Driven by a respect for women, his work embraces and enhances natural beauty.By Annie Tan on Apr 01, 2017
TATLER FOCUS
Dr Samuel Ho didn’t choose plastic surgery; it chose him. “Plastic surgery is an ultra-competitive field, and as a medical student, I didn’t think I had a shot, so it wasn’t my first choice. I was actually approached to specialise in it,” the charismatic founder of Allure Plastic Surgery shares.
Allure Plastic Surgery’s Dr Samuel Ho is all for empowering women, and helping them enhance and embrace their beauty.
As with the best success stories, this unexpected opportunity led to a chain of equally astounding breakthroughs. In 2010, Dr Ho became Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s first Advanced Surgical Trainee (Plastic Surgery), and finished the Plastic Surgery Exit Examinations as the top candidate, receiving the College of Surgeons Gold Medal in 2014.
He then pioneered several surgical techniques for the hospital to enhance nose augmentation, upper eyelid ptosis surgery, facial fracture surgery and breast reconstruction. Widely recognised for his contribution to the field, he was the only Singaporean plastic surgeon invited to publish a chapter in leading plastic surgery textbook Grabb’s Encyclopedia of Flaps.
In 2012, he also became the first and only plastic surgeon in Singapore awarded a Health Manpower Development Programme aesthetic surgery fellowship in South Korea by the Ministry of Health, and trained under top plastic surgeons in Seoul.
“Korea was a great place to hone my skills because of the high volume of cases I saw. I was able to observe and learn cutting-edge techniques in eyelid, nose and breast surgery, and apply these techniques on a large spectrum of unique patient characteristics,” he says.
“It is technically more difficult to achieve an ‘improved normal’, where the patient looks more beautiful and rejuvenated but people are unsure if they’ve really had surgery”
Dr Ho’s vast experience enables him to create a very natural, harmonious look characteristic of top Korean plastic surgeons. “I’ve been asked this many times: ‘if I undergo plastic surgery, will I be unrecognisable?’ Actually, the ideal is to enhance and rejuvenate, rather than to replace and change. So you should simply become a better improved version of you,” he explains.
“It doesn’t take much expertise to create large breasts, a tight facial appearance or very high double eyelids. However, this ‘operated’ look is slowly falling out of favour. It is technically more difficult to achieve an ‘improved normal’, where the patient looks more beautiful and rejuvenated but people are unsure if they’ve really had surgery. This also helps to remove barriers for patients who may want some surgical work without the ‘done’ look,” he adds.
Dr Ho’s job is driven by passion. Dividing his time between cosmetic plastic surgery to help patients improve their appearance, and reconstructive plastic surgery to address injuries from accidents and illnesses, and botched jobs by inexperienced surgeons, he finds great fulfilment in his work at Allure Plastic Surgery.
“Breast reconstruction after breast cancer is one of the most meaningful work I do. The patient is often devastated after the diagnosis, and has to go through the removal of her breast(s). This changes her appearance and negatively impacts her psyche. It is a blessing to help her reconstruct her breast and restore her natural appearance,” he shares. “Breast augmentation can be very rewarding as well because it helps the patient improve their self‑esteem and live life to the fullest.”
Dr Ho is well known for his post-pregnancy mummy makeovers as well. “I have a beautiful wife who has given me two beautiful children, so I have profound respect for all mothers. It is unfortunate that some experience ‘side effects’ from such a great act of love—stretch marks, wrinkly tummy swkin, tummy bulges and saggy breasts after breastfeeding. I get a lot of satisfaction from helping these mummies attain their pre-pregnancy state,” he shares.
With Dr Ho, it is always about empowering women, and helping them enhance and embrace their beauty. It is little wonder that in less than a decade, the “accidental” plastic surgeon has become one of the most highly sought-after and respected experts in Singapore.
ALLURE PLASTIC SURGERY
22-04 Penthouse Floor Wisma Atria, tel: 6734 9988
allureplasticsurgery.sg