Fauzi Rassull’s figure is, for many young Singaporeans, to die for.
The slim 20-year-old, a popular blogger among the city-state’s fashionable youngsters, flaunts his 1.73m, 60kg frame in glamour shots splashed on his sites.
Followers share tips on eating and Fauzi himself swears by his regimen of two meals a day consisting of bread, instant noodles and salad.
Thanks in part to anti-fat advocates like Fauzi, thin is in among Singapore teens and young adults, but experts warn that the fad is behind a worrying spike in the number of people developing eating disorders.
“I don’t see myself as thin, I don’t think I’m thin now,” he insisted, saying he was aiming to cut his weight down to 53kg.
Fauzi’s dream weight would put him below the healthy range of the Body Mass Index (BMI) system used in many countries to measure fat.
At that weight, Fauzi, who does not hold a regular job and sells ads on his blog, would be risking “nutritional deficiency diseases and osteoporosis” based on the BMI scale of the Singapore Health Promotion Board, a government agency.
Fauzi, whose blog “The Male Bitch” was voted Singapore’s most popular blog for four straight weeks this year, denies he is encouraging anorexia, which afflicts many Asian youngsters.
“I just want to be skinny and people misinterpret skinny and anorexic,” he said, referring to hate mail he had been receiving from outraged people accusing him of promoting the eating disorder.
Medical studies show anorexia has become an endemic problem in Asian countries. Singapore is no exception, with the Eating Disorders Program of the Singapore General Hospital reporting five new cases a month. Many other cases are handled by private clinics.
Singapore has a resident population of just 3.64 million, of whom 13.4 percent belong to the 15-to-24-age category, the demographic most susceptible to the disorder, psychiatrist Ken Ung said.
“I think that the eating disorders are sort of a novelty, curiosity, so they are fairly popular to young people,” said Ung, who has studied anorexia for years.
He disapproves of Web sites and blogs such as Fauzi’s due to their influence among the young.
“These sites should be taken down, definitely it is harmful to that small vulnerable minority that will be influenced,” he said.
Popular social networking site Facebook apparently shared the same sentiments.
Fauzi said his 900-strong Facebook group — “Get Thin or Die Trying” — saw a spike in membership before it was taken down by site administrators in April.
He was also issued a warning and refused permission to start a new Facebook group after repeated attempts.
In a copy of the warning sent to Fauzi, Facebook said the site does not allow “groups that are hateful, threatening or obscene.”
But Fauzi, who is also the creator of “The Thinspo Club” on the social networking site Friendster, said all he was trying to do was gather like-minded individuals to share slimming tips.
“I just want Singaporeans to lead a healthy lifestyle as well,” he said.
Lee Huei Yen, the director of the Eating Disorders Program, was skeptical of Fauzi’s diet.
“The diet does not sound healthy and balanced and this person may possibly have an eating disorder,” she said.
Fauzi brushes aside such concerns and is single-mindedly pursuing his dream of being as fashionably thin as US socialite Paris Hilton.
“She’s my idol, she’s very pretty, that’s why I want to go to the extent of trying to be as thin as possible,” he said. “It’s all about glamour.”
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS