WANT to make millions from desperate Malaysians wanting to have porcelain white, flawless skin?
Jump on the beauty industry bandwagon, where its regulatory mechanisms have plenty of loopholes and weaknesses.
In this small-medium scale industry, where brand loyalty is almost non-existent and thousands of sellers are competing aggressively with promises of overnight results, the concoctions they peddle put unsuspecting users at great risk.
The public warnings issued by the Health Ministry against using certain cosmetics are clearly becoming academic as thousands of other harmful products may have circumvented safeguards that the ministry applies to the industry — the “post-market surveillance” — where a handful of enforcers randomly, or upon receiving public complaints, pick up products in the market for testing.
The New Straits Times Special Probes Team had, since March, conducted an exhaustive investigation into the industry and what it found, is a big concern.
It studied thoroughly the legal framework that is supposed to regulate cosmetics players and found that it can easily be circumvented.
The businessmen are laughing all the way to the bank at the expense of the public’s health.
This report, the first of three, will reveal how exactly people are being exposed to serious health risks, and the types of poisons that they have unknowingly put into their body.
This edition touches extensively on the weaknesses in the system, which has seen a lot of “loosening” in the name of “growing the sector”.
The team is pushing for all loopholes to be plugged to better protect the unsuspecting public.
Tomorrow, the team will share the direct correlation between the application of these harmful products and the health effects that experts have discovered.
So precise is their study on the bio-accumulation of dangerous substances from the products that the NST team sourced from the market, that the doctors can tell you how long it takes before the unfortunate users develop chronic illnesses, such as cancer and renal failure.
The industry is flourishing at breakneck speed until even those who have sworn to protect the people’s health are found to be going against their Hippocratic Oath for a slice of the profit.
This particular discovery has turned out to be a shocker, even among the authorities, whose duty it is to protect the masses from unscrupulous and profit-driven businessmen who have no regard for the public’s safety.
• THE NEW STRAITS TIMES SPECIAL PROBES TEAM