Singaporeans getting cosmetic surgery as young as 12

SINGAPORE: Fiona was just 12 when she had a nose job, double eyelid surgery and liposuction of her tummy.

The Singaporean girl towered over her classmates at about 1.6m and 60kg, and was often teased in school as she looked far too mature for her age.

“Physically, she was more like a 15-or 16-year-old,” said plastic surgeon Martin Huang, who performed the surgery on Fiona (not her real name) several years ago.

“She thought she was unattractive, and she lacked self-confidence due to her appearance.”

Cosmetic procedures then became a means to change that.

More children in Singapore – some, like Fiona, as young as 12 – are having cosmetic procedures to look more attractive and perhaps feel more confident about themselves, plastic surgeons said. A few are doing so to look even more mature than their peers.

They are requesting surgical procedures such as breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, chin implants and double eyelid surgery, where the skin around the eyes is reshaped to make the eyes look bigger and rounder.

Non-surgical procedures, which are safer and can be done quickly, include Botox to get the desired V-shaped face and fillers that enhance the nose and chin features.

Plastic surgeons say there has been a 10% to 30% increase among teens requesting procedures over the past five years, mostly from girls in their mid to late teens.

This increase comes despite warnings that there may be risks as children this age are still growing.

Perhaps more surprising is that many teens have the backing of their parents, some of whom have paid for cosmetic procedures as a gift for their child’s birthday or for doing well in exams.

Fiona, who comes from a mid- dle-income family, racked up a bill of about S$25,000 (RM74,200) for her double eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty and liposuction, all paid for by Mum and Dad.

People under 21 need parental consent to have plastic surgery and parents, it seems, are now more open to giving that approval.

Plastic surgeon J.J. Chua of JJ Chua Rejuvenative Cosmetic & Laser Surgery, who does not perform cosmetic surgery for anyone under 18, said: “If surgery is performed during puberty, the results may alter with growth and a revision surgery may be needed later.”

Counsellors also believe that teenagers may not have the emotional maturity to understand the risks involved.

Praveen Nair, a psychologist and senior consultant at Raven Counselling and Consultancy, added that it is unlikely that teens would attain long-term confidence from cosmetic procedures alone.

In fact, some might “use such procedures as a crutch”, and not learn suitable ways to deal with their body image issues, he added.

“This may create dependence that would be very difficult to resolve as the person grows older.” — The Straits Times/Asia News Network