Born and raised in England, 2017 A-Lister Dr Alan Cheung did his medical rotations in numerous hospitals in the country before coming to Singapore to consult at the Ng Teng Fong General Hospital. He decided to make our island home, plying his orthopaedic surgical trade at the Singapore Medical Specialists Centre.
“I moved to Singapore four years ago for family reasons and I have not regretted it. I love living and working in Singapore, and there are so many more opportunities in Asia than the UK right now,” said Dr Cheung.
The medical practitioner and former rugby player is also a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) enthusiast, which has helped him to solidify his practice of treating sports injuries and led to other opportunities, including being the ringside doctor for many major fighting championships, including ONE Championship.
In his dual roles, Dr Cheung juggles everything from seeing patients to doing administrative work, and he was grateful when we decided to hook him up with the MFC-J3930DW Brother printer to help him with the latter duties.
What do you do in the office on a daily basis?
I am a problem solver. I see patients with torn ligaments or tendons, broken bones or worn out joints. Together we find the best way to improve their condition in a way best suited to their work and sporting activities.
I place great emphasis on communication, education and empowerment of my patients. A patient who understands their condition is motivated to rehab and get the best results from their surgery. Of course, seeing patients is the core component of my job but I also unfortunately get saddled with paperwork too (laughs). So this Brother printer you gave me has been a massive help.
And you also do BJJ right?
Everyone interested in martial arts will know how BJJ was showcased by the legendary Royce Gracie in the early 90’s. When I moved to Singapore, I needed to improve my fitness and take on a new challenge, so I tried BJJ. Ground fighting in BJJ can be likened to human chess. As well as a great workout, it teaches strategy, patience, persistence and confidence.
Tell me about your ringside doctor duties. How did you first manage to get into this field?
I have always had a love of the martial arts and volunteered as a medical doctor at One Championship in Singapore. I was blown away by the scale and organisation of the event – it is the largest and best mixed martial arts promotion in Asia.
I subsequently built up my experience as a ringside doctor through local events, and I eventually qualified as the first American College of Sports Medicine Certified Ringside Physician in South East Asia. I also work closely with the Singapore Rugby Union at events such as the HSBC Sevens series.
So, how do you juggle your ringside doctor duties with your orthopaedic job and your martial arts hobby? That’s a lot of things.
Being a ringside doctor at fight events goes hand in hand with being an orthopaedic surgeon. I am used to dealing with cuts, broken and dislocated limbs sustained through road traffic and industrial accidents. Teamwork is essential and I am also fortunate to work alongside the very experienced and capable Drs Warren and Jimmy Wang from Taiwan at these events.
And I can’t stress this enough but the fact that the Brother printer has significantly helped with the more mundane bits of my job and sped up my paperwork, allowing me to devote more time to my duties and hobbies.
So, let’s talk about the MFC-J3930DW Brother printer you’re using. What do you like and dislike about it?
The wireless connection function is very useful, which is always a plus in today’s digital world, and the print speed is good so that I can quickly get the documents I need for work.
The only downside is the printer is quite bulky and heavy but I guess it’s because the printer comes with so many features (laughs). Otherwise there aren’t any major shortcomings.
How are you using the printer to help you?
It actually sees a lot of work! I use the printer for every patient I see. I’ll print out the notes I have on them, important documents and medical certificates, and information sheets.
I see quite a number of patients a day, so you can imagine how much work the Brother printer goes through and how fast it has to be to keep up with my workload. I also occasionally use it for my ringside doctor duties as well.
Before using the Brother printer, what were your thoughts about the brand?
I used to own a Brother printer many years ago, which was basic but reliable (laughs). But that was a long time ago and I have to say that the brand has significantly evolved. I am pleased to see that the printer design, print speed and quality have improved so much since then, and that’s saying something because it was already decent back then!
Would you recommend the printer?
Oh definitely, especially if you own a small- or medium-sized business. The Brother MFC-J3930DW printer has been oh so useful to me and anyone who needs a printer that can do everything from printing, scanning and copying in a speedy and accurate manner would find it a Godsend.
It’s a good general purpose, wide format all-in-one printer with fast print speed.
To find out more about Brother, visit brother.com.sg. Read about how Brother printer also helped the F&B, fitness and hospitality businesses.
