Introduction: At the time, his long term goal was to become a doctor again. In order to fulfil his long term goal, he made some mid-term and short term targets, such as expanding his vocabulary and doing a number of squats daily. He broke down his great goal into small steps to fulfil his plan.

（picture from the Internet）

Welcome to today’s Global Reachout programme on ‘Workplace Strategy’ here. Through an article in Singapore ‘Heartbeat’ newsletter, we are introducing someone who nearly became a doctor but, instead, unexpectedly turned out to be a motivational mentor. He became the founder of a company, the recipient of a gold medal in a sports event, and a successful young entrepreneur. Doesn’t this seem strange to you? What does it mean? Indeed, the ups and downs of one’s life sometimes takes one by surprise.

The sudden occurrence of stroke

For Cai Xiang Lin, life was the most beautiful when he was 24 years old. Cai Xiang Lin had just graduated from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore. He aspired to be a neurosurgeon. Not only was he handsome, but he had also acquired distinguished educational qualifications, and had a bright future ahead of him. He was about to embark on the most exciting part of his life.

However, fate played a cruel trick on him.

On 28 April 2000, Cai Xiang Lin had just returned from the hospital. After playing a computer game for a while, he had sudden vision loss in his right eye. Next, he had a throbbing headache. He did not panic because of his five years of professional medical training. He thought that taking a rest would help, but the headache became more severe.  He called to inform his girlfriend about it. As she could not tend to him immediately, she dialled for the ambulance. While waiting for the ambulance, he tried hard to remain awake, but could hardly recognise which key was used to open the bedroom door.

（picture from the Internet）

Once he reached the hospital, the doctors immediately proceeded to save him. One third of his skull was cut off to release the pressure on the brain so that the blood clots could be cleared. After three weeks, he awoke. He recalled, “I opened my eyes that morning and saw that I was surrounded by my professor, my doctor, and my family. I was extremely elated that I was still alive.”

At that moment, he did not know that even though he had escaped the grip of death, he still had to face greater and more difficult trials in life.

Cai Xiang Lin’s stroke was caused by a malfunction of the cerebral vessel. It damaged his body severely. His cognitive ability was unaffected, but most of his bodily functions could not be carried out. He laid on his bed and depended on intubation for nutrients. He could neither talk nor move. He could only say ‘Ah…ah’ to convey his needs. While he was hospitalised, he saw his medical classmates busy attending to patients. Yet, he could not even take care of his basic needs. He felt that he was trapped in a prison, and was depressed. He plummeted to the lowest point in his life.

Walking out of the imprisoned body

During the interview, Cai Xiang Lin broke out in laughter and confessed: “I cried twice.”

The first time he cried was when the professor from the medical school visited him after his stroke. The professor took good care of him. Upon hearing his words of concern, Xiang Lin’s strong emotions welled up inside him and they were inexpressible. He could not restrain himself and sobbed.  Another time he cried was while having stroke rehabilitation at the hospital. He had to link the numbers 1 to 20 in sequence. He could only link 1 to 13 as he had forgotten what the number after 13 was. He was helpless and broke down in tears.

From Primary School to university, people always called Cai Xiang Lin ‘another person’s child’. He achieved excellent results and displayed outstanding leadership qualities. He entered medical school with superb results in all subjects. It was a bolt from the blue that he was struck by a stroke just when he had become a doctor. How helpless and despondent he was!

However, it was commendable that Cai Xiang Lin did not sink into depression for too long. Being positive and confident, he was aware that his movement was limited but not his ability in cognitive thinking! He would rather think of what to do next than to dwell on the pain that was caused by the stroke. He had to fulfil his dream of being a doctor! This belief motivated him to devote himself entirely to rehabilitation training.

Cai Xiang Lin spent 3 years in stroke rehabilitation, which was monotonous and difficult. Day after day, he moved his body in an attempt to recover his ability to move. He had to read the phonetic transcription one at a time in order to regain his language skills. At the end of 2000, he stopped using a wheelchair and started to walk with the help of a walking stick. In 2003, he did not need to rely on any walking aids. He also gradually regained his language ability by learning the phonetic transcription to vocabulary words. In addition, his ability to communicate was restored as he progressed from reading children’s books aloud to interacting with people.

In 2004, when Cai Xiang Lin realised that he could not be a neurosurgeon because of his physical limitations, he switched to the health care department at the hospital. Two years later, he discovered that he could not exhibit his strengths in this job, so he applied for a scholarship and returned to study at medical school. In 2007, he attained a Masters degree, which made his life more meaningful. He saw that despite being handicapped after his stroke and the arduous learning process, he could still reach his goal in life.

Finding his mission in life

He once thought of becoming a lawyer when he was in secondary school. Later, he found his sense of purpose in being a doctor. He said, “I prefer to share with people and help others. I don’t wish to do lots of paperwork in an office.” Thus, he chose to study medicine in university. It was a painful decision for him to give up on his ambition of becoming a doctor. However, he finally realised that even if he could not be a doctor, he was still able to contribute to society. He believed that a sense of mission was not found in the job. Rather, we have to discover it through our God-given talents!

（picture from the Internet）

In 2007, Cai Xiang Lin and his friend opened a tuition centre and taught Mathematics and Science. They enabled students to achieve good examination results through some effective learning methods. Over time, the tuition centre was running well. In 2009, he established another company, Mindset Transformation Clinic, and became an inspiring speaker. He motivated many people through his experience of emerging victorious from the difficulties that he faced in having a stroke.

Cai Xiang Lin said: “The Lord has given each of us a unique ability, but we do not display it. Some people are handicapped, but more people have ‘mental disabilities’.” He encouraged people to turn their focus away from their problem and discover a breakthrough through the opportunities that they have. “Firstly, set a goal!” He used his recuperation as an example. After his stroke, he planned his long term, mid-term, and short term goals. At that time, his long term goal was to become a doctor again. In order to fulfil his long term goal, he made some mid-term and short term targets such as expanding his vocabulary and doing a number of squats daily. He broke down his great goal into smaller steps to fulfil his plan. He said, “Sometimes, I could not accomplish some targets and was discouraged. At this juncture, we must continue to focus on the goal and persevere. Even if we cannot achieve it, we become better in the process of overcoming the hurdles.” His words are full of positive energy. Every year, he speaks to many workers in companies and students from schools. He also organised workshops that influenced many people.

The Lord constantly watched over me

Since childhood, he had infant baptism with his parents’ blessing. He attended a mission school for his Primary and Secondary education. However, he had some doubts about God in his youth. He thought that God was an image that people had created, so he did not go to church. In 2004, some of his friends invited him to church. He went out of curiosity. The day before, he recalled the Bible verse that was visible on his Primary school’s wall as he entered and exited the school daily: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). He said to God is his heart: This is the only verse that I know. If you are truly God and are speaking to me, let me hear this verse tomorrow. On the next day, he came to the church. The pastor was indeed preaching about this verse at the pulpit. He explained every word and sentence in this verse, which were imprinted in Xiang Lin’s heart.

Upon recollection of his past, his eyes brimmed with tears. He said, “God has never left me. He is always watching over me. Many people say that the physical body hardly improves one year after the stroke. It has been 18 years after my stroke. Yet, my body is getting better. The Lord has healed me and used me to motivate and spur lots of people on through my experience of having a stroke.”

There are infinite possibilities in life

In 2013, Dr William Tan introduced para table tennis to Cai Xiang Lin by chance. Dr William, who was a renowned wheelchair-bound doctor, has won numerous gold medals at The Asian Para Games. Even though Xiang Lin was not keen on sports, he felt that this was an opportunity to challenge himself, and was delighted to join the training. It was tough training four times a week and three hours each time. In 2014, he and his teammates represented Singapore, and participated in the ASEAN Para Games three times consecutively. In 2015, they clinched the gold medal. In 2017, they received the bronze medal.

There was a sparkle in his eyes when he shared all these. He encouraged us and put it aptly, “Find your passion and goals in life! Unless you have given up, no one can block your pursuits.”

In March 2018, Cai Xiang Lin and his friends formed a team to participate in the Spartan Race. It is a very challenging obstacle course, even for a healthy person. After a few months of training, they completed the 5km obstacle course consisting of mud climbs, pushing, pulling, crawling, and other challenges. He added: “I slowed down the pace of the whole team, but we eventually accomplished it! Through this competition, I would like to encourage everyone – I can do it, so can all of you! Our mentality surpasses our abilities.”

After becoming a para table tennis player, Cai Xiang Lin’s desire was to introduce table tennis to more people. Therefore, since the beginning of 2016, he started to organise the annual activity, ‘Everybody’s Ping Pong’, during Singapore’s National Day celebration. Everyone, regardless of their age, race, gender and health conditions could participate in the table tennis competition. He hoped that this would promote a culture of tolerance and increase connections between families and the community.

He put across firmly: “Despite my stroke, I strongly believe that I am a valuable person. I still have the capacity to give back to society!”

From a healthy young adult, he became a bedridden patient overnight. He was a distinguished medical graduate, but was reduced to a speechless and immobile stroke patient. Upon hearing Cai Xiang Lin’s life experience, we cannot help but feel for him. However, there was no tinge of regret or sadness in his tone of voice. He talked and laughed about it when describing the past events of many years ago.

Dear friends, the bigger our heart is, the broader the sky is! Maybe Cai Xiang Lin is a handicapped person through the lens of an ordinary person. He cannot use his right hand with agility, and his right leg is not able to walk with ease, but in his perspective, there are no difference between him and a normal person! There are numerous twists and turns in our lives. We do not know what will occur next. Just as Cai Xiang Lin said: “Circumstances are unchangeable, but we can adjust our thinking. Even if our bodies are handicapped, our hearts cannot be debilitated. We should seek changes in a realistic way rather than air our grievances grudgingly.” Today, Cai Xiang Lin wears several hats. He is a motivational mentor, the founder of a company, an ambassador for education and health, and a distinguished Singapore youth. He was also the recipient of a gold medal in the ASEAN Para Games, and won the ‘Singapore Successful Entrepreneur’ award. He still continues to inspire lots of people to have a breakthrough in their minds and explore the infinite possibilities in their lives!

We hope Cai Xiang Lin’s story inspires you to live your life to the fullest.  We invite you to join us next time for another episode of “Workplace Strategy.”