At the age of 13, Lee Wai Weng decided to become a temple medium.

“I thought it would be fun and an easy way to earn money,” Wai Weng told Salt&Light in Mandarin. He had dropped out of school when he was 11.

As part of his initiation rites to invite spirits to possess him for greater power and strength, he had his mouth and his back pierced with steel rods.

“It was painful and I bled, but I could still bear it. I was also coached on how to write paper talismans,” said Wai Weng, now 53.

Devotees sought him out for various issues, from sicknesses, family problems or for lucky numbers to win the lottery. Wai Weng would consult the spirits, and then offer the devotee some words of advice. Other times, he would provide them a paper talisman which they had to burn and then mix the ashes with water and drink.

Perpetually surrounded by many people at one time, Wai Weng felt proud that he was treated like a god.

In his teenage years, he also easily earned a few hundred dollars a day by selling counterfeit watches on Orchard Road and being the croupier at gambling tables which were set up at wet markets at night.

Along the way, he picked up unsavoury habits such as sniffing glue, smoking ganja and consuming sleeping pills to chase temporary highs.

His addiction escalated and he was sent to the detention barracks for taking heroin while he was doing National Service.

“I didn’t want to become a Christian” 

Wai Weng’s drug addiction persisted after he finished NS. In 1996, he was caught and imprisoned for the first time for one year. He was 24.

“I was a bit scared about what prison life would be like. While I was in jail, I continued doing my chanting every morning, and prayed for the protection of my family members,” Wai Weng told Salt&Light.

There were 20 inmates in his prison cell, and one of them happened to be a Christian.

He shared the Gospel with Wai Weng, who politely listened but did not let the words sink in.

“I didn’t want to become a Christian, or else this can’t do, that can’t do.  I was also used to speaking vulgarities and did not want to become mild-mannered like him,” Wai Weng recalled.

After completing his sentence, he went back to the same circle of friends and way of life. He worked as a croupier and waiter, and continued taking drugs.

A year after his release, he was caught again and hauled back to jail.

This time, the believers in his room invited him to join them for chapel services.

“I went along as they served food and cake during special occasions such as Christmas. I could also chit chat with my friends during such times,” admitted Wai Weng.

When a fellow inmate asked him to pray with him, he agreed.

“Though I believed in another religion then, there was no fear in my heart about praying to the Christian God. What was miraculous was that I suddenly found myself unable to recall any of the chants that I once memorised and used during my earlier days as a medium,” said Wai Weng.

“It felt so distant to me, though I used to be very interested in those chants and it was once my livelihood,” he added.

When he was released in 1999, he came out to help his sister sell coffee at a kopitiam. At night, he worked as a croupier.

Wai Weng with his sister and his son.

But old habits die hard. He begun to sniff ketamine and take ecstasy, and even sold them to others to earn a quick buck to fund his drug habit.

In 2002, he was arrested and faced three charges: Possession and consumption of drugs, as well as absconding from his urine test.

Witnessed to by a fellow addict 

While Wai Weng was in a lockup facility in Sembawang waiting for the outcome of his sentencing, he met another drug addict whose case was also pending sentencing.

“I don’t know him but he is a Christian and he asked me if I wanted to pray with him. We prayed that we both won’t get ‘LT’ (long-term imprisonment), else that meant being caned,” he said.

Fortunately, Wai Weng was not handed a long-term sentence. He received a sentence of four years and nine months.

When he entered the prison cell, he was surprised to see the same person who had prayed with him in the Sembawang facility.

In subsequent days, this Christian inmate shared with Wai Weng his testimony and the good news of the Gospel.

“I listened to him and felt touched,” Wai Weng recalled.

During this time, his sister visited him and broke the news that his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The doctor estimated that she had less than six months to live.

Young Wai Weng with his mother.

Greatly troubled by the news and filled with regret at being a burden to his family, Wai Weng went back to his cell and told his Christian roommate about it.

“Have you accepted Jesus? Would you like to?” his roommate asked him.

“I half believed, but also had doubts,” Wai Weng told Salt&Light. “I said yes because I had no other choice then and I really needed hope.”

As he said the Sinner’s Prayer and as they prayed for his mother, he was touched by God and tears streamed down his face.

Wai Weng then applied to join the weekly Sunday Christian service.  As he listened to the testimonies shared during the services, his heart desired to also have a transformed life like theirs.

The Christian volunteers at the services also prayed for Wai Weng’s mother to be healed.

A miraculous healing, a second chance

Months passed and he did not hear his sister make any mention about his mother. Nearing the six month’s mark, he asked his sister about his mother’s condition. She told him that the doctor did not say anything and she dared not probe further.

Later, Wai Weng learnt that his mother had had a surgery to remove the cancerous cells and that her life was no longer in danger.

His mother continued to live in a nursing home and only passed away nine years later – years after he finished his sentence and was released.

“I knew God had healed my mum. He had mercy on us all,” Wai Weng said to Salt&Light.

His faith grew as he prayed and read the Bible every day. He began to experience the peace of God and his speech started to change.

“I stopped using vulgarities and complained less. I became more thankful to God,” he added.

For his good behaviour, he was granted an early release on parole, but had to attend a compulsory six-month programme at a halfway house.

In 2005, he joined a Christian halfway house – Breakthrough Missions.

It took time for him to adapt to life there as the halfway house enforced strict schedules and rules for its residents.

He joined in the daily devotions and also worked in its car washing team.

“The staff members there were full of love and I get to see how they apply the Word in their lives,” he said. “I realised I began to talk more gently and became more responsible in my duties.”

Wai Weng with the staff team from Breakthrough Missions.

After he completed his programme, he decided to stay on at Breakthrough to continue to work on himself.

“I felt that I had changed already. But little did I know my transformation was merely on the outside, instead of being washed clean on the inside as Jesus said in Matthew 23: 25-29,” he said.

One time while reporting for his routine urine test, Wai Weng bumped into an old friend who asked him if he would join him to sell illegal cigarettes.

“I still retained some of my old mindsets – that as long as I don’t touch drugs, I can do any other thing,” he admitted.

So, he left Breakthrough Missions after 10 months, feeling sufficient confident that he had turned over a new leaf and was ready to reintegrate into society.

But the lures of the world proved too strong for Wai Weng to resist.

While he was trying to earn money by selling illegal cigarettes, he also dabbled in taking Subutex. It is a narcotic medication used to help drug abusers treat and wean off their addiction. Wai Weng abused it as it gave him the same high yet was not traceable in urine tests.

Less than a month after he left Breakthrough Missions, Wai Weng was sucked back into his old habit of taking drugs like heroin and ice. To fund his drug addiction, he also began selling them to others.

“I sold them to anyone, even women. Previously, at least I had some conscience not to sell them to women. My prayers were not about asking God to change me anymore, but for God to help me not to get caught,” he said.

In 2011, his mother died. While Wai Weng was thankful to God for giving his mother nine more years of life since her cancer diagnosis, it also made him spiral deeper into guilt and shame.

“I still had not changed and had almost given up on myself,” he said.

He tried to wean himself off drugs, buying less harmful substitutes such as cough medicine to take instead of hard drugs.

“Interestingly, I found out that the Christian inmate – who shared Christ with me when I was jailed for the first time in 1996 – was my neighbour. He was a taxi driver so he helped ferry me to and fro as I tried to get my hands on cough medicine. He warned me not to get involved in any drugs and always encouraged me,” said Wai Weng.

He asked God to let him get caught 

In 2012, Wai Weng took so much drugs that he overdosed on them. White foam leaked out of the corners of his mouth. Almost blacking out on the floor, he screamed for his son to pass him some sleeping pills and other pills to help detox his body.

He thought he would die, but fortunately, he regained consciousness a few hours later.

“Save me, God! Why have I become like that?” he cried out to God.

“I was really tired of life. I told God that I could not continue living my life like that. I knew I could not change on my own. I asked God to let me get caught and go back to jail if that is what is needed,” said Wai Weng.

A few months later in 2013, eight years after his last release, the law caught up with him. He was nabbed by officers while he was on the way to receive a batch of heroin from a friend.

This time, he was given a long-term sentence of five years and three months jail, and three strokes of the cane.

“I was resigned but also comforted to go back in. God answered my prayer; otherwise I would have likely died outside,” said Wai Weng.

“God pursued me despite my wrong choices”

This time, Wai Weng was brought to a deeper level of awakening.

“I told God I really wanted to surrender my life and follow Him, and not just pay lip service to Him. I needed to carry my cross daily through my actions,” he said.    

Once again, he applied to the officer to attend the weekly Sunday Christian service. The officer, a believer, was a familiar face – he was the same officer who had given Wai Weng the green light to attend the services back in 2002.

“He caused me to reflect on whether my previous years of Bible study had any effect on my life or and if I was really a follower of Christ,” said Wai Weng.

This time, Wai Weng was determined to live out his faith.

Whenever a prisoner comes in, it is standard practice for other inmates (who belong to the same gang or secret society) to “take care” of their own member by smuggling snacks from the canteen to pass to him.

“I told them not to pass any canteen food to me as I did not want to have any part in any illegal activity. Though they were well-intentioned, what feels right may be wrong in God’s eyes,” he said.

At basketball games, it is also common for fights to break out. Over time, Wai Weng found it easier to simply walk away if anyone stared at him or shoved him around. When they did area cleaning, he also volunteered to help others clean up even if he was not rostered to do so.

For his good conduct, he was granted early release from prison at the fourth year mark, in 2016.

This time, he chose to go to Breakthrough Missions again.

“Others told me to just try other halfway houses as they are less strict. Unlike Breakthrough Missions, the other places let residents use their handphones and let them go on home leave. But since I had fallen there in the past, I wanted to go there and climb back up again,” said Wai Weng.

Though he could not return home to visit his son much, he learnt valuable qualities such as patience and humility.

“It helped that the staff members there had similar backgrounds and once faced the same struggles as me, so they knew how to support us,” he said.

Celebrating the birthday of a staff member from Breakthrough Missions.

After staying for three years at Breakthrough Missions, he had successfully lived enough of a transformed life for him to be employed as a staff member.

Wai Weng (second from left) with fellow staff members at a Breakthrough Missions anniversary celebration.

Wai Weng receiving an Overcomer award from Minister Josephine Teo.

For almost six years, he worked as a waiter in Breakthrough Café, which was then located in Chinatown. He also found purpose in escorting other residents to do their routine urine testing.

Wai Weng (far right) worked as a waiter at Breakthrough Cafe in Chinatown.

Along the way, doors were also opened for him to journey alongside prisoners. Twice a month, he volunteers with Breakthrough Missions to share his testimony and the Gospel with inmates in prison.

Wai Weng visiting the prison with a fellow Breakthrough Missions staff member. They need special passes to enter the prison.

Last year, he visited the prison and halfway houses in Taiwan, and shared his story with the inmates and ex-offenders there.

Wai Weng and his friends at the abuser treatment centre in Taiwan.

“My dream is to be a missionary and travel to other countries to share the Gospel,” said Wai Weng, who has since left Breakthrough Missions in order to live with his son. He drives a private hire taxi for a living now.

Wai Weng with his cell group from New Creation Church.

“Looking back, God has sent so many believers into my life and He pursued me despite me making wrong choices in life. He has a plan for all our lives and His timing is always perfect.”

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