Rosmah's baby doll face a fucking outdoor beauty pageant for strippers! for the rich and famous?

. A fucking outdoor beauty pageant for strippers! What will they think of next? This Nudes-A-Poppin' Pageant is too damn funny. Look at all the huge cameras the guys in the audience are carrying. Perverts with high end cameras are damn dangerous. The audience is really more interesting than the exotic dancers on stage.

My confidence in the long held belief that the 'Chinese revere their elders' began to fade when a Beijing publisher was first in line to purchase the foreign rights to my book, "Face It: What Women Really Feel as Their Looks Change" (Hay House 2011). Delighted, but surprised, I heard her say that Chinese women are struggling with their aging appearance and were eager to read a book like mine to help them. During interviews that ensued with Asian journalists, I became further disillusioned. A number of them told me that Chinese culture had been moving away from its traditional attitude about Asian elders for years now. Knowledge and experience, they said, were not nearly as valued as youth and beauty. One male reporter chuckled saying, "Wise grandmas were out. Fashion and glamour were in."

So I wasn't entirely taken aback when I read about the rapid rise of cosmetic surgery in China in a recent New York Times piece entitled "For Many Chinese, New Wealth and a Fresh Face." The vice health minister there, Ma Xiaowei, was described as saying, "In just a decade, cosmetic and plastic surgery has become the fourth most popular way to spend discretionary income in China," with only houses, cars and travel ranking higher.

I knew from my own research and from watching trends published by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) that Asia's obsession with beauty has been creeping up close behind that of the United States. The ISAPS publishes statistics about cosmetic procedures, annually updating the trends among age groups, gender and countries around the world. According to their latest report, China, Japan and South Korea were found among the top seven countries where cosmetic surgery is performed, along with America, India, Brazil and Mexico. Mr. Ma's own estimates led him to report that, "the number of operations is doubling every year," in China, so that plastic surgery is now considered "a common service aimed at the masses."

What most surprised me in the Times article was what the general manager of a chain of Chinese cosmetic surgery hospitals said about their clients' demographics. "Two-fifths of patients are in their 20s," reported Li Bin. "Face-lifts and wrinkle-removal treatments are in vogue, just as in the West," but many of the procedures performed in mall-like clinics are more about looking beautiful than looking younger. Zhao Zhenmin, Secretary General of the government-run Chinese Association of Plastics and Aesthetics said, "Nationally, the most requested surgeries have nothing to do with age: The No. 1 operation is designed to make eyes appear larger by adding a crease in the eyelid, forming what is called a double eyelid." In other words, replacing the narrow Asian eye with a more Western looking one.

In another recent article, this one by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Seoul, South Korea was described as "ground zero" for Asian faces looking to get lifted. With incomes rising in China, "people are more focused on beauty and coming to Korea to get it," where the surgical techniques are considered more sophisticated. This influx is providing a boost to South Korea's beauty industry, says Sung Min-yun, head of a consulting firm that specializes in the cosmetic surgery industry. Half the women seeking plastic surgery in their clinics are Chinese and under the age of 30, the numbers having increased five fold over the past year.

Many Asian women come for surgery brandishing photographs of two very popular Chinese actresses -- Angelababy and Fan Bing Bing -- whose chins or eyes they want copied. These celebrities who have doll-like features (one who achieved her own look with plastic surgery) are currently setting the bar for beauty. They have big eyes, high-bridged noses and small faces. Apparently this leaning toward a Westernized appearance starts early; Dark haired Asian girls now favor blond-haired Barbie dolls over ones that look more like them.

Dr. Park Sanghooh, who founded a popular surgical clinic in South Korea says most Asian women are very open about it all. He says "life competition is so stiff in Korea and China, people who want to survive that competition come here." Beautification through plastic surgery is about survival, he says, and women go to great pains -- and through a great deal of money -- to achieve it. But according to others, the choice to alter ethnic features is more complicated. Margaret Chin, a professor of sociology at Hunter College who specializes in Asian immigrant studies said, for many here in the US, "You want to be part of the acceptable culture and the acceptable ethnicity, so you want to look more Westernized. I feel sad that they feel like they have to do this."

The Chinese have their own sad stories to tell about the dangerous risks women take for the sake of beauty. Like American Cindy Jackson, who at age 55 recently told the Today Show that her 52 different surgical procedures were to gain the look she wanted, Asians have a 22-year-old television reporter who shares similar goals. Going by the name "Devil," described as already having achieved "large luminous eyes, a delicate nose and softly sculpted cheekbones," she still sought surgery to reshape her jaw. According to her own report, she wanted to look "more sophisticated and exquisite." Why not, she said, her boyfriend was picking up the tab! And she is not alone. At Evercare, a plastic surgery clinic in Beijing, owners report a 30 to 40 percent return rate, with patients starting by renovating one part of their face, only to find the lure of more work irresistible. The slippery slope clearly is an international one.

Officials in China worry, as they do here, that these procedures don't always meet national safety standards. They claim that many of their practitioners offering Botox and eyelid surgery do not have the proper professional credentials. Some go so far as to call the 2.3 billion industry a potential "disaster zone," citing the recent death of a 24-year-old Chinese reality show contestant during an operation to reshape her jaw. Secretary General, Zhao Zhenmin, who also runs Beijing's Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Hospital said, "Personally speaking, I think this is pretty despicable," talking about this young woman whose windpipe filled with blood during the procedure. "We need to get to the bottom of such cases in order to protect people in the future."

So what are we seeing here? I find it hard enough to watch the once interesting, gorgeous faces in Hollywood looking more and more alike these days as they surgically alter them to retrieve youth and achieve so called, 'beauty.' But does anyone else feel even more disturbed hearing that this trend has reached across the globe? Sure, celebrities all over the world express fears about looking older as their careers wane with age. And sure, more are succumbing to the pressures they feel and ultimately undergo one form or another of cosmetic surgery to 'anti-age.' No doubt public figures -- both male and female -- experience a great deal of scrutiny at any age given our media driven culture, making cosmetic improvements difficult to resist. But this homogenization of beauty across culture and ethnicity is a trend that begins to sound like a bad science fiction story.

I recall a while back half joking that if my book Face It sold to even one out of every million women in China, it would be a great success! Suddenly, I don't feel like laughing anymore.

What do you think about the craze for baby doll faces across the globe?

Vivian Diller, Ph.D. is a psychologist in private practice in New York City. She has written articles on beauty, aging, media and fashion. She serves as a consultant to companies promoting health, beauty and cosmetic products. "Face It: What Women Really Feel As Their Looks Change" (2010), written with Jill Muir-Sukenick, Ph.D. and edited by Michele Willens, is a psychological guide to help women deal with the emotions brought on by their changing appearances.

Did Rosmah Mansor pay RM24.4 million or US$24.4 million for a humungous tax-free diamond ring ordered from New York's Jacob & Co?

Yes, it makes a tremendous difference because if it was US$24.4 million, that would mean the wife of Prime Minister Najib Razak blew something like RM73 million on a piece of jewellery.

It might be Rosman's own business but where she did get so much money from, and did Najib know about it? Did the PM authorize Customs to exempt the ring from taxes and why?

Additionally, why should Najib do such a thing when he has been telling Malaysians to tighten their belts and prepare for the next round of price hikes coming soon? Also, does he earn so much that his wife can splurge RM73 million on a ring, no matter how equisite?

Those are the questions gaining pace in town since PKR Rembau leader Badrul Hisham Shaharin lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission last week, urging the agency to investigathe the first couple over the ring.

"Our investigations show the ring is RM24.4 million ringgit nor US dollar? But that is already a lot of money, and if Rosmah says it is not, then for sure MACC must investigate all the more," Badrul told Malaysia Chronicle.

"As PM, how can Najib earn so much that Rosmah can just spend so much money on just one ring, no matter how beautiful and tempting it looks. Malaysian prime mnisters earn well but if they are not corrupt, there is no way they can make so much money."

The PKR Youth leader also said that so far, the MACC has not come back to him and neither has the first couple.

Last week, Badrul had challenged Rosmah to deny the ring belonged to her. But she has kept mum so far and is due to visit the Pope in the Vatican with Najib in tow beginning Monday.

What BN bloggers say - BIG LIE!

Meanwhile, UMNO bloggers have poured scorn on the three computer screen visuals received and exposed by Badrul last week. The screenshots apparently taken from the Customs' database show the existence of the ring and its importation from Jacob & Co, as Badrul had alleged.

However, to the BN bloggers, it was a "big lie" that the ring was bought by Rosmah using her own savings as some netizens have alleged. They said the owner of the ring is Jacob & Co.

The firm had brought the ring into Malaysia for a "private exhibition" at a "private residence of a VVIP in Kuala Lumpur sometime between the 17th and 19th of April, 2011", they took pains to explain.

"It is NOT TRUE that the RM24 million ring owned by Jacob & Co was PURCHASED by any of the VVIPs who were present at the "private exhibition'. The RING IS NOW WITH ITS RIGHTFUL OWNERS - JACOB & Co in New York - Thank You," said one well-known pro-BN Facebook user.

"It is a BIG LIE that the Prime Minister's wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor had purchased the ring with her savings as being propagated by some politicians and their desperate lackeys."

Fine jewellery not taxable?

The posting also insisted that the 'Natural Fancy Blue Gray Cushion Cut Diamond Ring' was taken out of the country on April 20, four days after arrival on the 16th.

"So it is a fact that the much talked about ring was brought into the country. It is also a fact that the regional agent for Jacob & Co did use Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor's name (it says 'inspection by') on the Customs declaration form. It is a fact that such fine jewellery, as this diamond ring OWNED by Jacob & Co, IS NOT a taxable item under the Malaysian LAW," said the posting.

"These Opposition politicians are so desperate that they have even created a FAKE Utusan Malaysia front-page montage. p/s This is not the first time such nasty 'super-imposed' pictures are used to discredit the Government and those associated with it. The last time PKR's now BATU Member of Parliament Tian Chua ADMITTED superimposing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's picture as part of their dirty political campaign to discredit Najib."

Tupperware-party equivalent of the rich and famous?

However, despite the detailed and passionate explanation, PKR's Badrul - also known as Chegubard - was unfazed.

"So what, they can say anything, who cares? What we want is for the MACC to do a neutral and fair test. If Rosmah is innocent, well and good for her. If guilty, then she and Najib must be punished. It is as simple as that, nothing personal at all," said Badrul.

According to PKR vice president Tian Chua, there was something fishy about the 'VVIP' exhibition.

"This is the first I have heard of a private VVIP showing. I mean, is this a tupperware party or what? Does it mean that if the ring was sold, the so-called patron and 'inspector' of the ring, which is Rosmah Mansor, would get a commission from Jacob & Co?" Tian told Malaysia Chronicle.

"If not, then why is she going out of her way to help them sell the ring, does she have shares in Jacob & Co, is she getting some sort of benefit. I think these are very valid questions that she and the PM should answer. Neither she or Najib should make use of their position to make monetary gain for themselves and if they have done so, have they declared tax on that income?"