Women turn to surgery for perfection

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Proportional cheeks may seem a little too chubby. What one person thinks is a good nose may not be sharp enough for another. A flat tummy can always be flattened more.

Today, everything can be “corrected” thanks to plastic surgery, an amazing innovation in beauty treatments that is growing in popularity among urban young women in Indonesia.

Kenanga, not her real name, said a small difference between her eyes led her to have an operation last year. “My left eye had an eyelid while my right one didn’t. It was a small detail but I felt bothered.”

The 27-year-old fashion lover described plastic surgery as one of the “most important inventions for women”, although she realized that it also carried with it a stigma. “If I tell people I have undergone plastic surgery, they might say that I am not thankful for what God has given me.”

To be labelled an unthankful person was the most annoying part, Kenanga said. “I own my right to beautify my body, don’t I?”

Imam Susanto, a plastic surgeon from Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta, said accurate information about plastic surgery was hard to come by, leading some to visit unlicensed practitioners for injections of silicone.

Most Indonesians dreamed of having sharper noses and jaws, Iman said. “Nose and eyelid surgeries are among the favorite treatments.”

Separately, Budiman, the deputy chairman of the Indonesian Plastic Surgeons Association, said plastic surgery was safe as long as patients went to licensed doctors.

The association currently has 102 members in 17 cities in the country. Most plastic surgeons operate in Jakarta and Surabaya because of more advanced medical facilities and because the cities are the nation’s largest — and most lucrative — markets.

Budiman said that patients should be wary of doctors who offered inexpensive procedures using liquid silicone. “Liquid silicone has been prohibited since the 1970s as it might harm the human body.”

Breast implants can cost up to Rp 40 million (US$4,452), although the use of liquid silicone can cut that to as low as Rp 8 million.

A woman, who requested anonymity, said high costs were part of the bargain. “We will have our bodies shaped and changed. How can a complicated process be done cheaply?” she said. (lfr)