If only I could buy breaths too It was October 25, 2020. The doctor straightened the patient’s arm and shook his head in despair. The son asked softly, “Is there no chance?” The doctor replied, “No, we have to stop the ventilator.” The son lowered his head and walked out of the room slowly. The patient had been in a coma since May 2014.
The patient’s story began in 1940. His father had started a small company in the city of Taegu in South Korea. In the Korean language, they called it “Sam Sung” which means three stars according to ancient traditions. The father, Lee Byung Chul, named the company Sam Sung for good luck. Initially, they exported fruits and frozen fish. After the Second World War, reconstruction began, and Sam Sung entered the construction and infrastructure industry, building buildings, bridges, and roads. Lee Byung Chul earned millions from these ventures. He was a wise man who knew that you can’t put all your eggs in one basket. Along with construction, they entered the textile, fashion, and electronics businesses. The group became larger and more successful.
Li Kun He and Li Byung Chul were the third and fourth sons of the family. They were careless and had a wandering mind. They didn’t show much interest in studies, but their father wanted them to get an education anyway. Li Kun He obtained a degree in economics from Wuhan University and then went to George Washington University in the United States for further education in business. Life at George Washington University was wasteful and indescribable. They couldn’t even complete their degree. Their father called them back and put them to work in construction and trading. They continued to struggle in their jobs, and their father was not satisfied with their performance. He thought they would sink the entire company. Their father passed away in 1987, and Li Kun He was forced to take over the company. The company was operating in 34 different fields at that time.
“The next five years were very difficult for Lee. They were constantly running from one office to another, and from one department to another until 1993. Suddenly, Lee realized that we were producing too many goods, which was causing us to suffer in terms of quality. Our competitors, on the other hand, were excelling at producing high-quality goods one by one. Lee realized that if we did not improve our quality, we would fall behind.
One day, Lee gathered all of his executives and said, “From today onwards, we are changing everything except for our wives and children. Don’t worry about losses. Even if we fall on hard times, there won’t be any problems. Just focus on quality. We want our products to be number one in the market, and we want the consumers to have a guarantee of quality.” This was a major shift, and the company’s management tried to explain to him, but he remained firm.”
“They were ready to bear any kind of loss. Executives accepted defeat and moved forward based on quality instead of quantity. The beginning years were very difficult. The company’s warehouses turned into scrap yards, and there was a pile of unsold inventory in the market. People didn’t even pass by their keyboards. Distributors ran away, but they didn’t give up. In 1995, on the one hand, the company was drowning in debt, and on the other hand, the President of South Korea, Roh Tae-woo, was accused of giving a bribe of 30 million dollars. They faced inspections, inquiries, and court cases, and it was a difficult time, but this period hardened them and turned them into steel. They persevered and moved forward. During this time, Samsung entered the television industry and quickly became the market leader. In just a few months, it left Sony far behind in production, quality, and sales. Thus, the company became a guarantor of high standards and reached every home. They also launched a unit for smartphones in 1998.”
This unit was called the Galaxy, it entered the Galaxy market and quickly became a global brand. After attaching itself to the ship, it became a company worth 350 billion dollars, making Lee Kun-hee one of the world’s 100 most influential people according to Forbes in 2014, and also the wealthiest person in Korea. The first pillar of Lee Kun-hee’s success was technology, as Samsung’s R&D is very strong. He has employed the most skilled software and hardware engineers, which has led the group to lead the market for the past decade. Secondly, the group does not compromise on quality. If you take any of their products, from packaging to size, the quality will amaze you. Thirdly, Lee Kun-hee was an expert in buying and selling. He would buy or sell his way past any obstacle, even changing the laws of South Korea. He even controlled the government according to his will, and the state was stronger than the actual state. If you look into South Korea’s history, you will find that every political upheaval was linked to Samsung and Lee Kun-hee. They have been the subject of countless investigations and lawsuits, and have also been accused of bribery, and called political merchants. In 2008, they were proven guilty of tax evasion.
After being punished, he had to return to his position in the International Olympic Committee. He was notorious throughout Korea, but he felt no shame or worry. He remained steadfast in his position and even said himself that if you can’t buy ease with money, then being wealthy has no benefit. This habit of his was so ingrained that he would buy anyone in front of him within moments. Eventually, he even started trying to buy his own life.
Chairman Lee Kun-hee had a heart attack in 2014 and went into a coma. According to his will, he was shifted to a winter letter, and the development of new medicines was initiated. Samsung funded several research institutes and established relationships with many doctors to produce the most valuable medicines. However, Lee Kun-hee could not recover from the coma. His son, Lee Jae-Yong, took over the company and wanted to see his father stand on his feet one last time. He desperately wished to hear his father say, “Eat with your hands and say it once!” He tried to make every effort to make this happen, but on October 25, 2020, the doctors announced that they had lost hope, and Lee Kun-hee passed away in the world of coma. His body was getting cold, the doctor put his arm aside and shook his head in despair. Samsung’s owner had passed away, but despite his death, there were 20 billion dollars in his account, and he was the owner of a company worth 350 billion dollars. However, the company and the accounts of 20 billion dollars could not compete with death. After a long sleep for six years, the traveler went on his next journey.
Once again, the death of Lei Kun has proven that while humans can buy everything through wealth in this world, no matter how big a businessman they may become, they cannot purchase even one extra breath, and they have no choice but to succumb to the power of death. It is said that if humans could buy life, we would still be breathing in the divinity of Nimrod and Pharaoh today. Death is the command of God through which He sends the message to people like Lei Kun: “You can run as much as you want, but in the end, you must come to me.” I will not allow you to hide in any corner of the universe, nor will I allow you to hide. The history of humanity is the graveyard of the gods.
You should look into a cemetery on any given day, and you will find in every grave someone who believed themselves to be invincible and unbeatable, but what happened then? From Sun King to Queen Moon, every invincible person in the world was eventually laid to rest under the last shroud of soil. In this world of Allah, every person is equal, whether they spent 60 years in a hospital bed unable to open their eyes, or they were someone like Amir Timur or Hitler who returned empty-handed. But we continue to raise our voices of “me, me” throughout our lives in this cemetery, without any shame. My brother, look at your time and speak, you cannot fight against coronavirus. What competition will you have with the soil that gives life and death? Be like the handful of soil, become the soil, and do not try to become God, for God allows no one to be God but Himself.
