Anyone familiar with independent Taipei City Councilor Lin Ruey-tu (林瑞圖) might be surprised to notice that his wrinkles recently disappeared and his skin has become smooth.
The change in appearance took six hours of plastic surgery, which Lin underwent two weeks ago. The surgery included Botox injections and a face lift.
Showing pictures of himself from before and after the surgery, Lin said the procedure was a gift to himself for returning to politics. The 51-year-old former legislator described the pictures as "death versus rebirth."
"I had a serious and fierce face before, but now I look younger and energetic. [Getting the surgery] had less to do with being handsome and more to do with becoming friendlier to my voters," he said on Friday at an event promoting the clinic where he underwent surgery.
Lin is hardly the only person to have turned to plastic surgery to look younger and a growing number of men, including politicians, are undergoing cosmetic treatment.
Although women still account for most cosmetic procedures and plastic surgery, men are making up more of the total, statistics from the Taiwan Plastic Surgery Association showed.
Five years ago, men accounted for only 10 percent of all patients who elected for plastic surgery, but the percentage increased to 30 percent last year, the association said.
Tsao Szu-pin (曹賜斌), a member of the association and a plastic surgeon, said that while women tend to elect for plastic surgery because they believe it will improve their physical appearance, most men who decide to get surgery -- especially male politicians like Lin -- believe it makes them look kinder, friendlier and more energetic.
"These male politicians believe that looking younger, friendlier and healthier will help them to attract more votes or prolong their political career," Tsao said, adding that many politicians like to get plastic surgery before elections.
Several prominent Taiwanese politicians have had elective cosmetic treatment, including former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Chung-mo (林重謨). Lien had Botox injections, while Lin Chung-mo also had hyaluronic acid injections in his forehead in 2003. He later publicly lauded the effect of the procedures.
"Botox makes your face soft and smooth in a short time. It's really amazing," Lin Chung-mo was quoted as saying at the time during a promotional event held by his beauty clinic.
Former Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp chairman Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) admitted having laser blemish removal in 2002 when asked about his appearance, while DPP Legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮), Wang Sing-nan (王幸男), and former KMT legislator Fung Hu-hsiang (馮滬祥) had eyelid surgery.
DPP Legislator Wang Tuoh (王拓) and former independent legislator Chu Hsing-yu (朱星羽) also had plastic surgery to remove bags under their eyes.
After getting surgery in 2004, Chu said that it was not only meant to change one's looks, but that the removal of droopy eyelids would "bring more luck."
A survey conducted by Shu-Tien Urology Ophthalmology Clinic last year showed that the three most popular cosmetic treatments or types of plastic surgery were botox wrinkle treatment, plastic surgery on the eyes and Thermacool facelifts.
Tsao said men chose plastic surgery because they believed it would increase their competitiveness in the workplace. Men also preferred "easier" treatments that would not affect their work.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
BIG SPENDERS: Foreign investors bought the most Taiwan equities since 2005, signaling confidence that an AI boom would continue to benefit chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) market capitalization swelled to US$2 trillion for the first time following a 4.25 percent rally in its American depositary receipts (ADR) overnight, putting the world’s biggest contract chipmaker sixth on the list of the world’s biggest companies by market capitalization, just behind Amazon.com Inc. The site CompaniesMarketcap.com ranked TSMC ahead of Saudi Aramco and Meta Platforms Inc. The Taiwanese company’s ADRs on Tuesday surged to US$385.75 on the New York Stock Exchange, as strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications led to chip supply constraints and boost revenue growth to record-breaking levels. Each TSMC ADR represents
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
RSS