THE vanity business, which is what the more dubious of aesthetic treatments amount to, would not be thriving if there are no believers. 'Customers' should be the preferred word, as this is a nakedly demand-induced service provided by doctors who are lured by the much higher earnings it brings than from treating mundane sicknesses.

THE recent anti-Chinese protests in Tibet and several surrounding provinces in China have been watched with concern by governments in South and South-east Asia, especially India. They have called for restraint on both sides of the dispute while reassuring Beijing they will not support any call to boycott or disrupt the summer Olympic Games that China will host soon.