Tragedy and Triumph

By Richard T. Cheng

Dr. Cheng's fourth book of his four-part biography series, A Fascinating Journey to Success: A Professor and CEO True Story. A success story of a hardworking and brilliant man whose life experiences and adventures is worth reading from start to finish.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Book Vine Press
• Release date: Jun 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781952835285

Richard T. Cheng

Richard Tien-Ren Cheng was born in June 1934. Since the age of three, he had been suffering from the war between China and Japan and the Chinese civil war between the nationalists and the communists. He moved frequently to escape the war and suffered immensely from losing his close relatives. At the age of fifteen, he escaped the mainland China to Taiwan, where he grew up and completed his undergraduate education. He was married in Taiwan. When he decided to go to the States for his master's degree, he left his wife, a son, and another son. When he arrived at the school, he had thirty dollars to his name. He struggled for ten years in between studying and working. When he finally finished his doctoral degree, he became an educator in the effort to develop computer science programs for various institutions of higher education. He was promoted from assistant professor to associate professor to full professorship in six years and to eminent professorship in another three years. In 1985, he decided to give up his position as an eminent professor and chairman of computer science at Old Dominion University to establish a small company. Through less than five years of struggle, he achieved the goal of making it a multimillion-dollar company. In 1991, he received the largest contract the IRS awarded to a small company, which was for $240 million over six years. He has been active in the Organization of Chinese Americans, the Committee of 100, and the Chinese-American Foundation for Americans. He also has done a lot of philanthropic work that benefit to several universities.

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 by Richard T. Cheng.

ISBN 978-1-952835-27-8 (softcover)

ISBN 978-1-952835-28-5 (ebook)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Printed in the United States of America.

Book Vine Press

2516 Highland Dr.

Palatine, IL 60067

CONTENTS

Preface

Most Devastating Experience

A Double Agent

I Lost My Mama

Diving into the Commercial World

The Pentagon Work and More

Buildings Aligned with Feng Shui

The Largest Contract—IRS

The Tough Negotiators

Awards—National and Others

Commerce Delegation to Beijing

Pioneer Four

No More Landlords for Us

The $240 Million Professor—Article

Good Deeds Never Go Unpunished

OCA and the Committee of 100

Witnessing the Hong Kong Changeover

The World-Class Philanthropist

Another Close Call

A State Visit with Pat Robertson

A Cancer Survivor

Where My Old Friends Are

The Passing of Aziz and Baba

Retirement, Years of Enjoyment

PREFACE

This book described the personal losses and awards in his life. He told how he had become the $240 Million Professor—how the opportunity came, how he negotiated with the vendor and the government, and how he was awarded the $240 million contract. As a result, he was bestowed with all sorts of awards. Transpacific Magazine wrote an article about him in May 1994 and called him the $240 Million Professor. He had suffered the loss of his youngest son, mother, father, and some dear friends. He had survived a bout with cancer and suffered pneumonia while on a trip. He revisited his long-lost friends and relatives and found out how they were doing. He had visited many heads of states and lectured throughout the world. In his retirement years, he traveled all around the world by land trips, ocean, and river cruises, many with his poker buddies back in Rochester, New York.

chapter 1

Most Devastating Experience

Billy was a very active and lively little boy since he was born. By the age of three, he had developed stuffy nose and breathing difficulties that we thought were caused by allergic reactions to dust and molds. Nothing serious was detected until the age of nine, when Billy complained of intermittent eyesight problems. His eyes would have partially blocked vision from time to time, and the blockage would change location each time. We took him to Rochester’s Strong Memorial Hospital for diagnosis, but no conclusive illness was found. A few months later, Billy complained that he developed an uncontrollable jerking of his hands. We continued sending him to the hospital for every diagnostic the doctors could think of. After the test results were in, I asked Dr. I-ling Yu, a good family friend, to do an analysis of the results.

The test results point to the problem called the Sydenham’s chorea. It is like a moving target and there is no known cure, but it might just grow out of him, I-ling told Nancy and me.

We believed her advice; besides, there were no other alternatives but to wait for the problem to grow out of him. Each time Billy had an eye problem or the hand jerk, he would come to me for help. I tried to listen to his description of the symptoms, but my heart just had the sinking feeling when I was helpless to him. It pained me infinitely that there was not a thing that any doctor could do to help him.

We moved to Virginia Beach when Billy was thirteen years old. Billy was very active at school and the school’s extracurricular activities. He attended Cox High School starting in the eighth grade. Billy was on the school debate team, representing the school, and won many trophies. Billy was also serving as the announcer in football games because of his good voice. He was also active with the local barbershop quartet that was a group of adults with most of the members in their forties or fifties. Billy enjoyed the barbershop quartet so much that he never missed one meeting. Billy also participated in the wrestling matches at school. At that period, Billy still complained about his eyes and hands, but not as frequently as before. I thought he was gradually getting well.

In May 1981, I was on my way to Taiwan. I called home from JFK just before the plane’s departure at midnight.

Billy just came home from a one-day field trip to DC. He was coughing, and some blood came out of his mouth. Nancy was very concerned.

Why don’t you take Billy to see a doctor first thing in the morning? I advised Nancy.

After I arrived in Taipei twenty hours later, I called home to check on Billy.

Hi! I am in Taipei safely. How is Billy? Has he seen by a doctor?

The doctor took some samples of his blood and it was sent to a laboratory for test. The result should be back in three days, Nancy told me.

In Taipei I had a series of business meetings during the days and visited Mama and Baba at nights. On the fourth day in Taipei, I called Nancy at home.

Dr. Rhee has ordered further tests on Billy because his platelet count is very low. He has arranged for a team of specialists to have a joint discussion on Billy’s case, she told me.

My heart again experienced the sinking feeling.

How does Billy feel? Is he still active as usual? I asked.

Just by looking at him, you can’t tell if he has any illness. He is not coughing out blood and he eats and sleeps normally. We will know by the time you get home, Nancy said.

I was worried so much and cut short my visit to the Asian countries. I kept Billy’s illness from Mama and Baba to spare them from worrying. I rushed back home from Taipei to see how Billy was with his diagnosis. Nancy and I went to Dr. Rhee’s office the morning after I returned home.

I cannot say for sure at this time, but the initial diagnosis indicates this could be a form of lupus, Dr. Rhee told us.

What is lupus? I asked.

Lupus is a form of autoimmune problem. His immune system is attacking tissues of his own organs as if they are foreign bodies. I suggest you take Billy to see the specialist Dr. Ed George. He is a hematologist, an expert in the diseases of the blood, Dr. Rhee said.

We sent Billy to see Dr. George in Norfolk. Dr. George started treating and monitoring Billy’s platelet once every other day. Dr. George prescribed cortisone to treat Billy.

Dr. George, I am very scared of steroids. It will eventually destroy instead of cure him, I said.

I am afraid the steroid is the most effective way to control the disease, he said.

"Is there any alternative to the steroid?

No. There is none for treating lupus effectively enough.

Dr. George, please give me a few days to think about the medication. If you just give us the prescription, we will get it filled. I will call you when we start the doses.

I talked to my doctor friends throughout the country and in Taiwan. No one gave me any suggestions, but they all agree that steroids were very bad for long-term treatment.

I will use minimum dose of the steroid, and I sure will reduce the amount when the platelet increases, Dr. George promised me.

Okay! Please control the amount to the minimum needed for him. I finally gave in to the use of the steroid on Billy.

In the first few months, the steroid seemed to work well. Billy was responding to the treatment and his platelet was increasing as expected. But from the long-term use of the steroid, several side effects showed up. The most obvious was the moon face. Billy’s facial features changed. He had an egg-shaped, very handsome face. It was changed into a round face. Billy was even-tempered and was pleasant all the time before taking the steroid. Afterward, he became very quick tempered. We realized those were the side effects of medication, so we were not alarmed.

Because the lupus was invading other parts of Billy’s body, Dr. George recommended the treatment be transferred to Dr. Liddman, who was a noted specialist in the field of immunology. We switched Billy’s doctor to Liddman after one whole year of treatment under Dr. George. Dr. Liddman continued the same steroid treatment for Billy. His office was near where we lived. It was convenient for us because the need to visit his office became more frequent as the lupus invaded Billy’s kidney.

When the lupus invades the kidney, it is very tough to control. So far, Billy is responding to the treatment, Dr. Liddman told us.

I knew the illness was progressing. I just felt sick to my stomach with the news from Dr. Liddman. As the kidney was invaded by the lupus, it lost protein from the body tissues. The dose of steroid increased many times from the beginning. The side effects from the steroid just became more prominent.

Taking a steroid had another side effect: the increased acid level in the urine. Dr. Liddman added more medications to counter the side effect of the steroid. Billy’s blood pressure was increasingly higher with the use of steroid. Hypertension medication was added to his daily dose of prescription drugs. Billy took the medication as directed by the doctor without missing a beat. Each day when I saw him swallowing the handful of pills, my heart ached, but I could not find any alternatives. I knew well that the doctor’s prescriptions were just treating the symptoms but not the cause of the illness. I was worried the combination of these drugs was causing more problems to Billy than the cure.

From taking the steroid, Billy had acquired a strange appetite for raw beefsteaks. Because he was losing proteins from his urine, he needed to consume large amount of proteins. Billy ate one pound or more of beefsteaks per day, sometimes in just one meal. His cholesterol level was over 300.

Billy, the raw beef with fat is bad for your health. Your cholesterol is already too high, I told him.

Dr. Liddman told me I need the extra proteins to make up for the proteins lost through my kidney, he would say.

I didn’t feel it sounded reasonable, so I called Dr. Liddman and tried to have him change his instructions. Dr. Liddman, Billy is eating a lot of beef as you instructed, and now his cholesterol level is over 300. Could you tell him to reduce the fat intake?

The high cholesterol is caused by the steroid. It is normal for people taking long-term steroid treatment. Don’t worry, he said.

Dr. Liddman, would this high cholesterol level cause any problems for Billy’s heart or his artery? I asked.

No. I don’t think eating a lot of meat will cause any concern of that sort for him. He can live a normal life to sixty years old without any problems just the way he is, said Dr. Liddman.

The words were a comfort for me, but I was still worried about the high level of cholesterol. Billy also had a tough time falling asleep at night from the steroid, in addition to all other sorts of problems, but he struggled physically to finish senior high school; he was on the honor roll.

Although Billy was very sick during the high school years, he maintained a normal and very active schedule. He kept himself busy with both schoolwork and after-school activities. People who did not know his condition would think he was such an energetic young man. At Cox High School, Billy had a very good female friend, Judy. They dated frequently in the three years and she was with him at the senior prom. First, I thought they were quite serious about the future, but after graduation, Judy went out of town to attend college and they simply stopped contacting each other. Billy never showed that he missed Judy. When Judy came home for holidays and vacations, they still went out together.

After graduation, Billy entered Old Dominion University as a freshman. Billy’s strong area was in literacy. He wrote well and spoke well, so he decided to pursue a degree in English literature. I encouraged him to pursue whatever he could do best. At Old Dominion University, he was very active on the debate team that had won several awards for the university. He was also active in the model UN. His ability in writing put him on the university newspaper’s editorial team. Billy drove to Norfolk from home to attend school all by himself without any problem. The medication did not bother him when he was on the road. He apparently was very happy at ODU. He loved living intensely and wanted to do something all the time. When the university activities slowed down, that provided time for him to think, and he would become obviously very sad.

Dad, why me? Why do I get this rare disease? I have so much to do with my life, but I don’t know how long I can live. I heard most people get lupus don’t live beyond twenty or twenty-one years old, he said to me one day.

Billy, I don’t know how to answer your questions. I just wish I could be sick for you. We will fight this disease together, I said as I held Billy’s shoulder with my hands. We both had tears in our eyes.

Mohammed Al-Balla, a Saudi friend, came to visit ECI in the fall of 1986. Nancy and I took him to lunch in a Chinese restaurant. Billy came and joined us because Mohammed liked Billy very much. During the lunch, Billy suddenly stopped eating.

What wrong, Billy? I asked.

Nothing. It was just a little pain on my back. It is gone now, he said.

I did not think it was anything serious. At that lunch, Mohammed invited Billy to Saudi Arabia for a visit and he would pay for all the expenses. Billy gladly accepted the offer.

A month after Mohammed returned Saudi Arabia, a round-trip ticket and a check of $2,000 arrived. Billy was so happy to go on this trip. Nancy prepared all the medications he needed. He carried a duffle bag and readied to explore the Middle East. It was the winter break from Old Dominion University, where Billy was a sophomore. We asked him to call home as frequently as he could, and call collect. Billy did call several times in the two weeks overseas. He told us how happy and how excited he was staying with the Al-Balla family on their huge farm near Riyadh. Khalad Al-Balla, Mohammed’s brother, took Billy to the Red Sea, where they spent two days diving in the coral reefs. He also went to Cairo with a companion sent by the Al-Balla family for a few days’ tour and then returned home. He was tired but extremely happy.

On the morning of April 10, 1987, a Saturday, I was in my car driving to a meeting. The car phone rang. Nancy was in the other end of the line. You’d better rush home. Billy is very ill. She was in a panic.

My heart sank to the bottom of the ocean. I did not know what was happening, but I recalled the night before. Billy was measuring his blood pressure in the family room.

Dad! It is strange. I can’t find the readings, he said.

The electronic blood pressure gauge had had some problems before, so I did not pay too much attention. Besides, Billy just went to Dr. Liddman’s office in the afternoon.

Billy, what was the reading in the doctor’s office?

The doctor said it was high, but he didn’t do or say anything.

Then at about eleven o’clock that night, Billy came to me. It just happened now. I feel some pain on my back, Billy said. He pointed at the back right below the shoulder blade. The pain is here, and it comes and goes.

I did not know what was happening. Take two aspirins and go to bed, I told Billy.

Billy went to the kitchen, took two aspirins, and retired for the night. I left home before Billy got up that morning. Now on my way home, I suddenly recalled some of my friends had heart attacks. Several of them felt pain on their back. I was frightened that Billy might suffer from a heart attack. But how could that be? The doctor said the high blood pressure and the high cholesterol would not affect Billy as others, because this high level was the result of medication and not really high levels.

I pushed my car to the limit to get home within ten minutes. Billy and Nancy both were waiting in the driveway. I waved for them to get in the car and sped to the hospital nearby. Billy was in great pain and asked me to go faster. It took me only five minutes to reach the emergency entrance of the hospital. I asked Nancy to park the car and helped Billy walk to the emergency registration desk. The clerk was apparently a trainee or a substitute. She was in no hurry to register Billy. She turned around to talk to a friend standing behind her. I had to remind her we had an emergency here. She then asked me all kinds of unimportant questions. In the meantime, Billy was suffering. His face turned paper white. I became upset and told that woman.

If you don’t know how to do your job at the emergency desk, I will make your hospital liable to any delays in treating my son. He may have a heart attack.

He doesn’t have a heart attack, she said.

I was so angry. I helped Billy up just and we walked into the emergency room. Luckily a doctor was at the door, saw the condition Billy was in, and called out to get oxygen and put it on for Billy. They pushed Billy into the critical care room and asked me to wait in the waiting room across the hall.

Nancy joined me in the waiting room. I was still fuming about the stupid woman stalling us at the registration desk. We waited for about five hours before the doctor came to see us.

Your son had a heart attack, but we don’t know how severe it is. We are doing more testing and will know by tomorrow. He is resting comfortably now. You can see him when we put him in a room. I will have the nurse take you to him, said the doctor.

We thanked the doctor for taking care of Billy. Our hearts were cut into pieces by the news.

You see how wrong Dr. Liddman was about his high blood pressure and the cholesterol. I wish I was wrong about his diet and extraneous activities.

Nancy was so frightened. She couldn’t say anything. A nurse came to the waiting room and told us we could follow her to see Billy. We went to the fourth floor where more serious patients stayed. Billy was leaning on a stack of pillows in the bed. He looked fine; the facial coloration was back.

Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad! The doctors just gave me some shots and pills. I am feeling fine now. When can I return home? he asked.

Billy, the doctor said you might have had a heart attack. He still needs to do some tests. You just stay calm and rest up a bit. You will be fine, I said.

"Can you bring my Walkman and some tapes tomorrow? Oh! I also want to read the Daily Break. Can you bring today’s and tomorrow for me?"

Sure, I will bring them to you tomorrow. You have a good night of sleep. Good night, Billy! I said.

Good night, Dad! Good night, Mom! said Billy.

Nancy walked over, kissed Billy on his forehead, and said good-night to him. On the way home, Nancy cried uncontrollably. We were all very scared by the sudden development.

The next morning, Nancy and I went to the hospital to see Billy. He must have had a rough night.

Dad, I did not rest well at all because the noises and the lights were bothering me all night.

He looked very tired. Nancy and I just sat around or paced the corridors of the hospital floor while Billy was trying to rest. We waited until three in the afternoon. Dr. Dickenson took Nancy and me to the hallway and talked to us. I am afraid I have some bad news for you. Your son’s heart muscle is severely damaged. We need to have an open-heart surgery quickly to save him. Because of the amount of heart tissue damage, we cannot do it here at Virginia Beach General. We need to transfer him to Norfolk General. If you wait here, we will get the transfer procedures ready. You can ride with the ambulance or follow it to Norfolk.

Nancy and I just went into a shock. How could things go so wrong and so suddenly? I felt numb and wanted to cry but I had no tears. We went back to see Billy.

Billy, you have some problems with the heart. We need to take you to Norfolk General Hospital for a surgery. Mom and I will be with you all the time, I told Billy.

I see I have had a heart attack. Am I going to have open-heart surgery? asked Billy.

Yes, Billy, I said, nodding my head.

I am okay. I am not afraid. Please don’t worry, he said.

Nancy and I couldn’t help but to turn around and quietly wipe our tears.

We followed the ambulance with its lights flashing and sirens blaring all the way to Norfolk General Hospital emergency entrance, where several people with a roller bed and oxygen were ready. They quickly pushed the bed into the operating prep room not far from the entrance. The operating team was ready for the surgery. The chief surgeon was Dr. Azan, who was leading a team of physicians and nurses. Dr. Azan came to the waiting room to brief Nancy and me on what he planned to do.

The damage of the heart tissue is so severe. We will try our best to save Billy, he said.

At such a young age, would the damaged heart tissue grow back quickly? I asked.

It is possible for the heart tissue to repair itself. His crisis is not just the heart tissues. Normally the older people would have a better chance to recover than the younger patients, Dr. Azan said.

Before I could ask more questions, the nurse came out and told Dr. Azan, We are ready.

Please keep calm and relax. It will take us about three hours to complete the operation, Dr. Azan told us.

Nancy and I thanked him and saw him disappear behind the corridor.

It was a long wait. Time seemed to go much slower than usual. We paced the hospital corridors and went to the coffee shop for a drink. Nancy went to the hospital chapel to pray for Billy. I also prayed silently for his safety in this very critical and dangerous operation. I walked by the operation suites and tried to peep into the operating room through the small window. All I could see was the busy group of people in white gowns and green outfits. We did not have any lunch or dinner, but we did not feel hungry. Our stomachs were in knots and our throats were choked with something the size of a ping-pong ball. Nancy told me that my facial coloration was gray-green. But the time still was ticking ever so slowly. The doctor had gone into the operating room at about five thirty in the evening. After so much waiting, it was still six thirty. We knew around nine o’clock the doctor should come out.

Why don’t you go the waiting room to have shut-eye? she said. Don’t forget you have high blood pressure. I will call you when the doctor is coming out, she told me.

Okay! I will go and take a quick nap, I said.