Dr.P.A.Samaraweera, Australia

During the last few weeks cricket and cricketer’s were in the news. This week famous Aussie cricketer Shane Warne was in the news, but not about cricket. Sydney Plastic Surgeon Dr. Robert Drielsma had said that Shane had undergone plastic surgery and has got a face-lift. Some time back Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga was interviewed on TV channels about change in his ‘ego’. He said that he enjoyed doing all that and was laughing when he added that his parents were not too happy about it ! So people try to change their appearance for various reasons.
 
Early this month, while visiting the World Expo in Shanghai, China, I went to the University Pavillion. Then a Chinese girl working in the Expo spoke to me calling my first name. I was taken aback and very politely inquired where I met her before. She mentioned that when I visited her university last semester she took me around. I told her that it was Dong Ling, the President of the student’s Union who took me around. She said  she was Dong Ling. I apologised about my poor memory for faces and said that in 3 months she had changed a lot. Then she said that she underwent plastic surgery and detailed the changes to her chin, nose, eyelids and so on.
 
As plastic surgery is not cheap, I inquired if her parents gave the money and she said, ‘yes’. She smiled and added, ‘but the money was meant for university fees, accommodation, food, books, for a laptop’ and so on. And they were in the dark about what she had done with the money. She was going to tell them when they come to the Expo that week-end. She said that if she had phoned them about it, they would have been fuming at her. So she wants them to see her first ! She pointed at the girls in the pavillion and said that nearly 80 per cent of them had gone through some sort of plastic surgery. The next day she took me to the plastic surgery hospital to have a look.
 
At the Guangmei Cosmetic Surgery Hospital, GZ.,  Dr. Zhong, Plastic Surgeon said, about 90 per cent of university, College and High School students come to  improve their appearance by cosmetic surgery and thereby future prospects. He said, one reason is, being attractive, increases their employment chances due to the competitive job market in China. He also said that cosmetic surgery gives them more confidence at job interviews. Then he showed me the extreme case of a girl who underwent surgery to be a bit taller and  she was still in crutches. She said she is happy even though the surgery was painful.
 
Dr. Zhong added that not only young girls but young men also come to him for cosmetic surgery. He said this summer girls who came to him increased by 30 per cent while boys increased by 10 per cent. He mentioned that many parents are now open-minded because they also believe that cosmetic surgery enhances confidence, opportunities, wealth and love. So in China, younger people going for cosmetic surgery has increased in leaps and bounds. In the past, cosmetic surgery had been exclusively for the affluent, older and for celebrities to enhance their beauty and today it is done by a different age group for different reasons.