In the past year, 800 plastic surgery procedures were performed at Beverly Wilshire Medical Centre Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysians – at 64 percent, made up the majority of its clients while the rest were international clients from New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, USA, China, UK, Vietnam, Middle East and elsewhere.
Datuk Dr Abdul Jalil Jidon, is one of Malaysia’s leading plastic, reconstructive and cosmetic surgeons at the centre, located on bustling Jalan Tun Razak.
After completing his medical studies, Dr Jalil started his housemanship at the Kuala Lumpur hospital in 1980. His intention was always to become a surgeon, with stints in various areas including urology, cardiothoracic, and eventually, plastic surgery.
“In order to be a cosmetic surgeon, I had to undergo training to be a general surgeon first. It’s a long process."
“First and foremost, as a plastic surgeon, its all about symmetry and proportion,” says Dr Jalil when asked about what constitutes as ‘beauty’ in the realm of enhancement procedures.
“An individual’s face has to be proportionate but it also depends on a lot of other factors , such as the features and racial background; everything has to be suited to the individual,” he adds.
Dr Jalil is very clear about his professional beliefs, that is to ‘only alter what is needed to enhance one’s beauty, to bring out the best version” in a person.
Nonetheless, he admits to getting unrealistic requests, largely driven by evolving perceptions of beauty, as a result of social media pressure. More people are turning to plastic surgery and non-surgical enhancement procedures such as fillers and Botox, in an attempt to bolster their appearance on social media.
“Based on my assessment, if you can’t attain your desired goal, it’s my job to tell the patient,” says Dr Jalil. He has over 38 years experience in plastic surgery.
“I’ll make a decision, the patient makes their decision and we come to a mutual agreement. Above all, we want it to be safe and to achieve good results,” says Dr Jalil.
“A full assessment will be carried out to determine whether the patient is fit for surgery. No matter how major or minor the surgery, every single step is cautiously planned,” he adds.
The standard of plastic surgery in Malaysia is considered on par with countries such as South Korea, where plastic surgery is very prevalent, says Dr Jalil.
The most popular procedures amongst his patients are breast augmentation, facelift, liposuction, rhinoplasty (nose job), blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery) and abdominoplasty (tummy tuck). Dr Jalil usually spends most of his days in the operating theatre with back-to-back surgeries.
“About 80 percent of my patients are women with a trickle of men patients also seeking treatment,” says Dr Jalil. Nose jobs, he says, are among common requests by men in their 20s and 30s.
“This is the type of job where you can’t just go for it; it’s about detailed technique. Although you’re operating on one area, you have to view it as a whole.” says Dr Jalil.
