By Oiwan Lam
During the Golden Week holiday at the end of September into early October, a group of Chinese tourists traveled to Seoul, South Korea, to protest in the streets against the botched cosmetic surgery that they said they had undergone in the country.
The failed procedures resulted in jaw misalignment, asymmetrical eye size and eyelids, crooked noses and stiff facial muscles, among other consequences. The women said they had been lured by medical agents to undertake the surgery without knowing the accreditation of the facility and qualification of the surgeons.
According to Chinese media outlets, the protesting women claimed that the hospital locked them in a dark room at one point and their passports were seized. Eventually they were arrested by police.
In China, it would be illegal for the consumers to organize protests demanding awareness and compensation as the women did, but in South Korea they were able to do so legally and some of the women had traveled several times to Seoul to protest in front of the hospitals.
A multi-billion dollar industry
Since the ban on cosmetic surgery was lifted in 2001 in China, the sector has been growing at more than 40 percent annually for the past 15 years. By 2012, Chinese people had spent 300 billion yuan (approximately US $47.2 billion) on plastic surgery, and the sector had hired more than 20 million employees and around 70% of China’s cosmetic procedures had taken place in unlicensed salons.
Between 2009 and 2010, more than 3.4 million cosmetic surgeries were performed in China, and on average about 20,000 complaints on botched operations are filed annually.
It has been estimated that by 2018, the plastic surgery market will be worth 850 billion yuan (approximately US $133.72 billion) as the younger generation is more open to the idea of plastic surgery and are willing to share their experience online.
More well-off Chinese choose to visit South Korea, known as Asia’s biggest cosmetic surgery destination, for the medical service. In 2014, as many as 56,000 Chinese tourists visited the country for a nip and tuck.
“Face is a gift from parents”
Nevertheless, not every patient is happy with the results of their cosmetic procedure, and real damage can be done if an unlicensed practitioner performs the surgery.
When the protest news traveled back home to China, it became a hot topic in the Huati section of popular social media site Weibo (#failed plastic surgery consumers protest in Seoul#). But a majority of the comments were disapproving of the elective surgery and the women’s demonstration — the value of protest has not taken root in China as fast as the cosmetic surgery industry has. Many netizens clung to the idea that the body is a gift from parents:
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Did your mother even know that you had your face made over? Don’t you feel sorry for them? What are you protesting for?
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你们整容前你妈妈知道吗？你们对的起她吗？这不是瞎搞吗？
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What’s the point of the protest? You spent money for a face-lift. No one forced you to do so. Plastic surgery is very risky, and they should be willing to assume the risk of their investment.
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为啥要抗议？自己愿意花钱整容，又没有被人强迫 本来整容就是有很大风险的，愿意投资就要有能承担风险的心理
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People’s face is a gift from parents and god. Why the need to change it?
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人的容貌是父母所给，老天所给，为什么要去改变
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Why place your trust in an advertisement. Why don’t you trust your parents? This is so sad. Why have people in this land become so vain?
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广告做的好，就以为真的做的好。为甚就不相信爹娘最好呢！真是可怕的悲哀。我的土地上，为甚有越来越多的虚妄的植物？
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‘Governments should step in’
On the other hand, users with more sympathetic views suggested the governments step in to settle the dispute:
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Some netizens are too mean. Everyone likes being pretty, mind your own business and save your mean comments. There is no need to preach principles like “flesh, hair and skin” come from parents. The most important thing is to urge the Chinese authorities to settle the dispute with their South Korean counterparts.
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某些大陆的网友太可恶了，说什么活该之类的废话。我想说的是，爱美之心人皆有之。人家自己的事情不需要你去干涉或者你去发表什么活该之类的言论，更不需要某些人去讲什么身体发肤受之父母之类的大道理。现在最重要的就是，希望你们大陆所谓的有关部门可以与南韩方面进行交涉处理~
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[If the facilities were unlicensed] the protesters should demand compensation. Everyone likes being pretty, people who take advantage of those in pursuit of beauty and harm them should be punished. Personally, I think the incident should be settled at the government level…
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真实的就应该讨回公道，爱美之心人皆有之，这么伤害为了变美而甘愿承受皮肉之苦的人真的应该受到惩罚，个人认为应该放到国际的层面上解决～～
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