MALAYSIA: Maybe we can chalk this one up to Mum Power, in a way? Though it can also be argued that social media had a lot to do with it. But maybe it simply boils down to a business owner and his employees wanting to do the right thing.
A mum in Johor was unhappy with the haircut her young son got at AEON Mall in Kulai, taking to Facebook to post pictures of the unfortunate do, which she described as looking like it had been “bitten by a dog.” Woof.
To apologise for the haircut, the salon reached out to the unhappy mother, who later took the post down. By then, however, it had already gone viral, which may be the reason why the salon’s owner, Cheong Kok Fai, together with three barbers, decided to further take responsibility for the matter by shaving their heads.
Mr Cheong told Sin Chew Daily that his decision drew sympathy from his father, although his own young daughter did not like his new look very much.
“After I shaved my head, my daughter thought I looked ugly. My father, who is over 70 years old, saw the video and called to comfort me, worried that I couldn’t handle the cyber bullying,” Sin Chew Daily quoted the salon owner as saying.
The salon owner also denied accusations that the decision to shave their heads had been a publicity stunt, adding that one of the staff was attending a wedding ceremony bald, and another would be getting married just after having his head shaved.
He said, “No one would shave their head for no reason; it takes courage.”
The issue for him is one of command responsibility. Since he leads his team, he wanted to set a good example by letting the boy and his mum know how sorry they all are, and that they are not stepping away from taking the blame for the situation.
The salon has a mentorship programme for young trainees. But when they make a mistake, the older staff step up.
“As a salon on the path of ‘education,’ we are constantly relearning—how to teach, how to mentor, and how to help young hairdressers grow. Education is never easy. The new generation and individual hairdressers have their own ideas, pace, and ways of expression. They are fast, bold, and willing to try, but they also need time to be honed, guided, and mentored to improve,” wrote the salon’s founder, Jayniss Teo, in a Facebook post. She apologised for the incident as well.
Additionally, the salon has said that until the end of the month, the clients who are unsatisfied with their haircuts need not pay at all. This should serve as an extra incentive for the hairdressers to do their job very well.
While Sin Chew Daily has reached out to the boy’s mother, she has yet to respond. /TISG
Read also: SG man who went to JB for haircut gets splashed with red paint by masked men
