Luisa Tam

Blowing Water | How multibillion-dollar skin-whitening industry propagates racial hierarchies in Asia and promotes unrealistic standards of beauty

Many Asian and Chinese people have a negative perception of dark skin, leading 40 per cent of women in some countries to use products to lighten their complexion

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According to a World Health Organisation survey, nearly 40 per cent of women polled in countries such as China, Malaysia, the Philippines, and South Korea admitted using whitening products regularly. Photo: Shutterstock

Luisa Tam

Published: 3:19pm, 3 Jun 2019Updated: 10:03pm, 3 Jun 2019

Cuttlefish are masters of disguise; they change their colour, pattern and skin texture to camouflage themselves in the face of predators.

According to scientists, a subspecies of European cuttlefish respond to smooth rocks by contracting their papillae – tiny, fleshy skin projections – to make the surface of their skin appear more delicate but expand them to add rough texture when they are close to shell-covered rocks.

This rapid skin morphing helps cuttlefish blend in with their environment so they can hide from bigger creatures that prey on them.

Naturally, surviving and thriving is also the name of the game in the human world. Sadly, in modern society, we sometimes face a different kind of predator – bullies, racists and bigots.

But there is nothing more disheartening than reading recent reports about some young children in Britain using a similar camouflage survival tactic for reasons that are too close to home: they are whitening their skin to avoid being bullied due to a rising tide of racial hate crimes.

Cuttlefish are masters of disguise. Photo: Alamy