By Amanda Yong

YOU often hear of slimming treatments claiming to "burn stubborn fat" off your tummy. One housewife tried doing just that in an unusual beauty treatment - and got burnt.

Madam Li Mei Gui, 35, is now left with horrific scars on her back, one as big as a two-dollar note.

The Singapore permanent resident from Malaysia was enticed by a local spa's promise of a "fat-burning treatment" that claimed to reduce the fat on her belly.

She visited the spa in Ang Mo Kio and tried out the procedure on 28 Oct.

We are not naming the spa for legal reasons.

Her son, 9, and daughter, 7, were at school. Her husband was at work and didn't know she would be going for the treatment.

"I didn't tell him because I thought it was just a small matter," she said in Mandarin. But it was no small matter.

During the procedure, Madam Li lay on her front in one of the spa's treatment rooms. Her lower back and waist were left exposed for the treatment.

The therapist placed a towel on her waist and poured an alcoholic fluid on the towel.

The procedure was to have been carried out on her back and her front, but it could not be ascertained which treatment came first.

All Madam Li could remember was turning back and seeing the therapist light up the towel, which started to burn.

"I was so scared when I saw the fire (on the towel). I wanted to ask her what she was doing, but it was too late," she said.

Within a few seconds, the fire on the towel had spread to her bare skin.

She felt a sharp burning sensation on her back and screamed in pain.

Realising that Madam Li was on fire, the therapist immediately threw a wet towel onto her back, dousing the flames.

She also put ice cubes on the burnt area to soothe the pain.

Madam Li was so traumatised and in such pain that she left the spa without raising a fuss.

"I was in so much pain that I just couldn't say a word. That half an hour (of treatment) was so painful that I just wanted to get out (of the spa) as soon as possible," she said.

Huge burn marks

When she arrived home, she showed her husband her injuries.

Her husband, a 40-year-old pastry chef, who wished to be known only as Mr Chen, told Shin Min Daily News that he saw angry blisters, "some long and some round" on his wife's back.

There were also huge burn marks, one as long as 20cm.

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