Many of my patients would tell their children that they should be a dentist when they grow up as dentists makes a lot of money. I am sure some dentists make a lot of money especially those who look after the teeth of movie stars, bankers or have many tycoons as their client. Little do they realise that the dentist is just a daily rated worker and in fact paid on piecemeal work.
Well we have our perks and one of the most important our ability to help fellow human beings improve their dental health , their looks and thus their social well being.
I am a sucker for volunteering for jobs that others do not want. When my good friend Lewis Lee the then SDA president asked me to take charge of Singapore Dental Health Foundation, it was then in the process of being wound up because the existing committee no longer had the energy to run it.
It looked fairly straight forward since I have just retired .
Now I know why the previous committee is tired . Even though we are supported by the Singapore Dental Association they have not been able to recruit more members to help out. Thus the same few people have been running around doing all the work.
As far as I am corncern I have been benefiting from the job so far.
First I use my position to pressure my friend Dr Myra Elliot to allow me to participate in her annual charity trip to Dsskit, a small town in the Ladakh region which is in the Himalaya mountain range of North West India. This is probably my most memorable journey I have undertaken.
