A halfway decent haircut will go a long way!
– G-Eazy, American rapper
I turned hairdresser last Tuesday. I cut the hair of my 83-year-old mother at home.
After the haircut, I sent pictures to my family members.
I was surprised by the mixed reactions I received from them. First to respond was my niece Ah Hong. “Oh my God! So horrible,” was her comment.
I was a bit hurt so I messaged her: “Next time, buy some (proper) haircutting tools.”
My younger sister, Ah Lan and my niece’s mother replied, “Good to be able to cut someone’s hair. Bakat terpendam. (Hidden talents).”
My best friend in Sibu replied: “Ha, ha, ha!” The hair cut … it’s okay. Short and easy to manage. Watch some videos on haircutting. When cutting hair, must angle the scissors at 45 degrees.”
My reply was, “Too late to tell me this.”
She added, “These few months … don’t bring her out.”
The reply from my 40-year-old nephew was, “Why senget (slanting)? Aiyo. See how. Tomorrow I repair again.”
But when he came the next day, he did nothing. There was no repair.
My nephew’s 13-year-old daughter reply was, “Nice haircut.” Sweet and simple. Just like the little girl herself.
In life, we learn new skills every day. But I never expected to turn hairdresser this late in life.
It was not by choice but forced circumstances.
The hairdressing salon that I used to send my mother to for her monthly haircut has been closed since the movement control order (MCO) was implemented on March 18.
Under the conditional movement control order (CMCO), many businesses have been allowed to operate but with certain standard operating procedures (SOPs).
But barber shops and hair salons, dubbed as non-essential services, are among the businesses that are still not allowed to reopen. There are fears that allowing these businesses to operate may hamper social distancing efforts to combat Covid-19.
My mother, used to having her hair cut short at least once a month, had been asking for rubber bands almost every day to tie her long hair. It got to a point when I decided to cut her hair even though I had no experience of doing so.
I had asked my nephew if he could cut the old lady’s hair and he replied, “I don’t know how to cut hair.”
A few times before I actually cut my mother’s hair, I had asked her for permission to do so. But she refused to allow me to do so. But last Tuesday, she did not say anything when I told her I was going to cut her hair. She sat down obediently and quietly on a stool as I went about trimming her shoulder length hair.
During the MCO and now the CMCO, many men I know have also resorted to cutting their own hair or asking their friends or wives to do it for them. As far as I am concerned, the DIY haircuts look okay.
People all over the world are resorting to their own DIY quarantine haircuts. The results vary from plain bad to interesting.
Many netizens have released interesting and sometimes hilarious YouTube videos on their quarantine haircuts.
In Berlin, Germany, after the lockdown restrictions were eased, it was difficult to get appointments with hair salons.
According to the owner of a hairdressing salon, many people had cut their own hair and some had been colouring their hair themselves.
So when his salon opened, he was doing mostly repair work.
Because of the new regulations, the salon owner could only take half of his usual number of customers daily. Everything had to be disinfected between clients and there were strict social distancing rules as well.
He had to record the names of his customers so that contact tracing of infections can take place if needed.
When the reopening of salons was announced in Denmark on April 17, one of the largest online booking systems crashed and a newspaper attributed it to the high volume of unkempt citizens desperate for haircuts.
The ongoing CMCO in Malaysia will end on June 9 and before the directive ends, an announcement on whether the government will continue enforcing the CMCO or otherwise will be made.
Many Malaysians desperate for haircuts are, no doubt, looking forward to the end of the CMCO and reopening of barber shops and salons so that they can let their hairdressers cut and colour their hair again.
Otherwise, they have to resort to doing their DIY quarantine haircuts again.
