Editorial

The buzzword of the month is 'Olympics'. Our senses have been assaulted by sights and sounds of this sporting event. Brought into our living rooms by the wonders of satellite TV. 'Reality' television is gritty and addictive and this huge sporting extravaganza offers us a window to human drama, triumph and disaster. So while atheletes have been swimming faster, leaping higher and throwing further, I have been religiously glued in front of the google box, scoffing down chips in such large quantities, that I am dangerously close to being the most favoured customer of Pringles.

Which brings us to this issue of dental mirror. In research, the closet equivalent of Olympic gold is probably the Nobel Prize. What better institution to sign an MOU with than with Karolinska Institute, the home of the prize? Having said this, there are only a select few who will ever win this ultimate award. Closer to home, there are many other prizes to be won, be they our Faculty Award's Day, the Commencement or even during University orientation. Small potatoes? Maybe.

However, the past fortnight of Olympic competition has shown us a full spectrum of competitiors, from track star Marion Jones, who was aiming for five gold medals, to our own Singaporean Jing Jun Hong, trying hard just to obtain one, any color. Even further down the field, we have Eric Moussambani, the swimmer from Equatorial Guinea, who just wanted to be the first person in his country to swim 100 meters.

As we chug away at dental research and while the Olympic mood still lingers, while table tennis will definitely see a renaissance in Singapore and perhaps more Equatorial Guineans will take part in swimming, perhaps someday...

Who knows? Let us dream...

Winston Tan