One year ago, many residents of Tan An Town’s Ward 2 were surprised to see Tuyen borrow money to get plastic surgery in Ho Chi Minh City.

She had her eyelids cut, her nose raised and her lips fattened for the cost of VND10 million (US$625).

Tuyen explained that she underwent surgery to escape decades of poverty.

Her lips were always pale, so business was not smooth and she bore a bad reputation for her manner of speech.

Her eyelids drooped to her cheeks, causing misery because her eyes lacked the vital force.

The undersides of her nose swelled, making it impossible for her to keep money.

These adverse facial features caused unhappiness in her conjugal life, as her husband always remained far from home.

Even when they are together, they did not have good sex because the bad features on her face hindered his sexual desires.

After surgery, Tuyen boasted to neighbors that her husband had been sent to work closer to home.

He had given up drinking, loved and cared for her, and no longer mentioned any other woman’s name when they were together.

Her business also blossomed.

Tuyen then suggested her daughter bring her husband to HCMC to straighten and lift the bridge on his nose to change his fate as a motorbike taxi driver.

Her daughter got a VND6 million ($360) loan for the surgery and her husband had to stop working for a month post-operation due to his nose swelling up.

Many of Tuyen’s relatives have taken her advice to get plastic surgery to improve their fate.

Her niece Thu, who lives in Ward 6 of Tan An Town and works as a street peddler, got a VND6 million loan with a 10 percent monthly interest rate to have plastic surgery in HCMC.

“I am over 40 this year,” Thu says.

“I got married twice but my husbands have followed other women without fathering me a child.”

A fortune teller said that the bridge of her nose was low and she had a small curve between her eyes – features that designated that she had to live alone.

To rectify this situation, she had to remove the curve and raise the bridge so that a man would settle down with her for the rest of her life.

During the three months after surgery, Thu spent half of the time going to the hospital for medical examinations and treatments because she could not sleep from the pain in her new nose.

‘Fortune teller’ or broker?

Hai, a farmer in Loi Binh Nhon Commune of Tan An Town who is Tuyen’s nephew, said one month ago Tuyen visited his home and announced she saw a bad sign on his wife’s face that prevented the family from getting rich.

Tuyen asked Hai’s wife to come with her to see a fortune teller in HCMC to pinpoint the origin of the ruinous mark.

When Lan was brought to a woman named Chin in District 5, the fortune teller said toomuch fat in her eyelids made her eyes half-closed, covering her good luck.

Due to her features, Lam could not ever save money and her husband would be forever afflicted with alcoholism.

Chin said removing the fat would express the richness and elegance in Lan’s face.

At her recommendation, Lan visited a nearby beauty parlor to get the fat removed.

Xuan, a man from Khanh Hau Commune in Tan An Town who has also paid a visit to the fortune teller, said Chin tells most people that their faces have a defect that should be overcome by plastic surgery.

She is always ready to recommend them to a prestigious clinic in the city.

In fact, Chin seems to know a lot about surgical clinics in HCMC and how much procedures cost.

For example, she is knowledgeable that it costs VND6 million to stretch facial skin, VND4 million to raise the bridge of the nose or remove fat from the eyelids.

For Xuan, his biggest defects were a mole on the bridge of his nose and his big nostrils.

At Chin’s advice, Xuan visited a clinic just steps from her office to have his mole removed and reduce the size of his nose.

After his surgery, thieves broke into his house and stole a Future Neo motorbike he had bought less than two weeks earlier.

Xuan said he once brought a friend to see Chin for a fortune reading.

She blamed the friend’s bad fate on her protruding lips and recommended the same clinic where Xuan had undergone his surgery.

Source: SGGP