For almost a week before her passing, Syaza did not attend any campus activities – instead, she was holed-up in her room, mostly in bed. Her roommates thought it was rather odd as she was an active person who enjoyed sports.
When the fasting month began, they noticed she slept all day. During sahur, she refused to eat with the rest, preferring to munch only on an apple and drink plain water.
For berbuka puasa, it was always something light before attending terawih prayers and right after, it was straight to bed again. This continued for the first few days of Ramadan.
On the night before Syaza’s death, her roommates offered to buy her a proper meal with the intention of forcing her to eat. She shouted at them, claiming she just wanted to sleep.
Upset, her roommates let her be. They knew she was troubled over something but were clueless as to what it was.
During sahur the next morning, her roommates shook her, trying to wake her up – but Syaza did not move. She was in her singlet and pants, wrapped in a blanket, yet her body was cold.
Shocked, the three teenagers quickly informed their hostel warden, then a lecturer – who rushed to Syaza’s side only to find her dead.
Paramedics soon arrived and carted away Syaza’s body. Her parents were summoned by the university. Understandably, they were devastated to hear the news.
Syaza was their only child, her mom and dad’s pride and joy. They were expecting to see her dolled up in her new outfits for Raya, not lying stone cold on a stretcher.
News of her untimely death quickly spread all over campus, and students as well as lecturers began wondering what caused it. It didn’t take long before a few students informed the authorities of a secret Syaza had kept from her family – she had been consuming a range of beauty and slimming pills for quite some time.
According to Syaza’s friends, it was easy getting hold of such beauty supplements. Not only were these available over the counter at major shopping outlets around the city, there were also many students acting as sales agents for various self-image enhancing pills, creams and jamu (traditional herbal supplement).
These were marketed as having the ability to improve one’s complexion, reduce one’s waistline or boost one’s bust size.
Now, why would a young girl like Syaza consume supplements to enhance her looks?
It was because she did not think she was pretty enough and she did not think she was thin enough. All she wanted was to be prettier and slimmer. Syaza wanted to be a better version of herself.
But Syaza isn’t alone. Like her, there are many teenagers and younger women, who believe they do not fit into the standard of beauty portrayed in the media where actresses and models have flawless skin and hour glass figures.
These women easily fall prey to the dubious marketing tactics that exploit their insecurities.
“Enhance your looks to catch the eye of the opposite sex; achieve a higher social status; get a better job; have a brighter future; and be happier” – this is what marketeers tell us these days.
Research shows “happy” people are not “good” consumers because they aren’t in the market for products to improve their self image.
Hence, to make a sale, it is imperative to break the self-confidence of the easiest target group i.e. young women, with the winning marketing strategy that says: “You are not good enough. So why not try to improve yourself?”
By end 2017, the global beauty market is forecasted to reach US$265 billion in value.
Of course the media and marketers of such brands can easily argue that consumers like Syaza should have exercised their freedom of choice and stayed clear of supplements to improve their looks.
While this is true, doesn’t the media and marketers have a social responsibility too?
Planning a marketing strategy that leads to women questioning their beauty and choosing to improve their looks by consuming questionable supplements sounds unethical to me.
And while we are on the subject of ethics, the actors and models who stand as ambassadors of these brands are equally responsible for some women (and men) doubting their sense of worth.
Ever since Syaza’s death, my daughter, who for years has complained about her tanned skin tone and excess weight, has now finally stopped talking about beauty products.
Although there are still times when she has trouble loving her own reflection in the mirror, she works hard to overcome this weakness by reminding herself of her good qualities, of which she has many.
There are many young girls like my daughter out there. Many who constantly struggle with their own body image. And many who have not broken free of the vicious marketing strategies of beauty products.
As long as there are companies that feel there is nothing wrong in selling products by stereotyping beauty, I fear Syaza will not be the only young life sacrificed in order to fit into their definition of what true beauty is.
Fa Abdul is an FMT columnist.
With a firm belief in freedom of expression and without prejudice, FMT tries its best to share reliable content from third parties. Such articles are strictly the writer’s personal opinion. FMT does not necessarily endorse the views or opinions given by any third party content provider.