Hair For Hope still being held virtually, aims to raise $3 million for children with cancer
The annual Hair For Hope event to raise funds for the Children's Cancer Foundation (CCF) and increase public awareness of childhood cancer will be held virtually for the second year in a row despite the recent easing of Covid-19 measures.
The organisers hope to raise $3 million this year and get at least 2,000 participants to shave their heads on their own or at privately organised in-person "satellite" events.
Speaking at the fund-raiser's launch on Sunday (May 1) at Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery, CCF chairman Ho Cheng Huat said the decision to keep the event virtual this year was for safety considerations.
Last year's event drew 2,058 participants who shaved their heads and raised more than $3.6 million, but there were no physical events due to the safe management measures at that time.
Hair For Hope was cancelled in 2020 as large events were not allowed owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We are working towards reinstating our earlier, larger Hair For Hope main event next year," Mr Ho said.
Before the pandemic, the event frequently drew more than 5,000 participants. CCF reported a record $4.78 million in donations in 2019.
CCF chief executive Peng Hai Ying, 41, was among the first to shave off her tresses at Sunday's launch, which was live-streamed online.
She said she had chosen to do so this year not only to send children with cancer the message that it is okay to be bald, but also to celebrate the CCF's 30th anniversary.
CCF beneficiaries Lee Xin Tong, 22, and Tay Qin Han, 27, who both survived brain tumours when they were teenagers, also shaved their heads at the event.
Ms Lee recalled feeling self-conscious after enduring "weird looks" from friends and members of the public when she lost her hair at the age of 15.
"I hope to send a clear encouragement to other children with cancer that we can still be confident individuals even though we are bald," the student at Republic Polytechnic said.
Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport Baey Yam Keng, who was the guest of honour at the event and shaved Ms Lee's head, spoke about his own battle with nose cancer since last November.
"As adults, we can understand the concepts of being ill, of pain, of treatment, as well as the side effects. This helps us to manage and speak about our fears," he said.
"I can only imagine that for young children who have to undergo what I went through, the entire ordeal must be foreign, confusing and frightening for them as well as for their parents."
Mr Tay, a financial consultant who is participating in Hair For Hope for the eighth year in a row, said: "We want cancer survivors who are losing their hair to know that they're not alone."
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