Materia Medica Malaysiana

Ugly side of those who know not

Poorly trained beauty therapists and dubious medical treatment are some of the complaints raised by customers who have frequented shoddy beauty centres.
Magazine sub-editor Aileen Chow, 28, said visits to several such beauty centres had revealed that a number of therapists showed a surprising lack of knowledge on the treatment they were administering.
“Even when some of their treatment with machines was painful, and I told them, they still continued giving it.
“I wonder if they understood what they were doing or what kind of physiological damage their treatment could cause,” she said yesterday.
She was responding to the announcement by Health Ministry director-general Datuk Dr Ismail Merican that all beauty centres would in the future have to satisfy strict requirements set by the ministry before being issued a licence to operate.
Under a new Cosmetics Act expected to be passed next year, the regulations would cover both the premises and practice of the beauty centres, and those carrying out cosmetic procedures and slimming programmes.
Accountant Siti Aishah Mohd Nordin, 36, who visits a cosmetic centre once a month, said it was essential that the Government monitored beauty centres to weed out errant operators.
“We spend a lot of money for beauty and cosmetics, and we have to know that these centres are credible. I don't want to be a victim of a disaster,” she said.
Beauty assistant Sophia Goh, 23, said drastic consequences could result from flawed beauty treatment, especially if it involved surgery or injections.
“If anything goes wrong, it will cost a lot to rectify it,” she said.