Siew Tuck Wah started out being a known aesthetic medical doctor.

He worked for a famous cosmetic clinic that specialises in non-invasive procedures:

He gets quoted in media:

He got invited to talk shows to speak about the trade:

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And probably made lots of money doing it.

He even has a website and Facebook page with a respectable following.

He was living a great life, one could arguably say, until roughly nine years ago, when he discovered he wasn't as afraid of or indifferent about dogs as he always thought.

From a Straits Times interview with him in 2013:

"At one point I was trying to pursue wealth, branded goods. I bought an Audi because 'Oh, I've got to show people that I'm rich', which I wasn't. I used to be obsessed with appearances. I would buy a lot of beautiful clothes, go to parties, Tatler events, Gucci openings and all that.

But now it's all changed. What's important is how you treat people. It's a good change, because then my patients trust me. They realise I'm in it for their benefit. They know I won't oversell."

It improved his attitude as a doctor at the time, and he realised he could do more for stray mongrels who risked being culled by the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), starting to help out with friends at Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD). After a rescue operation of the strays in Punggol, who faced a culling sweep following a biting incident, he was asked to lead the organisation in January 2012, now a full-fledged charity.

Along the way, he also found Buddhism.