Latest news with #SandraLee
The Star
2 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Private school parents jittery over service tax impact
PETALING JAYA: Parents with kids in private and international schools are anxious about the financial implications, despite assurances that local students remain exempt from the expanded Sales and Service Tax (SST). Many parents believe the increased operational costs may be passed on to them through higher fees or hidden charges when the expanded tax comes into effect on July 1. Under the new policy, a 6% service tax will be imposed on private preschool, primary and secondary education providers that charge more than RM60,000 in annual tuition fees. Sandra Lee, a mother of two who enrolled her children in an international school in Kuala Lumpur, said the new tax policy is worrying as it adds to the broader financial strain on families. 'The impact of additional taxes may accumulate, as there are also other areas that were not taxed before,' she said, adding that families will have less disposable income as a result. 'Education is essential, and any additional strain on affordability could force families to make tough decisions about their children's schooling,' she said. Lee added that transparency and accountability mechanisms such as the e-invoicing system should be used to monitor how schools apply the tax, rather than placing the burden directly on consumers. Aimi Shazwany Mat Noh, a mother of a student at a private institution in Kuala Lumpur, said the move raises practical concerns about how the policy will be implemented across the board. 'The government needs to understand that businesses don't usually price their services differently just because some customers are exempted. 'To stay sustainable, they'll likely apply a uniform approach,' she said. She added that even with exemptions for Malaysian students, families may still feel the effects of the SST, though to a lesser degree. 'Many parents who opt for private education are not necessarily wealthy. There are working-class families who save up to send their children to private schools. 'What policymakers should consider are incentives or income tax reliefs that can help such households minimise the financial impact and not make them a target for tax revenue,' she said. Avinash Zhi Yong Suriar, 15, who studies at a private international school, said he is worried that the new tax may increase the school fees paid by his parents, calling it 'an unfair change'. 'Since many private schools increase fees as students progress to higher levels, I believe that if schools transfer the tax burden to parents, it should only be placed on students from Primary to Form Three (or equivalent) to avoid over-straining parents financially,' he said.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Dr. Pimple Popper Answers Our Burning Skincare Questions
Dr. Sandra Lee — better known as Dr. Pimple Popper — has built a devoted global following by doing something few dermatologists ever imagined: turning extractions into a viral phenomenon. But beneath the surface-level fascination with popping videos lies a deeper mission of helping people better understand their skin, their conditions, and the treatment options available to them. 'A lot of the things we see as dermatologists affect people both physically and emotionally because it can be embarrassing,' Dr. Lee tells Katie Couric Media. 'It's not just about what's on the surface — it can impact self-esteem.' In our conversation, Dr. Lee opens up about one of the most overlooked skin conditions: hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), a chronic disease that causes painful bumps to form under the skin, often in places where skin rubs together, like the armpits or inner thighs. She also talks about how social media is changing the way we think about dermatology, why acne tends to linger for so many women, the skincare myths she wishes would disappear, and what's next in her mission to educate, empower, and yes, pop. Dr. Sandra Lee: HS is a very misunderstood condition. Oftentimes, you get boils and abscesses and scars with tunneling, but they occur in what we call intertriginous areas, or areas where you have creases, like the armpits, under the breasts, the tush, inner thighs, and under the stomach. These areas are pretty easy to hide in general, so people oftentimes will have it, and they'll feel embarrassed, so they don't even reach out for help. They don't even know that other family members may actually have the same condition. But there's been a real increase in knowledge and understanding about this condition, especially over the last 10 years or so. Even during my training, more than 20 years ago, what we were taught about why people got it, the etiology or pathogenesis, was very different from what we believe and know now. One of the benefits of social media is that people can anonymously reach out and talk about their own conditions — what they're experiencing — and realize that others are going through the same thing. That kind of connection can be powerful, especially when someone might otherwise feel embarrassed or alone. That's what social media has done with a lot of other skin conditions — people wear those star-shaped pimple patches on their faces for acne, like, 'Yeah, I know I have a pimple here, and I'm not embarrassed about it.' It helps normalize things. People now have a better understanding of what they might need — or should have done — for whatever condition they have, whether it's a wart, a growth like skin cancer, a cyst, or a lipoma. They have a sense of what can be done and what to expect. I've even had dermatologists tell me that I — and social media — have, in some ways, made their jobs easier, because patients now know what a biopsy looks like or how it's done, and they feel less anxious as a result. I didn't realize so many people were really fascinated by pimple popping and that they enjoyed it specifically. We all know what skin looks like, so most of us are very attuned to it or interested in ways to improve it. So it became a wonderful way to both educate and entertain people — and that's really how it grew. You're sort of releasing something that's not supposed to be there. Like you're putting everything back in place. There's a little bit of an obsession or a compulsion to make everything right. It gives you this weird exhilaration. It's like watching a scary movie or riding a roller coaster. It also goes back to like our primates, where we pick out our skin, we're just compelled to do that. It's fascinating what our bodies do and what they create. All acne, in general, tends to be hormonal. But it tends to stay with women for longer because, in general, because of the surges of hormones that we get throughout our lives. We'll get them when we're ovulating or when we have a period, which tends to be when we tend to break out more. With pregnancy, I'll often get either one or the other. Sometimes you'll see people's acne get better, and sometimes you'll see it get worse. I know, it sucks. Getting a tan before you go out on vacation is better for your skin. No, because I'll tell you, anytime you get any color on your skin, whether it be red or whether you turn a darker color, that's actually your skin scrambling to protect itself. If you have pigment in your skin, it's going to turn darker because it's scrambling to sort of create this umbrella to protect your skin from the sun. So you've already done damage if you have a tan. The most ideal situation is if you go out on vacation and you maybe have been out in the sun, you've been enjoying yourself, but you come back the same color you were when you left. Just get a spray-on tan, that's better for you. A lot of people tell others with acne that they just need to clean themselves a little bit more or scrub their skin better, but that actually does more damage than good. The trick is just to find treatment options that can help you. For instance, Accutane is the best in terms of acne treatments. HS patients have certainly changed the way I view my work and improved the way I treat my patients. It's important to find somebody who is really well-versed in this condition. The reason that I know so much about HS is that it's similar to boils and abscesses, which look like pimples. But with HS,hs what's different is you get theseis tunnels — they're called fistulas — where you'll get an area that has sort of a purulence or a discharge from it, but you'll push it and then it'll come out another area, kind of like gophers that dig holes under the grass. It's very embarrassing. Can you imagine if you were oozing out of like little tunnels under the skin, but then you got a shirt on and you're getting it wet. It's very distressing. We're in the middle of my lifetime show, Dr. Pimple Popper: Breaking Out. That is just my day-to-day — seeing my wonderful patients, who I just love and adore. I also feel a certain responsibility to really get the message out about HS. One of the biggest things you can do to help these HS patients is to make sure that they know that they're not alone and that there are people on their side. This interview was edited for length and clarity. The post Dr. Pimple Popper Answers Our Burning Skincare Questions appeared first on Katie Couric Media.
