Once a gangster, gambler and womaniser, he now brings the hope of change to inmates

George Cheng is no stranger to the illegal and the immoral. His is a story typical of a boy gone bad.

At birth, his father sent him away to live with his paternal grandparents.

“He said the date of my birth, the time, the year, wouldn’t prosper him. Of his five children, he only kept two with him – the second and the fourth,” George, now 56, told Salt&Light.

Baby George was sent away to live with his grandparents as his father thought the timing of his birth was unlucky.

George (right) and his younger brother.

At 14, George left home to join a gang.

So began his street life of theft, fights and gambling. Women and sex were also part of this lifestyle, as was violence. When a close friend of his slept with his girlfriend, he beat the man up till the latter was covered in blood.

Young George (left) and a friend.

At 20, George left for New York in the United States to work at his aunt’s Chinese restaurant.

“I wanted to run away from this country. There was too much hurt in my heart,” he recalled. “My parents didn’t want me. My girlfriend cheated on me.” 

A life of violence

In New York, his income increased. Along with tips, he was pulling in four-figures. But his woes also grew.

He fell victim to robbery on more than one occasion. The ruse was simple but effective: Someone would call the restaurant to order food to be delivered. When the “deliveryman” appeared, he would rob George.

His young adult days were spent in New York.

Once, George was knifed so badly that he could see bone. Thankfully, he managed to stumble onto the streets and receive help.

“If I had fainted inside the apartment building, I cannot talk to you now,” he told Salt&Light.

On another occasion, he chased down a youth who had stolen his food, only to round the corner and find six others armed with baseball bats. They beat him till he was “rolling on the floor”.

“The emptiness and the hurt in my life didn’t go away,” he said. “In my heart, I was still very empty. I cried more than I sweat. The only thing that comforted me was my money.”

One of his lowest points while in New York was when he found himself looking down the barrel of a policeman’s gun. He had gotten into a heated argument with his aunt because she had accused him of stealing from her. The quarrel turned into a fight.

“I punched her till her whole face was full of blood,” he admitted.

After the assault, he ran away but was arrested and thrown into jail. Entirely unremorseful, his only thought then was: “The first thing I will do when I come out is burn down your restaurant.”

In the end, his aunt did not press charges.

The match of his life

George returned to Singapore and continued his life of vice. Except for a few thousand dollars given to his grandparents, he squandered everything he had earned in New York on gambling. 

Then he met a girl with whom he thought he could settle down. They applied for a HDB flat and he worked three jobs to save up for their future. But she ended up leaving him for another man. “She said I had no time for her,” said George. 

“I cried to heaven, ‘God, why is my life like that? Can you send someone special in my life?’ I didn’t know that was a prayer. I just spoke out because there was so much hurt and I didn’t know who to talk to and cry out to.”

Not long after that heartfelt plea, George met a Russian woman who eventually became his wife.

She, too, had asked God for a partner. George shared: “She told God, ‘I don’t want to marry a Russian man’ because her father was an alcoholic who had died in prison.”

He did not know it then, but his wife would be instrumental in helping him turn his life around.

“The baptism wasn’t real”

For years, theirs was not the happiest of marriages.

George admitted that he was neglectful. So when a Pastor and his wife moved into his block, his wife was happy to befriend them.

They shared the Gospel with her and invited her to church. “She felt loved in church. And she came back and told me she felt peace and joy in the church,” said George.

“I told her, ‘Good for you, but not for me. You do what you want, but don’t ask me to go to church.’”

Not long after, George was fired from his job for running an illegal gambling ring at work. Instead of looking for another job, he spent his days gambling even more.  

“But something inside me stirred, asking me to follow my wife to church. I told God, ‘I am not here to get to know You. I’m just here to waste time. If you want me to believe in You, help me strike Toto.’”

Despite his best efforts, George won nothing. By then, there were “a lot of quarrels, a lot of issues” between him and his wife. Money woes only added to the strain.

In hopes of salvaging their marriage, George said the Sinner’s Prayer. He even got baptised. But “the baptism wasn’t real”, he confessed, because George remained unrepentant. Home life continued to be acrimonious.

“Everything I am not happy with her; everything she is not happy with me. I insist I am right; she won’t give way, either. When you don’t see eye to eye, it is difficult to walk hand in hand.”

The turning point

One day, in a fit of frustration, George asked his wife for a divorce and left home. But what she said to him a week later turned him around.

“She said, ‘A child without a father is a thing of sorrow.’ My whole life I didn’t have my parents’ love. I didn’t want my children to go through what I went through,” said George, whose three children were then under the age of 10.

For the sake of his children, George decided to work on his marriage and allowed his wife to sign him up for an Encounter with God retreat.

George (second, left) with his children and wife (with glasses).

During ministry time, he had a personal encounter with God after a Pastor prayed for him.

“I saw a very bright light and the Holy Spirit came to talk to me. The voice of God in my head was crystal clear. He said, ‘If you think money is the greatest thing in the world, you will not be happy. It is not money that sustains you, but the life I give to you. Because of your pride and your selfishness – drinking, womanising, gambling – do you know how much you have hurt your family?’

“At that moment, I knew how great God is. I felt very peaceful and joyful. That was the turning point in my life.”

This was the answer to his repeated request for God to show how great He is. George was 35 at the time.

Changed to change others

As he delved deeper into God’s Word, George saw how the love of God could transform him.

“When you don’t have love, you are full of anger, frustration. Love is peace. That is why the love of God is very important in my life,” he said.

When given a chance to share his testimony in church one Good Friday, George took the opportunity to “kneel on the stage and ask my wife to forgive me”. 

Then, more than a decade ago, George was called to do more with his life.

“The Lord spoke to me, ‘I have led you out of the wilderness. Go to the prison and tell them that there is a way out. I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.’

“Since I have experienced the love of God, I can’t be selfish and hold on to it and not tell people. If you see a good movie or eat something good, you will also tell others. How much more a God who can change your entire life?”

That was how George ended up serving in his church’s prison ministry. He started as an observer and is now a service lead, sharing God’s story in his life with inmates.

George (third, left) with fellow Prison Ministry volunteers.

“At first, when I talk, they also talk. I wanted to give up. But God said, ‘There are still people who want to hear.’

“So I carried on, I prayed for revival. When people come to know Christ and love the Word of God, I know it is all not in vain.”

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