The birth of the outstanding talent Chen Weitian brings glory to the beautiful country of Malaysia, he was called the Immortal Musician and a magical figure whom inspired people. (Figure 19)
In mid-May 2010, we held cancer patient consultations at the auditorium of Malaysia Sin Chew Daily. An emaciated young man came to me, accompanied by his wife and parents. I read his medical report and learned that his name was Chen Weitian, 39 years old and suffering from pancreatic cancer with liver metastasis. He had received bypass surgery and chemotherapy in Singapore. According to medical literature the survival time of late stage IV pancreatic cancer is only three to six months. Looking at his elderly parents and his young beautiful wife, my heart ached. Accompanied by his wife, Chen Weitian was admitted to our hospital two weeks later and underwent a series of treatments. A month later, his pain disappeared and a PET-CT scan revealed his pancreatic lesions had shrunk from 5 cm upon admission to 1.5 cm and intrahepatic metastasis had almost no activity. In early July he returned to conduct a concert in Kuala Lumpur. When he and the band answered curtain calls on the stage over and over again to the audience, they warmly applauded. He could not help but cry and said, “You know what? Today, the person who is standing on the stage to conduct this concert is a pancreatic cancer patient, it is Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital that helped him return to the studio.” The audience was bubbling with enthusiasm, they rushed to the stage to present bouquets and hug him, tears coursed down his cheeks.
Wei Tian returned to his normal life. Orchestral training began, students came back to him one by one. Once again he resumed the position of chief violinist in the orchestra and practiced two hours everyday. He rehearsed from dawn till dusk, every program, arranged by the hour was fully booked.
On the 19th of December 2010, Wei Tian invited me to go to a Christmas concert in Kuala Lumpur. My hospital photographer Mr. Liao and I attended. At six o’clock in the evening we arrived at Kuala Lumpur Cultural Center. Wei Tian and his parents, wife and two children had been waiting for us there.
His father smiled and told me that he had three sons, they all graduated from British Universities. Wei Tian was the most accomplished, graduating from the Music Department of the University of Manchester and received further training at the Chinese Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Suddenly, his dad sighed deeply and his eyes moistened when he said, “This May I could have died when returning from Singapore. We were told by the doctor that this was the last treatment for him and there was no need for us to come back again.” He could not go on and stopped for a while. Then followed by saying, “Fortunately we met you, it is really God's plan!” He raised his head and looked at me saying, “You are Wei Tian’s second father, I am his biological father, tonight we will both see our son’s show.” He was calm, but I was unable to control my tears.
At 7:30 p.m., the packed concert hall suddenly became silent. Chen Weitian was in a black suit, holding a baton in his hand. He walked swiftly across the stage to the conductor’s podium. With the baton lifted the symphonic music started, now and then sounding like a strong rainstorm, at other times sounding like the breeze blowing. It seemed every muscle and almost every cell of Wei Tian’s pulsated to the music. I was seated in the first row, nearest to Wei Tian. I noticed sweat streaming on his face, I was worried whether Wei Tian was able to endure it. After two hours, the music culminated in Wei Tian’s baton stopping in the air, the music suddenly terminated. Then a thunderous applause echoed through the hall, Wei Tian and hundreds of performers bowed to the audience over and over again, a dozen young girls presented flowers to Wei Tian.
Just after finishing the concert, Wei Tian walked up to me and hugged me tightly for several minutes, both of us couldn’t speak. I held his hands, his palm was wet, I looked at him, his eyes were bright.
I asked him softly, “Wei Tian, are you able to cope?” Wei Tian smiled and said: “Professor, I’m strong! Take it easy, I will not feel tired even if I play for another two hours.” I believed what he said because music was his life. Music gave him a bustling life, he could overcome cancer and this seemed the most splendid medicine, surpassing any other type of drug.