Dr. Ming Wang is a Harvard and MIT graduate and one of the few laser eye surgeons in the world who holds a doctorate degree in laser physics. The film "Sight," the first generation Chinese-American immigrant film in American mainstream media, is based on Dr. Wang's autobiography "From Darkness to Sight."
As a teenager, he fought poverty and hardship in China and came to America with only $50 in his pocket and knew very few English words. But he saw nothing but opportunity and earned two doctorate degrees, one in laser physics and one in medicine. He graduated with the highest honors from Harvard Medical School and MIT Magna Cum Laude.
The amniotic membrane contact lens, which Dr. Wang invented and holds two U.S. patents for, has been used by tens of thousands of eye doctors around the world, and millions of patients have had their eyesight restored through his discovery. The Wang Foundation for site restoration has helped patients from over 40 states in the U.S. and 55 countries with all sight restoration surgeries performed free of charge.
Crystal: To see all that you have accomplished to date, it is hard to imagine the hardships you faced as a child. What was it like for you growing up in China?
Dr. Wang: "I was born in China during the period of cultural revolution. From 1966 to 76, the government shut down all universities and colleges in China and forcefully deported to some of the poorest parts of the country, and condemned each of the high school graduates to hard labor and poverty for life. So over 10 years of cultural revolution from 1966 to 1976, they sent away to labor camps for life, 20 million high school graduates. In 1974, I was 14 and I finished junior high school, but I was not allowed to go to senior high school because the government wanted to send me to labor camp as well. To avoid the devastating fate of being sent away to labor camp, I had to pick up learning the Chinese violin called "Erhu" to play, and also I had to learn dance, because if I could do that, I might be able to get into the government's song and dance propaganda troop, therefore avoiding being sent away to labor camp."
Crystal: You didn't make the song and dance troop, but when the Cultural Revolution ended, China reopened colleges for the first time in 10-years, and at the age of 14, your parents encouraged you to try and get into a university. What was going through your mind?
Dr. Wang: "In the film "Sight," you see that my parents told me, 'Ming, you might be able to go back to school.' I thought I would never be able to hear that. I thought junior high would be the extent of my education. My parents told me I had to jump three years ahead overnight to the graduating class in senior high, because they were afraid the government might change their mind and shut down colleges again for the next 10 years. So, I had to study very hard, and fortunately with the help of my parents, I was accepted into the University of Science and Technology in China, to study chemical physics and laser physics. In 1982, with just $50 I borrowed from a visiting American professor, I came to America to study and earn a PhD in laser physics at the University of Maryland and finished Post-Doc at MIT.
I also wanted to go to medical school to become a doctor, so I thought, 'well, I was in a free country now. I should be able to realize my dream.' And actually when I applied for medical school in this country, I was discriminated against. The admissions director said, you are Chinese. You're no good. You have no chance getting into medical school. It's hard to get into medical school. Even for someone who was born here. You are from another country, China, you have no chance. Fortunately, I did not listen to him. I worked even harder after postdoc MIT in 1991. In 87, I got enrolled at Harvard Medical School and MIT and joined the MD program. And in 1991, I graduated, and earned first place for my graduation thesis, MD Magna Cum Laude."
Crystal: You dedicated the film "Sight" to your parents for helping you during that critical period of time in China's cultural revolution. Why did you decide on pursuing two Doctorate degrees?
Dr. Wang: "The reason I got two doctorate degrees, one in laser physics, and one in medicine is because medicine is so technologically developed. So most of the doctors have an MD degree, but almost none also have the PhD degree, a second doctor degree in laser physics. And so, I wanted to be a unique laser eye surgeon. That's why I got two doctor degrees, one MD and one PhD in laser physics. I have performed over 55,000 laser vision corrections now, including performing vision corrections on over 4,000 doctors."
Crystal: You have quite the testimony, Dr. Wang and God has been in the center of it all, even before you became a Christian. You say you were an atheist when you came to America. Our listeners may recall the video of the movie "God is Not Dead." In that video, the Chinese student who found Christ is inspired by your life. How did you come to know Christ?
Dr. Wang: "Yes, just like in the film, 'God's Not Dead.' The cute Chinese student who went from atheist to believer, that was me. Notice how I used the word cute. Well, actually when they found the actor who played me, they sent me a picture from Hollywood. They said, 'Hey Ming, we got a guy to play you. Look at your cell phone.' It was sent to me by my pastor, Rice Broocks, who actually wrote the original. I looked at the photo, and I said, 'Oh, at least he's better looking.'"
When I came to America from China surviving the cultural revolution. I was an atheist. I was interested only in science because I fought so hard to have a chance to study science. And it was not distracting me, just like the student in the movie "God's Not Dead." But then it was the study of the human eye at Harvard Medical School, where my atheist worldview got into trouble. I realized the human eye is so complicated. It is simply not possible that the eye can form so nearly perfectly most of the time, every single time nearly. And because most of us can see, not with random collisions as atheist belief. So I was in trouble.
"My world atheist view was in trouble in the study of the eye."
My world atheist view was in trouble in the study of the eye. So I kept asking my professor until finally he took me out to lunch. He was a Christian, but he did not tell me at that time. He said, 'Ming, what's across the street?' I said, 'Oh, that's a car.' He said, 'Okay, what's the difference between a car and the human eye?' I said, 'Oh, human eye is a little more complicated.' He said, 'Okay, can you imagine a pile of random pieces of metal on the street form itself into a car?' I said, 'Oh, no way.' He said, 'How about the human eye?' Then he opened the window in my life, making me realize that the reason the human eye so complicated, but yet can form nearly perfectly most of the time, is because it did not form out randomness as atheist believe. It was formed with a purpose. And that purpose is vision. So there's a creator behind it. And of course going from that to eventually recognize, the creator has a name in Jesus Christ. And it took me several more years as described in my autobiography "From Darkness to Sight."
Crystal: That is the best analogy of how to prove God's existence that I've ever heard. Tell me about the "Eye Ball." Do you still put it on every year?
Dr. Wang: First of all, everything I've done, all the credit goes to Christ. Actually looking back, he took care of me even during the cultural revolution in China. He protected me so I would have the opportunity to study. Now, the "Eye Ball" we had to stop doing covid, and now we are going to resume. As a matter of fact, on January 21st, Tuesday night here in Nashville at the Steinway Piano Gallery, we will have an "Eye Ball" concert. I do that once a year and play my Chinese Erhu, and to express my appreciation to America and to God."
Crystal: I would love for you to share one thing that we can do to encourage our culture, to love our neighbor as Christ asks us to do.
Dr. Wang: "We as human beings, we're emotional animals. We're a big emotional elephant. 90%, and only 10% logical. So the best way to help us is to get a taste of the lives of people who still today do not have freedom. So, I encourage all of us, all my fellow Americans to listen, to watch the film "Sight", to read the stories of people from around the world, who many of them, even today, still do not have freedom. The division that we are suffering today in America is a symptom, reflecting a deep problem. My diagnosis of why we have division and polarization today, we have taken what we have in America for granted. Because we always have freedom here. So human nature is that when we always have something, we could take it for granted. So the root cause of our division is our lack of appreciation of America. Only by redeveloping the appreciation of America can we have a chance to overcome our polarization and find the common ground.
Loving this country, loving America is not just something we say, or just singing the national anthem is not enough. That's not enough. Loving America has to be proved by an action to show that we truly love this country, and that action proving that we truly love America, and want to restore America is, are we willing to overcome our polarization and to find the common ground once again to solve America's problem."
Crystal: Kajal, the little girl in the film "Sight" had such an impact on you, that because of her testimony you were inspired to develop the amniotic membrane contact lens. How is she doing today, and are you still in contact with her?
Dr. Wang: "We are reestablishing contact now. Two things happened to Kajal, number one, she has helped all of us to realize that there are two kinds of sight, the physical sight, and also emotional sight. She has shown that even when there's no light coming from outside, light can emanate from within. She still found room in her heart to love others, If one has love, if one has Christ in one's heart. And that's the remarkable story of Kajal as shown in the film "Sight."
Also we found three families to adopt her. But the U.S. immigration rule is that she has no relatives here, so she was not allowed to stay even though I found three adopting families. So she had to return to India. And now I'm in the process of reestablishing contact with her. Her trip to America to help our foundation has fundamentally changed her, because she felt love by others towards her. So after she returned to India, she went on to study at a university and she even got a Masters degree. What an amazing transformation of this young lady's life from being a 5-year-old orphan who was intentionally blinded so they could make her sing on the street to get more money from tourists. So that shows that the Kajal taught a lesson to all of us, there's more to this life than what we see."
To learn more about Dr. Ming Wang, visit his website at www.drmingwang.com.
See the inspiring story of Dr. Ming Wang's life in the film "Sight" in the FREE Sight link below!