He was the archetype of a successful entrepreneur who earned his money through hardship and persistence. It took just one terrible mistake, a serious misplace confidence in a friend, to wipe out the fortunate which took him years to amass. The life of this man, Jason
Mok who is my dad’s friend, has change dramatically because he was unable to control the consequences of his fatal mistake.
Born in a village in China to parents who were farmers, Mok had a difficult childhood. They were so poor that they couldn’t afford to send him to school. Illiterate and unskilled, Mok eked out a living as a labour, toiling long hours everyday. After scrimping and saving for years, Mok and his brother started a company selling construction materials to developers. Lady Luck smiled on him and his business boomed. With the money he earned and the knowledge he gain from property development, Mok invested in real estate. As it turned out, he has the Midas touch. From being among the poorest of the poor in his hometown, Mok became the richest man around, living a luxurious lifestyle. His was the perfect life- or so it seemed.
One day, Mok’s longtime friend who was also a successful entrepreneur ask Mok to be the guarantor for his loan. Without any hesitation, Mok signed on the dotted line. This was the start of his woes. His friend turned out to be irresponsible and reckless. Having lost all his money on the wrong investment, his friend took off, leaving Mok to pay off his massive debts. As if he was under a curse, Mok also ran into deep trouble with his own business at the same time and lost millions. As a result, the bank seized all of his possessions and Mok became a bankrupt overnight. Left with a few thousand dollars he had hidden, Mok fled to Canada to join his family.
Despondent and unable to accept the truth that he was a bankrupt, Mok initially drank himself into stupor everyday. Desperate to regain the wealth he had lost, Mok also started to gamble. He finally reached a point when he realized that he was going nowhere. Today, he is a freelance driver, earning enough to get by. Mok has resigned himself to his fate, knowing that he will never be who he once was.
Mok exemplifies someone who is unable to control the direction of his life due to on mistake he made. This is a tragic story of one who rose from rags to riches and back to rags again. His fatal mistake did not just affect him, but also his family. They now live day by day, trying to make the most of their new- and less glamorous- direction of life.