14/04/2009

The contest will be ending earlier than expected due to low response.

We've decided to end the contest tomorrow, which is 15th April.

On the 16th of April, we will set up a poll for people to vote for your banners and buttons because we have concerns from our blog readers that it will not be fair for the owner of BOF-SG to choose it by herself.

Voting will end on th 18th of April.

Lee Min Ho might be coming to Singapore!



The leader of F4 LEE MIN HO might be hitting our shores in late April ! Accoring to Sports Dong - a news article today, after Lee Min Ho finishes his promo acitivites in Japan, he will fly to Australia to shoot magazine photos from Apr. 23, 4 days and 3 nights. At the end of Apr. plan to shoot in Singapore and in London. (Changeable).

Visit to Taiwan & China for BOF promo will be held late May or early June (Changeable).

Get ready your dslr, moolah and binoculars!

credits: mirca@soompi

BOF image featured on The Straits Times: LIFE section



More South Korean men get surgery to get a better job or to look like showbiz stars

Seoul - Mr Choi Jin Soon has found a way to get ahead on the job: more hair. In December, the salesman at a food company spent 4 million won (S$4,600), a little more than his monthly pay, to graft 3,560 hair follicles on his frontal scalp.

For four hours, he lay awake under local anaesthesia as a plastic surgeon dug strands from the back of his head and implanted them on the balding areas. He says he expects to feel younger and more confident meeting clients when the follicles start growing in six months.

Once panned as frivolous or effiminate, plastic surgery is gaining popularity among South Korean men seeking better social and job prospects.

Men now account for 15 percent of Korea's nip-and-tuck procedures, compared with 10 percent in 2006, according to Mr Hong Jeong Geun, spokesman for the Korean Association of Clinical Plastic Surgeons.

In the United States, the world's largest cosmetic surgery market, men account for 9 percent of such operations, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

"For women, this is a luxury. For men, it is more about survival than vanity," said Mr. Hong.

South Korea's cosmetic surgery market is worth about 600 billion won annually, according to market researcher Read & Leader. That just takes into account the authorised operators. Include unlicensed procedures and the figure is closer to 3 trillion won.

Even as the jobless rate in Asia's fourth-biggest economy rose to the highest since Auguest 2006, male patient numbers are dropping at a slower pace.

That suggests nip-and-tuck procedures for men, who have still more purchasing power than women, may rebound more strongly than the industry average when the economy recovers, Mr Hong said.

"Men have just started entering the market. They have a lot of growth potential," he added.

Appearance is one of the most important aspects in getting, and keeping, a job in a nation where men are the main breadwinners in 80 percent of households, said Dr Kang Jang Seok, who has performed more than 3,000 procedures on men in the past four years.

His practice is in the wealthy district of Apgujeong, with the highest concentration of plastic surgery clinics in Seoul.

He said the economic slowdown has not reduced his wordload at Misoyou Plastic, where he still sees about 10 patients a day. Men now account for 20 percent of his clients, and most of them seek nose jobs or hair implants.

"Men have cut down on their bar bill and vacation budget. But they are still investing in their appearance," he added.

About 31 percent of Korean jobseekers said they were willing to undergo plastic surgery because appearance has become an important factor in finding a job, according to a survey last month by recruiting firm Saramin.

Public opinion is also easing up on male plastic surgery as more prominent men own up to it.

Kim Dong Wan, a member of popular singing group Shinhwa and the star of TV drama, A Farewell To Sorrow said in 2007 that he had a nose job. The office of former president Roh Moo Hyun said in 2005 he had corrective eyelid surgery.

According to Dr Kang, more patients are asking to look like celebrities such as Lee Min Ho and Kim Hyun Joong, stars of Boys Over Flowers, the Korean version of the hit Taiwanese show Meteor Garden, about the love life of four goodlooking and wealthy college students.

He said men in their 20s are the biggest age group to go under the knife, while older men prefer wrinkle-smoothers such as Botox injections and facial fillers that plump up sagging areas.

Since Boys Over Flowers aired this year, more men have asked to refine their features.

"The surge coincided with the rise of these handsome actors," said Dr Kang.
"Patients mostly want to make their angular face smoother, softer and narrower, their eyes bigger and nose sharper."

Rather than double eyelids, nose jobs and hair implants, men are opting for more complicated procedures such as liposuction, a new chin and cheekbone reduction, he added.

Unlike women, most male patients prefer not to discuss the work done to their faces.

"Women talk about the procedures with friends and family, but male patients are reluctant to discuss it with others," said Dr Kang. "They go alone to the clinics for consultations, make an appointment at the first clinic they visit and not shop around for better places."

Male patients also complain less about the results, he said.

And they are getting younger. Surgeons consider students' winter vacation peak season, as high-school graduates, especially those entering college, get their procedures done before school starts in March.

Almost 44 percent of South Korean undergraduates said they were interested in having cosmetic surgery while about 25 percent of male respondents were dissatisfied with their appearance, according to a survey last year by online job search firm JobKorea.

Mr Choi said his decision to proceed is the best he has made yet.

"The procedure is painful and costs a lot. But it is worth it."


credits: Straits Times Singapore Life! + colloquie@soompi


Kim Joon & Lee Hye Young



credits: tinenapay@soompi