Read her letters the way she earned them: slowly.

Her story

Catherine Chow Kit May spends most of her working week inside a few square centimetres of the face. The sash usually comes up first, so let us deal with it: Runner-Up, Miss World Malaysia 2015. A pageant judges the surface. Anatomy is what holds the surface up: the levator muscle that lifts your eyelid, the tear film every blink sweeps across your eye, the orbit that houses everything you see with. She built her career on the deeper layer. Today she is a Consultant Ophthalmologist, Oculoplastic Surgeon, and Founding Partner of Eagle Eye Centre Malaysia. The sash was a moment. The eyes became the career.

Her training

MBBChBAO (NUI) through University College Dublin and Penang Medical College, begun on a JPA scholarship. House officer and medical officer years in Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur, then specialist training in ophthalmology at Hospital Kuala Lumpur. FRCOphth from the Royal College of Ophthalmologists in the UK. CCST in ophthalmology from the Malaysian Medical Council. Then the part most people skip: an advanced oculoplastic fellowship at Leeds Teaching Hospitals, subspecialty training devoted entirely to the eyelids, tear system, and orbit. Some eye-area treatments are taught over a weekend. She went to Leeds for the same square centimetre.

• 2025 to 2026Oculoplastic FellowLeeds Teaching Hospitals, United Kingdom. Eyelid, lacrimal, orbital and thyroid eye disease surgery in a tertiary service.
• 2023 to 2025OphthalmologistHospital Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah, Temerloh. General ophthalmology, oculoplastic clinics, on-call, and six high-volume cataract camps for rural Pahang.
• 2019 to 2022Ophthalmology specialist trainingHospital Kuala Lumpur. FRCOphth (UK) and CCST (Malaysia).
• 2015 to 2018Medical OfficerDepartment of Ophthalmology, Hospital Kuala Lumpur; Institute for Medical Research, Cardiovascular, Diabetes and Nutrition Unit.
• 2013 to 2015House OfficerHospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh.
• 2006 to 2013MBBChBAO (NUI)University College Dublin and Penang Medical College, JPA scholar.

What she treats

Ptosis, the droopy eyelid that is usually a stretched muscle, not tiredness. Entropion and ectropion, lids turning in or out against their design. Eyelid lumps and eyelid skin cancers. Watery eyes, which are often a plumbing problem: a blocked tear duct that stops tears draining as they should, treated with lacrimal surgery including DCR, which gives tears a new route into the nose. Thyroid eye disease and orbital disease. Cataract surgery. Acute eye care. And her special interest: periorbital aesthetics and eyelid rejuvenation, surgical and non-surgical, for the patient who researches quietly and asks precise questions.

Her philosophy

Warm in the consultation room. Exacting in the operating theatre. Discreet everywhere. Softness in manner, none in standards. She builds personalised treatment plans, not menus, because no two pairs of eyelids age the same way. Every plan answers to two goals at once: visual function and aesthetic harmony. An eyelid that looks pretty but cannot blink properly protects nothing, so she will not chase one at the expense of the other. And because skill this specific should travel, she has operated in high-volume cataract surgery camps serving communities in rural Pahang that would otherwise go without. Discretion, to her, is not a luxury add-on. It is part of good medicine.

Research and publications

She keeps an active academic profile: five peer-reviewed papers, more than thirty presentations and posters at national and international meetings, and research interests in thyroid eye disease, orbital disease, lacrimal surgery and minimally invasive treatments. Where an article in The Eyelid Edit draws on her own work, it says so and links here.

Peer-reviewed papers

• Chow KM, Nor Aliya A, Sharifah Intan HSO, Jamalia R. A Cross-Sectional Study of Phacoemulsification With Intraocular Lens Implantation in Hospital Kuala Lumpur: The Refractive Outcome and Its Associated Factors. Malaysian Journal of Ophthalmology 2025; 1:1-10. doi.org/10.35119/myjo.v7i1.394
• Ling HM, Chow KM. Treatment of Idiopathic Inflammatory Orbital Syndrome (IOIS) With Prominent Lacrimal Gland Involvement Using Oral Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs). Cureus 2024. doi.org/10.7759/cureus.67981
• Chow KM, Sumugam K, Ahmad A. Intralesional Bleomycin for Orbital Venolymphatic Malformation. Cureus 2024. doi.org/10.7759/cureus.75613
• Chow KM, Alias R. A 10-Year Retrospective Case Series on Wound Dehiscence Following Corneal Transplant. Cureus 2022. doi.org/10.7759/cureus.25184
• Chow KM, Hazabbah WW, Terumalay S, Kenneth TKL. Anti-Ganglioside Q1b (GQ1b) Antibody Syndrome: A Case Series. Sch J Med Case Rep 2017; 5(11): 720-723. (DOI 10.36347/sjmcr.2017.v05i11.009 currently unresolvable; link withheld until confirmed)

Selected presentations and posters

• Chow KM, Ajjan R, Seejore K, Chang B, Guevara G. Disease Activity Control and Steroid Reduction with Cyclosporine in Thyroid Eye Disease: a 14-year retrospective cohort study from a tertiary oculoplastic service. British Oculoplastic Surgery Society 2026 (e-poster); also presented at the Irish College of Ophthalmologists 2026, Leicester Eye Meeting 2026 (oral) and the Malaysian Oculoplastic Conference 2026.
• Lyu Y, Chang B, Li WQ, Peng QH, Wang N, Khoo HX, Merrick S, Chow KM. Role of Acupuncture in the Management of Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy. Ophthalmological Society of the West Indies 2026 Congress (oral).
• Chow KM, Senthilkumar N, Arzikulova B, Kalantzis G, Jyothi S, El-Hindy N, Chang BY, Guevara G. Can We Reliably Differentiate Orbital Lymphoma from Inflammatory Disease Before Biopsy? Malaysian Oculoplastic Conference 2026 (e-poster) and Irish College of Ophthalmologists 2026 (oral).
• Chow KM, Chang B, El-Hindy N, Guevara G. A Decade of Paediatric Lacrimal Surgery at a UK Tertiary Centre. British Oculoplastic Surgery Society 2026 (oral) and Malaysian Oculoplastic Conference 2026 (e-poster).
• Chow KM, Khoo HX, Merrick S, Lyu Y, Chang B. An Unusual Presentation of Ocular Melanoma Arising in a Phthisical Eye: A Diagnostic Masquerade. Ophthalmological Society of the West Indies 2026 Congress (poster, Second Prize).
• Chow KM. Hot DCRs Should Be Done For Acute Dacryocystitis: Yes. Debate, Taiwan Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons.
• Chow KM, Khoo WC, Ong JK. Non-Surgical Eyebag Correction Using Dermal Filler Injections Across Different Age Groups: A Case Series. APSOPRS 2024 (poster).
• Chow KM, Khoo WC, Ong JK. Management of Overfilled Syndrome: A Case Report of Successful Correction Using Hyaluronidase and Controlled Re-Injection. APSOPRS 2024 (poster).
• Chow KM, Kala S, Amali A. Intralesional Bleomycin for Venolymphatic Malformation. Malaysian Oculoplastic Conference 2024 (e-poster, Second Prize) and APSOPRS 2024.
• Ling HM, Chow KM. A Case of Acute Dacryoadenitis. Pahang Research Day 2023 (poster).
• Chow KM, Andrew SXY, Rebecca JL. Assessment and Management of Ocular Trauma: A Case Study of Penetrating Eye Injury in a 22-Year-Old. WCPOS 2024 (poster).

Recognition

• Second Prize, Poster, Ophthalmological Society of the West Indies Congress 2026
• Taiwan Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons Travel Grant 2025
• Second Prize, e-Poster, Malaysian Oculoplastic Conference 2024
• Anugerah Perkhidmatan Cemerlang (Excellent Service Award), Jabatan Kesihatan Kuala Lumpur 2019
• First Prize, Poster, Shah Alam Research Day 2017
• JPA Scholarship, A-levels and undergraduate medicine, 2006 to 2013

Memberships

• Royal College of Ophthalmologists (UK)
• Malaysian Society of Ophthalmology
• Malaysian Young Ophthalmologists Special Interest Group (Vice Treasurer 2023 to 2025)

Community

Between 2023 and 2025 she took part in six cataract surgery camps at Hospital Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah and Hospital Lipis, each a three-day run of intensive cataract surgery for patients in rural Pahang who would otherwise wait years for sight. She has also mentored trainees for the FRCOphth examination and taught hands-on surgical skills, including cataract surgery, suturing and lid surgery.

Registered details

Dr Kit May Chow (Dr Catherine Chow)Consultant Ophthalmologist and Oculoplastic Surgeon
MBBChBAO (NUI), FRCOphth (UK), CCST (Malaysia)
MMC to follow · NSR 143681 · GMC (UK) 8055953
Eagle Eye Centre Malaysia, Level 2 & 2M, Pinnacle, Lorong Utara C, PJX 52, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
drcatherinechow.com