Malaysia draws tourists with 'big' dreams<\/p>\n
Jalil Hamid , Reuters, Penang, Malaysia<\/p>\n
Nice tan. The young woman in the pink bikini smiled knowingly as
\nshe soaked up the rays by the poolside of a luxury hotel on the
\nMalaysian resort island of Penang.<\/p>\n
Corina van Leeuwen, a bubbly 25-year-old, would be taking more
\nthan just a glowing complexion back to the Netherlands by the end
\nof her holiday.<\/p>\n
"It's gone from a small B to a big C, it has grown one and a
\nhalf in cup size," she said, surveying her breasts with pride.
\n"I'm very happy with it, with them."<\/p>\n
Corina is just one of a growing number of Westerners who have
\nbooked a holiday in Malaysia packaged with a visit to a plastic
\nsurgeon.<\/p>\n
A Penang-based company called Beautiful Holidays is offering
\nsun and sea along with nips, tucks and implants.<\/p>\n
Most customers want larger breasts, but there is also demand
\nfor facelifts, nose jobs, botox injections and liposuction.<\/p>\n
"They get to combine a holiday and the surgery together which
\nwould mean a faster recovery, they don't have to cook their own
\nfood, clean their own house," said Marloes Giezenaar, the Dutch
\nowner of Beautiful Holidays.<\/p>\n
"We have 45 clients so far. About 60 percent of them went for
\nbreast enlargement," said the 25-year-old businesswoman.<\/p>\n
Other clients were shy about giving their names but Corina,
\nwho runs her own communications company, was up front about why
\nshe came to Malaysia.<\/p>\n
"It's much cheaper," she said stirring the ice in a glass of
\ntropical fruit juice.<\/p>\n
"I paid around US$4,000. If I have breast enlargement in
\nHolland, it would cost me 4,000 euro ($3,530) -- only for the
\nenlargement. Now I have a two-week holiday with it."<\/p>\n
Giezenaar said ordinary women sought breast implants to boost
\ntheir self-confidence and "feel and look good".<\/p>\n
Larger dimensions were for show biz types, she said. "I think
\npeople don't want breasts like Dolly Parton, Pamela Anderson."<\/p>\n
Breast enlargement is a big business worldwide. In the United
\nStates, more than 300,000 women had breast implants last year,
\naccording to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.<\/p>\n
The most common types of implants are saline- or silicone-
\nfilled. But the U.S. banned silicone implants for most women in
\n1992 amid controversy whether they caused chronic diseases.<\/p>\n
In the early 1990s, many women alleged that implants filled
\nwith silicone gel led to serious health problems.<\/p>\n
But a 1999 U.S. Institute of Medicine study found silicone
\nimplants did not cause cancer, lupus or other chronic disorders,
\nalthough they can rupture and present other problems.<\/p>\n
Since 1992, silicone implants have been available in the
\nUnited States only through clinical trials.<\/p>\n
Saline-filled implants remained on the market, but plastic
\nsurgeons say many women prefer the look and feel of silicone.
\nIn Malaysia, surgeons offer a choice.<\/p>\n
In Southeast Asia, Malaysia lags behind Thailand in tapping
\nthe fast-expanding market for cosmetic surgery.<\/p>\n
Faridah Stephens, publisher and editor of Cosmetic Surgery and
\nBeauty, Malaysia's first magazine devoted to issue, said more
\nAsians were now willing to spend money to look better.<\/p>\n
"There are a lot of choices out there. And getting beautiful
\nis getting easier and easier," she said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Mary Quah, of Loh Guan Lye Specialists Centre in downtown
\nPenang, said foreigners, most of them from neighboring Indonesia,
\naccount for 20 percent of her patients and the number is growing.<\/p>\n
One London doctor told Reuters there had been cases of Britons
\nwho had suffered after going for cut-rate breast surgery in Spain
\nand in some Asian countries.<\/p>\n
"Many have been seduced by cheap deals," said the doctor, who
\ndeclined to be identified.<\/p>\n
Giezenaar listed reasons for setting up shop in Penang.<\/p>\n
"The medical facilities are great, the infrastructure is OK,"
\nshe said. "And English is widely spoken here."<\/p>\n
But she believed Malaysia should come up with do's and don'ts
\nto help ensure a proper growth of medical tourism. "The first
\ncase that goes wrong would be the end for medical tourism for
\nMalaysia."<\/p>\n
Corina said she was nervous but had no regrets about coming to
\nPenang. "The procedure went very well...I feel it's part of my
\nbody now."<\/p>",
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