SINGAPORE: A beautician who performed aesthetic procedures without a practising certificate persisted in doing so even after being warned by authorities.
Zhang Yanli knew that her aesthetic services were illegal, but said that she needed the money for a divorce and for her family in China after she became unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 39-year-old woman, a Chinese national and Singapore permanent resident, was jailed for 14 weeks and fined S$13,000 (US$9,600) on Thursday (Jun 27).
She pleaded guilty to eight breaches under the Medical Registration Act and four under the Health Products Act, with 21 other similar charges taken into consideration for sentencing.
Zhang admitted that she was not registered as a medical practitioner and did not have a valid practising certificate.
She offered services such as thread lift and filler injection procedures at various places in Singapore, including Peace Centre and her home.
At least 10 customers were named in charge sheets, with procedures done as early as 2019.
After receiving feedback in May 2021, officers from the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) and Ministry of Health (MOH) conducted a joint inspection at Peace Centre on Jul 12, 2021, where they found unregistered health products.
Zhang had been working as a beautician there since March 2021, offering facial, eyeliner and eyebrow services, as well as skin booster treatments.
She was warned against providing illicit services but continued to perform the procedures.
While investigations were ongoing, HSA conducted another inspection following feedback about an Instagram user providing aesthetic services.
MOH operatives set up an appointment for a house call on Sep 29, 2021 for aesthetic services to be administered at a private investigator’s unit in Punggol.
They turned up for the appointment and caught Zhang applying numbing cream on a customer. Zhang’s bag contained unregistered health products.
The procedures were invasive and had the potential to cause harm, MOH prosecutor Jason Nim said.
THE PROCEDURES
Before performing the procedures, Zhang would ask customers a list of questions, including if they have any allergies, history of heart disease or if they had recent aesthetic treatments.
She would disinfect the area and apply numbing cream before performing invasive procedures on parts of the customer’s face. These included injecting solutions or threading needles into their faces.
If the customer’s face bled, she would stop the bleeding with gauze. Zhang used threads bought from an aesthetic hospital in China.
After the procedure, Zhang warned customers against washing their face, applying makeup or eating certain types of food for a period of time.
She would also provide antibiotics that she bought from a pharmacy in China.
One customer who had injections into her forehead complained of headaches and bruising around her temples but was told by Zhang that this was normal.
She said that the pain would last around three days and advised the customer to take pain relief medication.
Zhang’s lawyer Thomas Tham Kok Leong said in mitigation that his client came to Singapore in 2009. She had her only child with her ex-husband before the relationship turned sour.
The woman committed the offences to earn an income and support her child as her husband was not paying maintenance, Mr Tham said.
For acting as a medical practitioner without a valid practising certificate, Zhang could have been jailed for up to 12 months, or fined up to S$100,000, or both.
For supplying unregistered health products, she could have been jailed for up to two years, fined up to S$50,000, or both.
