Culture and Leisure
In search of beauty
But some of those locals who have undergone cosmetic surgery, in fact, do not mind letting others know what they have done to their faces or bodies.
Christy Lo Chuen-ki, a student of the University of Hong Kong, received laser treatment to remove the dermal pigmented lesion on her neck last December. She said she had no problem of telling her friends and family about her decision. ¡§I believe everyone looks for the best way to improve his or her appearance nowadays,¡¨ Lo said.
Public relations consultant Lok Ka-lai said she went to have rhinoplasty, or commonly known as a ¡§nose job¡¨, after a fortune teller told her that if her nose could be more symmetrical, she would be luckier in her career when she reached 40.
¡§If you would become more confident after the surgery, why don¡¦t you go for it?¡¨ she said. She also compared cosmetic surgery to wearing make-up.
¡§If it boosts your confidence after putting on some blue eyeshadow, why not? People may criticise you for whatever you have done. What¡¦s most important of all is to be happy with your own decision,¡¨ she said.
Another leading plastic surgeon, Daniel Lee Tin-chak, said his clients were from all walks of life and of different ages.
¡§Some mothers bring their daughters to my clinic,¡¨ Lee said. ¡§It is probably the mothers who ask their girls to undergo cosmetic surgery. The girls are just about 15 or 16 years old, so they don¡¦t really know what they are doing.¡¨ As for the oldest clients, Lee said they could be above 80.
And one out of four of his patients is a male. ¡§Men want to be more charming as well,¡¨ said Lee, who is secretary of the Hong Kong Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons.
Still, the majority of the clients were women aged between 21 and 50. ¡§Cosmetic surgery is an unnecessary surgery,¡¨ Lee said. ¡§It is different from surgeries that must be conducted when you have broken your leg or suffered from appendicitis, which is fatal.¡¨
Chor Wing-tung, who studies in ritain, has two moles removed last summer because they were big enough to affect her appearance on camera. ¡§I would like to be prettier,¡¨ the university student said, adding that the surgery was just simple, minor and harmless.
Chor said many people around her did find her look more beautiful after the surgery.
However, she did not get everyone¡¦s support. ¡§Some of my friends believed that it was pointless to do such a surgery, as they did not even recognise that I had my moles removed,¡¨ she said.
Lok Ka-lai has a nose job done.
