By Tiffany Fumiko Tay
BEAD THIS: Alexx Ng not only has three rows of Teflon beads and a star-shaped silicone implant under the skin of his right arm (above), but he also has two titanium fang-shaped tooth implants.
BEAUTY isn't just skin deep anymore. For a small community in Singapore, it's under-the-skin deep.
Tattoos and piercings aren't enough for them. This is definitely not for the squeamish: What they do is customise their flesh with 'body jewellery'.
Implants of silicone or Teflon beads are inserted under their skin, forming raised designs and patterns.
Yes, it is very painful, and also potentially hazardous to their health as infections can easily set in. Yet that has not deterred 28 year old Alexx Ng, whose 10 or so friends all have such implants.
He has three rows of Teflon beads and a star-shaped silicone implant under the skin of his right arm.
The 18 beads, each the size of a 50-cent coin, were inserted one by one after an incision was made and a metal rod pushed through to separate the layers of skin. The procedure was not done by a medical practitioner, but by someone he calls a 'travelling body artiste' in Thailand.
It's not quite what you would expect a self-employed investment agent to sport.
Yet strangers who scold him for disfiguring his body get a bigger shock when he opens his mouth: He has two titanium tooth implants in the shape of fangs.
Ng, who comes across as a shy, mild-mannered guy, says the fangs were done by a dental surgeon in Singapore.
As for the implants, he got them done three years ago after stumbling on a 'body modification' community website that sparked his interest.
Spending over $1,000 on all the implants, he says it was a 'friendship price' that the artiste charged him. Normally he would have expected to pay over $2,000.
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