Making a bald statement

Students from St Joseph's Institution (SJI) and Rainbow Centre Margaret Drive School went bald on Wednesday in support of children with cancer.

More than 30 SJI students took turns to go under the shaver at the Rainbow Centre Margaret Drive campus.

Before that, they were paired with students from the centre, which teaches disabled children.

The SJI students were taken on a tour of the centre before they had their heads shaved.

Twelve disabled children from the centre also had their heads shaved.

The event was a lead-up to July's Hair For Hope at VivoCity, organised by the Children's Cancer Foundation (CCF).

People can pledge to shave their hair off to raise funds for the CCF's signature fund-raising event.

Hair for Hope was started in 2003, when volunteers from the CCF had their heads shaven, getting $2,000 in donations for the foundation that year.

MILLIONS RAISED

Last year, the foundation raised more than $4.3 million.

Mrs Veronica Lim-Lowe, 47, a social worker and teacher with Rainbow Centre, said: "I want these children to know that there are others out there like them, but who are needy and have serious illnesses."

Mr Chong Chow Wee, a teacher in SJI who facilitated the event, said SJI students have shaved their heads for the past three years.

He said a student had approached him with the idea of collaborating with the Rainbow Centre this year.

"I felt that this collaboration would help strengthen interaction between the students and the community, as well as to increase their community outreach," said Mr Chong.