Thesis

I still have a vivid memory of what happened twelve years ago when I prepared for my doctoral thesis.

After I had all the content printed and ready, I went to a store recommended by a previous colleague of mine. It was a small place at the western side of the island.

As soon as I opened the door, I was met with a serious-looking middle-age man – on the forehead of whom had the word owner clearly written.

He looked at me, adjusted his pair of glasses, and asked, “Thesis for binding?”

I nodded.

“Which university?”

I replied.

“What degree?”

“MD.”

“OK. You need a red cover like this,” he showed me a sample on his shelf, “Four copies, right?”

I was completely amazed and was forced to nod again.

PS. You may ask: Where are these four copies now? According to our university’s regulation, the formal one is kept in the University Library, and another in the medical library. I gave one copy to PW – my internal examiner and our Emeritus Professor of Physiology – as a souvenir, and the last one to another friend of mine (as a sample) when she was preparing her own MD thesis.