Aesthetic surgeon collects erotica

If you want to get on Woffles Wu's good side, leather goods or silken trappings are not the way to go.

'I would much rather get an erotic figure as a gift than a tie or a wallet,' says the renowned plastic surgeon, who needs very little by way of introduction.

Featured in Aesthetic Surgery, the coffee table book by Angelika Taschen, as one of 'the world's most famous aesthetic surgeons', his swathe of celebrity clients, his gregarious personality and, of course, his skill at beautifying the human form provides fodder for many a dinner table conversation. And now he's about to give everyone something else to talk about.

'I have been collecting erotica since I was maybe 16. For me, they are nice to look at, and they are great conversation pieces,' he says of his wide array of erotic figurines, paintings and novels, many of which are antiques.

'I read about this art form called netsuke. It uses ivory or natural bone to carve little figurines, little houses. It is usually not erotic. But this book that I read talked about these secret communications.

They would make these tiny little sculptures that on the outside look like nothing - they look like a normal family scene. But if you turn them over, the man is doing all these things to a woman.

'The very first piece I bought was a tiny netsuke that looks like a nice family scene. But when you turn it over, of course the man and the woman are engaged in wild frolicking ... So I thought, wow that's kind of fantastic; it is so erotic because it's secret, nobody knows that it is going on but it is going on.'

Another little-known fact outside his inner circle is that Mr Wu is also a prolific painter. In 1987, he exhibited Psychosexual Erotica, a collection of semi-erotic paintings, in a gallery in Taipei.

'Dexterity, creativity and discipline - the thought processes that go into creating a painting - are the same that go into creating a beautiful outcome for a patient,' he says. 'I have transferred all my creativity and artistic energy into my work as a surgeon.'

Infused with Mr Wu's trademark tongue-in-cheek humour, the paintings are bold renditions of his love for history, art and erotica. One of the characters that feature prominently in his works is Lewd Lew, an immortal warrior 'from the century when men were powerful giants and women were demure young things', proclaims Dr Wu.

'He has a bevy of trained assassins all dressed in negligees to protect him. They also provide him with sexual entertainment at night. It's all supposed to be quite funny, witty and cartoonish.

They are, in a way, parodies of what I see in life. Don't we all know someone who has a number of mistresses, or is having a secret affair? We all know, it's a part of life. So my paintings try to reflect this in a way, and show betrayal, passion, lust, love - the raw emotions - all disguised under a humorous facade.'

The light-hearted whimsy that Mr Wu takes to the canvas is also present in his attitude towards his collection. He states that those around him share this mindset.

'They always look at my new acquisitions with glee and laughter, so that is never an issue in my house,' he says. 'I amassed a few of these erotic things and they are on display in my house in a cabinet. Everybody can see them.

Even to the point now that my mother, who has friends in the antique trade, gets things for me. The last set she got me, for Christmas, was a set of tiny little figures all copulating. Most people are quite enamoured with these pieces because they are very colourful.'

While Mr Wu demurs about the deeper implications of his fascination with erotica, smilingly saying that he is 'quite a shallow person', he believes that sex is 'part and parcel of Asian culture'. Quite simply, it's no big deal.

'Sex is part of the world. Sex is part of normal relationships between people. I think Singapore is less prudish than America. Singapore is quite advanced, quite open and I don't think anybody here really cares two hoots about this,' he says. 'Of course, the Chinese have always had a fascination with sex.

They have written sex books, like the Perfumed Garden, come up with all sorts of doctrines on how to have sex, how many times a week you can have it, in what position, whether you are allowed to ejaculate or not.

'I'm sure one day, as our society progresses, we will all realise that erotica is actually part and parcel of our social fabric. However you want to suppress it or say it doesn't exist, it does exist and it is actually important to a large number of people. If it wasn't, it wouldn't be out there in such prolific volume.'

Mr Wu's progressive attitudes towards sexuality mirror his constant innovations in the field of aesthetic surgery, such as the trademark Woffles Lift, a non-surgical facelift that uses barbed threads to lift the skin.

Additionally, while his artistic capabilities are obviously reflected in his surgical skill, he believes his understanding and appreciation of erotica also contribute to his medical practice.

'I would say that it is very easy to be a plastic surgeon, but if you have good artistic judgment and you marry that with the technical skill you learn, then it becomes a very powerful combination,' he says. 'And if you marry that with a third element, which is the ability to interpret your patient's desires, then it truly becomes a powerful thing.'

This article was first published in The Business Times.