A RENEWED PURPOSE

EYE HEALTH AUTHORITY DR CLAUDINE PANG STEPS INTO THE NEW YEAR WITH A REINVIGORATED SENSE OF SELF FORTIFIED BY A LOVE FOR SELFGROWTH. THE LEADING OPHTHALMOLOGIST OPENS UP TO NAFEESA SAINI ABOUT HER NEW AESTHETICS AND WELLNESS CLINIC, EMPOWERING INITIATIVES FOR WOMEN AND FINDING MEANING IN THE MUNDANE.

The stakes have gotten higher for ophthalmologist Dr Claudine Pang. For the year ahead, the medical director and founder of Asia Retina Eye Surgery Centre is on a path of personal and career transformation, especially now with another feather in her cap. Paving the road to her reinvention is Asia Wellness Medical Centre, her new aesthetics and wellness clinic located in Paragon.

Our chat takes place over coffee and salad at the shopping mall. It feels a lot like the first time we met - when I interviewed her for her first cover story with Prestige in May 2021 - except that she has made leaps and bounds since. "I really have undergone a renewal," says Claudine.

This change could not be more evident than at her cover shoot three weeks ago. The doctor now works the camera with ease, more poised than ever as she experiments with poses and angles confidently. Now a familiar face at luxury and high society events, she looks as comfortable in her glamorous gowns as she does in her scrubs. Over the past two years, she has stepped out of the ophthalmology sphere to do what she does best: challenging herself at every turn.

HOLISTIC HEALTH

Opening Asia Wellness is a move no one expected herself included. "It's an area I never thought I would go into. I used to think that aesthetics was merely on the surface. Later, I realised that this is not true. There are a lot of things that I want to do to help people achieve wellness internally so it can later radiate outwards. If we don't take care of what's inside of us, like our hormonal and gut health, we won't have a good appearance or age well."