H O O K E D - A Socialite's Tale: An Interview with Dr. Georgia Lee

A Socialite's Tale: An Interview with Dr. Georgia Lee

Written by Charmaine Tan

As vicarious consumers of gossips on the lives of the rich and famous, which are regularly fed to us courtesy of celebrity gossip magazines and the paparazzi, we tend to view these high-society people through a myopic lens, especially with the gloss and shine on the magazines, potent enough to permeate our senses.

As a result, when we judge those people who are prominent fixtures in high society galas, we are fixated on their appearance, developing preconceived notions about their characters, based primarily on the way they look. Unfair? Absolutely.

Therefore, HOOKED has decided to jump off the bandwagon of generic stereotyping by featuring a well-known local socialite Dr. Georgia Lee, who has proven to have more depth in personality and in her professional life than most of us non-socialites have had thus far.

        First things first, socialites are not all spoilt, vacuum-headed dolls who use their miniature-sized dogs as outfit accessories.

        Some of them are well-regarded for their professional expertise in their field of specialization, think nothing of slogging hard for their bread and butter, and are as well adept discussing "hard" issues such as the economy and politics, as they are discussing the latest IT bag to own. Such socialites are firmly grounded individuals, who do not demand to be treated like porcelain china, and have genuinely nice personalities.

        The only similarity our interviewee has with Paris Hilton is the fact that both of them always seem to be perfectly put together in well-coordinated outfits in public. Beyond that, they are as different as day and night. Hooked provides a sneak peek into the life of Dr. Georgia Lee, an unapologetic socialite, a well-known aesthetics doctor, a loving wife and mother.

        Touted as one of Singapore's most flamboyant and glamorous aesthetic doctors, Dr. Lee is no stranger to the social scene, being regularly photographed attending exclusive fashion parties, hobnobbing with other socialites and famous Mediacorp artistes.

        Like the other fashionable personalities, she enjoys shopping for nice apparel (which naturally requires extensive amounts of space to keep), yet unlike most socialites, she does not just play hard but works even harder to establish herself in the medical fraternity.

        "I am a much focused person and knew that I wanted to be a doctor since I was 8 years old, and I have been studying towards that goal since then. When I first started my own practice in 1999, I started my first aesthetic procedure and have not looked back since," says Dr. Lee. She is in fact one of the first aesthetic doctors in Singapore.

        Being one of the most photographed doctors in Singapore, one would be inclined to think that she feels a certain infringement of her right to privacy because of general media interest on her social outings i.e. the parties she has attended and close public scrutiny on her appearance.

        However, she is rarely bothered by that and is not ready to retire from the social scene as yet. This is despite the pressure of having to be seen in different outfits every time. Of course, being famous has its perks - shopping and planning for her wardrobe are done with the help of different brands that have been very supportive and helpful, highlighting their most interesting items and bringing them down to her clinic for her. Such, is the life of the rich and famous.

        Juggling different profiles is tough, but Dr. Lee makes it seem effortless while having to take on various roles such as that of a successful doctor with a thriving business, a loving wife and mother, as well as a permanent fixture on the local social scene all at once.

        Her daily routine is not fixed and the hours are long, but she manages her schedules well by stressing on the importance of planning well. In addition, it helps that she requires very little rest and that she has a very active mind, since a typical work day starts at 7am and ends at 10pm if she does not have any parties to attend.

        With so much on her plate and a schedule that is packed to the brim, it seems that twenty-four hours a day is insufficient. Then again, like any successful career woman, she manages without much difficulty saying simply that she is used to it. On days whereby she is required to attend an event, she will leave earlier to prepare for the party.

georgia

        Being seen on glossy magazine pages do not exclude her from the pressures that come with ageing, specifically, the occasional insecurities about her appearance. However, Dr. Lee can effectively deal with her insecurities through her profession, after all, she is an aesthetics doctor.

        She is not averse to administering the best treatments on herself to delay the onset of ageing. Despite being on the thin side, she lets on that she has the monthly carboxytheraphy injections to problem areas (to control cellulite and fat cells contents, although she looks like she does not need it), on top of her Botox injections to relax frown lines and crow's feet.

        Like any well-meaning aesthetic physician, she emphasizes the use of a daily sun block to prevent premature ageing, whilst self-administering laser rejuvenation to stimulate the production of collagen in order to prevent breakouts. Well, one has to look good for the camera right?

        The young desires to be trendy, while the old wants to stumble upon the elixir of youth, and Dr. Lee is optimally positioned as an aesthetic doctor to help both groups achieve their desires. She can help the young maintain their porcelain appearances by solving acne woes that hormonal changes bring and help the old retard the hands of time.

        However, although she does not advocate turning to aesthetic treatments as a first resort, she believes that it is necessary to look good in a world where appearances are important. She agrees that in all aspects of life, it is human nature that the more attractive will have that extra edge and be treated better, with all other things remaining equal.

        Nevertheless, "an attractive exterior is not enough, I have always told my patients that a beautifully wrapped present may have a high chance of being opened first, but the present itself must be interesting and intriguing enough for the gift seeker to get to know it better."

        Well, to the aspiring socialites and those bent on achieving the ‘atas' status - success in the workplace and the social world - with a flute of champagne in your hand, bear in mind that society is in an ever-changing flux and that nothing is ever achieved without hard work.

       Life has to be balanced by work and play, as Dr. Lee works hard and enjoys doing it at the same time. Being involved with interesting social happenings is just the "icing on the cake."

        Like Dr. Lee says, "I am just living the life that many can achieve," having your career going for you and being able to take part in things that you enjoy is like having one's cake and eating it.

        Despite her high profile and achievements, she comes across as being modest and is quick to stress that the backbone of her successes, stem from having a strong family backing as she has the full support of her husband in everything that she undertakes. Furthermore, she makes it a point to be involved in every aspect of her children's lives.

In addition, she feels that "without strong family backing, living a high life is just like a painted hollow egg shell - beautiful on the outside but very fragile."

Indeed, she is not just a socialite without personality, but a source of admiration to women of all ages. HOOKED

Photographs courtesy of:
http://thestar.com.my
http://news.asiaone.com/
www.revolution-press.com/

Comments
Written by Guest on 2008-03-31 11:34:32
I can't stand it every time I see the word 'apparels'. It's like 'Furniture'; there can never be 'Furnitures'!!! 'Apparel is an archaic word anyway.

While the article was of reasonable quality, it definitely isn't polished (or 'atas') enough!
Written by Guest on 2008-03-31 11:37:08

Written by Guest on 2008-03-31 20:19:03

who cares
Written by Guest on 2008-03-31 22:50:43
Dr Lee always wanted to be a doctor? An aesthetics doctor? Come on! What a worthy noble ambition. Seems more like she wanted to make lots of money and have a way to protect her looks. How shallow. And the article is so sychophantic. 'A loving wife and mother'. What a cliche! Where is the gritty reporting?
Horrible
Written by Guest on 2008-04-01 12:13:19
Yes what a terrible article. It's very shallow and I'm very certain there are women out there who do more with their talent. She is hardly someone to look up to.
Written by Guest on 2008-04-02 15:56:49
now now why are we raining stones on this? surely an article like this is never meant to be in a bad light.

go find a gossip magazine OUTSIDE of singapore then..
Written by Guest on 2008-04-03 01:43:26
omg.. the comments are so ridiculous. so, she cannot have a childhood dream to be an aesthetic doctor?? why, it's not credible enough is it? what? must she say that she always wanted to be a sweeper, a househelp or something along those lines before it's deemed 'credible' enough by you?

you're so ridiculous. and this is not a TABLOID magazine what.

anyway, back to the point of commenting ABOUT the article. I like the article, it's quite decent but more pictures please! like her clinic and her wardrobe or her shopping sprees. i mean those are really examples of being atas right? i love Dr. Georgia Lee. She's so accomplished. although she's a bit botox-ed la. haha. oh well.
Written by Guest on 2008-04-03 01:44:23
"an attractive exterior is not enough, I have always told my patients that a beautifully wrapped present may have a high chance of being opened first, but the present itself must be interesting and intriguing enough for the gift seeker to get to know it better."

i LOVE this!
Taxi uncles know all
Written by Guest on 2008-04-05 08:34:20
Yesterday a taxi driver told me women are like art.
this is just stupid
Written by Guest on 2008-04-10 21:05:25
:roll

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