Press Releases & Archive

Singapore National Eye Centre to perfect the vision of Singapore national sailors
Selected competing sailors to undergo Zyoptix LASIK treatment

Singapore, 28 March 2006 – The Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) is launching a partnership with the SingaporeSailing to perfect the vision of a select team of its sailors using the Bausch & Lomb (B&L)’s Zyoptix LASIK treatment.

This is a first of its kind partnership between the SNEC, SingaporeSailing and B&L. First recipients of the programme called Achieving the Perfect Score, are SEA Games medallists, Mr Roy Tay Jun Hao (郑俊豪), 23, and Mr Xu Yuan Zhen (许原禎) , 21, both fresh home from the 12th Asian Sailing Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Under this partnership, SNEC will also be organising a series of eye health education talks for sailors on eye care habits and safety when engaging in sports.

The programme is led by Dr Wee Tze Lin, Consultant, Refractive Surgery Service at SNEC. He said, “People with myopia should not be held back from participating in sporting activities. The selected sportsmen with myopia will find the LASIK surgery a tremendous boost to their competitive sports and training; it will allow them greater convenience without the need to wear their spectacles or contact lenses. The advanced technology also allows for shorter operating time and faster recovery.”

Roy Tay said, “Having good vision is critical in sailing, it can help me to better analyse weather conditions. With the LASIK treatment, I will never have to worry about losing my spectacles again, one less thing to worry about when I am sailing.”

Another SEA Games Medallist, Xu Yuan Zhen, shares his experiences. “Sailing with spectacles has always been a liability. There are always high chances of losing them whilst training or in competition if you are not careful. I have had numerous experiences of losing my spectacles. I had to sail half-blindly or head back to shore, which resulted in shorter training hours or a day wasted not sailing, all because I couldn’t see clearly,” he said.

On the new partnership, Mr Andrew Sanders, SingaporeSailing Executive Director, said, “Sailors often undergo harsh sea conditions and strenuous training that makes wearing glasses a hindrance, and very good eye sight is paramount for elite-level sailing.As such, a number of top-class international sailors have opted for LASIK surgery around the world. Hopefully, with their new clearer vision, our local competing sailors will be able to push to greater heights as we strive towards the Asian and Olympic Games”.

Mr Ng Yi-Kheong, Bausch & Lomb Director for Refractive Marketing and Commercial Development, said, “Zyoptix is our most advanced LASIK technology. It is a high precision technology and yet fast and hassle free – but the results are especially beneficial for sportsmen for whom an enhancement in vision is an advantage in their competitive sport. We hope that these selected sailors from our national SingaporeSailing contingent will benefit from Zyoptix and bring them closer to achieving perfect winning scores for Singapore.”

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About Singapore National Eye Centre -Refractive Surgery Centre

Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) is the designated centre within the public sector healthcare network to spearhead and co-ordinate the provision of specialised ophthalmological services with emphasis on quality education and research. Since its opening in 1990, SNEC has achieved rapid growth and currently manages 250,000 outpatient visits, 14,000 major eye surgeries and 7,000 LASIK laser procedures annually.

The Refractive Surgery Centre at SNEC is a modern facility providing high quality refractive surgery such as LASIK (Laser In-Situ Keratomileusis) and PRK (PhotoRefractive Keratectomy) to local and foreign patients.

Quality assurance has always been the hallmark of the Refractive Surgery Centre. The team of refractive surgeons undergoes strict accreditation and re-accreditation annually to maintain their currency and expertise. Also instrumental in its success is the availability of state of the art equipment such as Zyoptix Z100 laser system with iris recognition technology. A dedicated team of nursing and support staff also works in synchrony, making this one of the most successful refractive surgery practices in the world.  

About SingaporeSailing

SingaporeSailing is the national sports association responsible for the management and organisation of the sport of sailing in Singapore. With affiliations to organisations such as the Singapore National Olympic Council and the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), it has Ng Ser Miang as its patron, and is currently headed by Low Teo Ping. The Federation is located at the National Sailing Centre, along East Coast Parkway.

About Bausch & Lomb Zyoptix Technology

Zyoptix is the latest development in laser eye treatment from Bausch & Lomb. Over 350,000 Zyoptix procedures have been performed worldwide. An advanced version of the standard LASIK procedure, Zyoptix provides personalised vision treatment - it allows the eye surgeon to examine each eye for previously unseen details known as ‘aberrations’ (imperfections) and plan the treatment that can correct individual visual errors and aberrations in each eye. This highly automated, computer-controlled procedure takes about three to five minutes.