheng became a teacher at a day-care center.

The job ended last year. But with support from many parents, she leased the community center to teach classes to children. She also hired teachers to tutor children in math and English (a required subject for all Taiwanese schoolchildren).

When asked where she got her teaching materials for teaching Master Cheng Yen’s Still Thoughts to the children, she said that she constantly reads the Master’s Still Thoughts and other books, and she also gets materials from Tzu Chi TV programs and the Tzu Chi Monthly magazine, so she has many things to share with the children.

“I used to love to drink beer and insult people--I never thought that I would be able to teach children to say nice things,” said Cheng. She is very clear that she is doing all this to children as a way to pay back what she owes to her own children.

Cheng owes her parents and children the most in this life. She left home when she was young to make a living. Her two children were basically raised by her parents and her sisters. Cheng never changed her daughter’s diapers. When her son was getting married, the bride’s parents discussed the marriage arrangements with Cheng’s parents instead of talking to her. Her son even had to remind others to invite Cheng to attend his wedding.

The Master once said, “You have to show respect to your parents and do good deeds promptly,” and this phrase keeps circling around in her head. She has tried to make up for past omissions by accompanying her father to the hospital, volunteering in the hospital, and teaching Still Thoughts to children….

Her sister, Cheng Man-hui, is a Tzu Chi commissioner. She gave her blessing to Cheng for joining Tzu Chi by saying, “This means that her life and attitude have truly been transformed.”