Yang Sovannary, 22, a mathematics teacher at Hun Sen Sa Ang High School

“I ACCEPT that plastic surgery is important for those who earn a living from their beauty, such as film stars, singers or actors. But because I’m a teacher, there is no reason for me to have it. No matter how rich I am, I will not waste my money on plastic surgery.

I prefer natural beauty, because it has no bad effects on my body. Although I want to be more beautiful, I will do it the natural way.

Some people have plastic surgery because they want to look beautiful as fast as possible, but sometimes they end up looking uglier than they were before.”

Khhong Sopheaktra Daravithhou, 18, a first-year student at the Department of France

“IN MY opinion, it’s good that people who are not naturally beautiful can become better-looking. It enables people who are self-conscious about their appearance to become more confident. Those people can become more attractive to others and, importantly, will not be discriminated against because of their appearance. People who used to hate themselves because they thought they weren’t attractive can feel a lot happier after plastic surgery. If I could afford it, I would have it, because it can help me to be more handsome, and I would choose to have the operation in Japan because it is famous for plastic surgery.”

Ath Chhun Muoy, 22, a second-year student at the Institute of Foreign Languages

“FROM my point of view, beauty is very important for both men and women. People try to do everything they can to make themselves look awesome. Some people are so concerned about their looks that they try to earn money to have plastic surgery abroad. I won’t be doing that, because  I don’t want to take the risk and because I’m satisfied with what I have.  Plastic surgery can have bad consequences, such as cancer, and can even cause people to die. No matter how ugly I was, I still wouldn’t dare to have plastic surgery.”

Chea Theara, 20, a third-year student at the Institute of Technology of Cambodia

“HAVING plastic surgery has both positive and negative effects on people. First, it helps people who aren’t beautiful to be nicer, because beauty is really important in our society and having surgery raises their self-esteem. Some people could never get good jobs because of their looks; others may  lose their jobs because of their appearance. On the negative side, I do worry that plastic surgery may have a bad effect on our health sooner or later. I believe some people have died after having plastic surgery. But all in all, although it’s not good for my health, I would still choose to have plastic surgery if I was born with an inadequate body.”

Dul Nary, 23, a recent graduate of the Vanda Institute, majoring in accountancy

“I appreciate the technology, because it can help those who are born with physical defects such as deformed mouths to look more or less the same as other people. Often these people don’t want to look beautiful; they just want to be acceptable in society. If I was in that situation, I would be willing to put myself in the hands of a qualified plastic surgeon, because in our  society the first impression people have of us is our appearance. Putting it bluntly, people with physical imperfections will be discriminated against, so  I support the idea of having plastic surgery.”