Wednesday, July 9, 2008

My nose guy??

I am planning to get a nose job later this year. The plastic surgeon at the top of my list is Dr Hong. Now I am also considering Dr JJ Chua. His name has been coming up in the media as one of THE plastic surgeons to go to.

I dun know how true his claims are, that he has done a lot of celebrities' surgeries. But there are few rare reviews of him online by people in the street. Maybe they are too poor to be his clients?

His website is virtually blank and I heard he charge rather high prices.

http://www.jjchua.com/

One factor for consideration for me is not the skills of the surgeon but also where the clinic is located. Dr Chua 's clinic is in Orchard. I dun drive, and taking cabs there back can be a problem. Especially when the nose is bandaged and raw.

Hmmm......still under consideration. Maybe I should email him for a quotation and if his fees are beyond my price range, I should seek other just as qualified surgeons.

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The New Paper
07 July 2008

Meet Caldecott's NIP TUCK guy

Doc claims to be the plastic surgeon local celebs seek out. But he's not saying who has had what done

By Jeanmarie Tan

HE claims to have done plastic surgery on a number of celebrities in Singapore. And no, his name isn't Woffles Wu or Martin Huang. He is Dr J J Chua.

The plastic surgeon runs his private practice, the JJ Chua Rejuvenative Cosmetic & Laser Surgery, at Mount Elizabeth Hospital. He is also the consultant on a new TV serial about plastic surgery.

Dr Chua claims to have 'enhanced' several MediaCorp stars. And that doesn't include other local showbiz denizens like models, beauty queens, deejays, singers, comperes, fashion designers and stylists, as well as artistes who have retired or resigned from MediaCorp.

Some of them have even become good friends, said the chatty 42-year-old, who has 10 years' experience in the aesthetics field. He estimates that about half of local showbiz celebrities have undergone cosmetic enhancements.

BOLD CLAIM

On his bold claim that he's the go-to guy for most of the Channel 8 and Channel U crowd seeking a little nip and tuck, Dr Chua said: 'I cannot verify in numbers (and compare with other plastic surgeons) because patients' identities are confidential, but I know I've done a lot. 'Because if you talk about common obvious surgeries like breast enlargement, and say the industry talks about five celebs out there who've done it, they all happen to be my patients!'

Of course, he can't reveal names. Dr Wu and Dr Huang, who have worked on their fair share of foreign and local celebs, declined to comment on the veracity of Dr Chua's claims. Dr Huang said: 'I prefer not to comment on celebrity patients as these patients greatly value their privacy and confidentiality and I feel that it is important to respect and protect that.'

According to Dr Chua, the common procedures he performs on his famous female clients range from non-invasive ones like botox, fillers and lasers to nose jobs, lip plumping, double eyelids, breast enlargement and liposuction.

The men also undergo operations, including Thermage skin tightening and chest reduction. Dr Chua lives in a condominium penthouse in the eastern part of Singapore and drives a dark grey Lexus SC430:

Contrary to popular opinion, DrChua reveals that most of his celebrity patients are 'not shy' and walk into his clinic 'tall, loud and proud'. 'But a few are still very scared, kancheong (Hokkien for panicky) and worried, so they'll wear sunglasses and caps and make sure nobody notices them. Or they want to avoid the crowds and so I will open at special hours to accommodate them.' But when Dr Chua meets his clients outside of the office, it's a different story. He recalled how he has attended several events where familiar faces would be present, but both parties would avoid the other. 'Or sometimes we'd walk past and recognise each other and just smile. It feels weird, but I don't go up to them unless they come up to me first.'

Still, Dr Chua - whose hobbies include 'things to do with my hands' like drawing, painting and sculpting - says he enjoys working with celebs because they are 'not difficult or picky, are friendly, honest, no-holds-barred and don't complain'. 'They know exactly what they want and have a good knowledge of the treatments so I don't bullsh*t them. 'And I know artistes don't make as much money as people think, so I give them discounts and special care.'

The major downside is the time constraints and hectic schedules that artistes work under. The second eldest of four children who hails from a poor family, Dr Chua is an old boy of Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College. He earned his MBBS from the National University of Singapore before getting his fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons at Edinburgh and Glasgow.

In 2000, he trained in laser surgery and face reconstruction at Taipei's Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. A year later, he did his cosmetic surgery training at London's Wellington Hospital. In 2002, he returned to Singapore and became head of cosmetic surgery at Singapore General Hospital's department of plastic surgery. He opened his own practice in 2004.

An actress in her early 30s told The New Paper on Sunday that she knows 'many people from the entertainment industry' who go to Dr Chua for cosmetic help because he's effectively bilingual 'and not every plastic surgeon is'. She added: 'It helps that he's very friendly and approachable too.'

Other actresses we spoke to added that MediaCorp hairstylists recommend him to the artistes because he's 'good at what he does' and he's 'one of the few qualified plastic surgeons in Singapore'.

A deejay-turned-compere in his mid-30s speculated that Dr Chua's profile was raised after he appeared on the popular Channel U talk show Shoot in 2006, as a guest. He said: 'After the episode aired, quite a few celebs, especially the younger batch, wanted to get in touch with him. And then it was just one after another.'

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