New Straits Times� : 18 September 2006

"YOU�RE so vain." Carly Simon might well have been singing to those Malaysians, regardless of gender, who believe in short cuts to make them more beautiful ("Beauty at any price" � NST, Sept 14).

I am talking about the new crassness of the public who spend a fortune injecting their skins with Botox to tighten their skins, go for plastic surgery to make themselves more beautiful, or go to beauty salons to make their bodies slender.

In the new age where people measure beauty by how slim and sexy you look, woe betide those whose waistlines are not like that of some super model.

The tragedy, which befalls those unfortunate individuals who died during surgery, should be a lesson to all not to visit quacks.

The desperate should seek medical advice from qualified doctors.

Exercising and eating moderately will do wonders for one�s health rather than spending a fortune to change the face or body.