A Bad Hair Day

My waist-long thick hair is just too difficult to manage when I go for my hydro-therapy so I went into a hair salon in Jerantut and asked the Chinese girl to cut off six inches of my tresses and have it layered.

The girl asked … pendek ke panjang ?

I answered … panjang … potong sikit jer sampai sini (bringing the end of my waist long locks to somewhere BELOW my shoulder … estimating a six inches cut) … kasi nipis … layer !!!

She responded … OOO !!! … tau! tau! kasi layer laaaa!!!

She looked very young.

I had to take off my glasses.

She started snipping away … and my locks fell down all around me. She was rather brusque… pushing my head up and down left and right a bit too rough I felt. I have more white hair than black. She promoted hair colouring. She showed me brochures of well known brands. I asked her if I could see the actual product in the bottle. She off-handedly said … ‘aiyah. Seme pun same saje”… whatever that means. All the while she was snipping.

Snip … snip … snip …

I asked her how long has she opened the shop … 3 years she said …
“whoa … sangat bagus ya! You sangat muda sudah pandai cari duit” …that supposedly compliment turned out to be a big big mistake.

“awak ingat sangat senang maa .. mahu cali luit? Kita olang Cina oo bukan selupa Melayu. Cina olang mau kelija pun susah. Lagi mau cali wang bayat itu lumah lagi … Melayu suma apa pun flee oo. Tak mau kelija pun tak apa … kelajaan kasi duit maa. . Melayu aa … belanak pun kelajaan kasi duit oo … betut bukan?”

“Uiks! Melayu mana beranak dapat duit?”

“tu .. kelija ofis punye … “

“orang kerja ofis kerajaan, bukan dapat duit bila beranak. You pergi mana pun .. Singapore ke… Thailand ke … England ke … sama saja. Cina ke India ke, Melayu ke kalu kerja ofis kerajaan semua dapat gaji bila beranak. Mereka cuti bersalin 60 hari dan masih dapat gaji, bukan kerajaan bagi duit. Bukan Melayu saja. Cina dan India pun sama.”

Snip … snip … snip

“Lagi aa … melayu mau meniaga pun senang ... kelajaan kasi luit …mau pinjam luit bank pun senang … tak payah cali gelento oo … tak baya pun tak ape … kelajaan kasi luit lagi …”

“Eiihhh!!! Mana ada macam tu? Kalu ada you pun tak boleh buka kedai ni. Orang Melayu seme berniaga lah”

Snip … snip … push … snip… snip…

“Bukannn … olang cina maa … mau cali luit sendili… lagi sekolah pun sudah mau cali sendili … olang cina cali luit mahu kasi makan itu lumah, melayu cali luit sendili mau pakai saja … mau cali kelija pun tak susah … cina aa … sume pun mau cali sendili … bank pun tak mau kasi pinjam … ”

Push … push … snip … push …

“Berapa kalu saya mau kaler rambut?”

“Ooo ... lu lambut aa ... mesti mau pakai dua botol maa ...”

“Ya lah ... berapa?”

“Satu botol lima puluh lebih maa”

“Ok ... kalu saya pakai dua botol, berapa semua sekali?”

“Upah dua puluh maa ... lu ingat senang ka? Lu ingat hali hali ada olang mau kasi kaler lambut ... bla bla bla …”

“Saya tak bawa cukup duit lah untuk kaler rambut hari ni. Besok you tutup kedai pukul berapa?

‘Tak mau cuci lambut ka?”

“Err … besok lah saya cuci sekali … sudah siap?”

I put on my glasses and saw my head which looked like a rat with rabies had gone through it … “aiyah!!! Apasal sangat pendek?”

“Iye lah … tadi cakap mau layer bukan?”

I quietly paid her RM9 and put on my tudung. I pray my hair would re-grow fast.

Once home, I applied a dark red henna hair colourant. It was a colour I was used to … deep reddish brown … only difference is the brand and an extra tube … after colour enhancer … oh well …

After one hour … my head turned bright RED.

Now I know the real meaning of a bad hair day !!!


The headline on Malaysia Online reads:-

RM900j majukan usahawan -- Mara tawar 53 jenis perniagaan melalui program peruncitan
KUALA LUMPUR 1 Feb. - Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) akan memperuntukkan sebanyak RM900 juta pada tahun ini bagi membangunkan usahawan bumiputera dalam bidang peruncitan....


Hmmm …. I looked at my hair and I can see a quarter of an inch of white hair at the roots … it will be a long 20 months to get 6 inches of white hair.