Specialist Dental Group has launched an on-going series of blog posts by our individual dental specialists. All views provided are the dentist’s own opinions and are posted on this blog as part of our on-going efforts to educate the public about dental issues and other matters of interest relating to dentistry and healthcare.
I have just returned from a short trip to London, England.
As usual, my trips overseas are 99.8% work related. I reached London early in the morning just before sunrise and I was giving a two-hour lecture at sunset to a collection of post-graduate students at the world famous Eastman Dental Institute, University College London. It was a very interactive lecture indeed. I could not have asked for a better audience and it was also refreshing to encounter excellent questions from many bright minds like them.
Remember I said that my trips were usually 99.8% work? This time, the 0.1% of my journey in London was to watch Les Misérables, which by far is the best musical ever in my humble opinion. Then what about the other 0.1% of my journey there? I played tourist. In fact, I never get excited sightseeing, never! After all, I have little idea about the differences between this artifact and that artifact…
However, during a bus tour around London, I came across Grosvenor Estate. London has been long established as a financial center. For hundred of years, it was even considered as the center of the world while the British Empire had its presence all over the globe. After all, I grew up in Hong Kong, went to school in the US, worked in Canada, married a Malaysian wife and live in Singapore now. All these places were once upon a time British colonies. Grosvenor is a long established family in London and they have been rubbing shoulders with, working for and literally fighting battles alongside many Kings and Queens.
By now, they have substantial real estate properties in London. They also have tons of other interests in many other countries on this planet. The Grosvenor family is rich beyond most people’s wildest imagination.
There is a Chinese saying that: Wealth could hardly last three generations (富不过三代)
My uncle always regarded HSBC as the best bank in the world. It is very clear that the Grosvenor wealth passed through quite a bit more than three generations. Then I came across the Grosvenor family crest on HSBC and it shed some light regarding the Grosvenor family. Their family motto is ‘Virtus non Stemma’, which means virtue, not pedigree. In other words, as a family, meritocracy is the principle, no one shall count on their ancestry and one shall work on his/her worth instead.
We are lucky to be born in an era where opportunities are abundant, a time when access to education is relatively easy, and many societies work fantastically well because our individual personal worth matters more than where we are from. We are indeed lucky.
Dr. Ansgar C. Cheng is a Dental Specialist in Prosthodontics (Teeth Replacement) with Specialist Dental Group. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor with the National University of Singapore. He has a special interest in dental implants, cosmetic dentistry and treatment of medically compromised patients, including cancer patients. For more information about Dr. Cheng, click here
