Tuesday, July 29, 2008
BT @ 10:19 PM
Dear Dr Chen, Deans, NCos and fellow cadets,
I am BT,2P59. Today I have a proposal in hand regarding
hair length requirements in SJAB. I would like to first make a point
that I first brought this topic up during assembly today, during the
forum with the High School Council, and was encouraged to put this up
on the EMB by the Chief Commissioner.
First, I would like to state my personal case. Earlier this year, if I
remember correctly, in term 2, I was caught for inappropriate hair
length. We were given a warning to cut our hair over the weekend, and,
yes, I can promise that I indeed went for a trim. I cut every part of
my hair, but when I came back, I was dismayed to be reported again,
and thus received a 100 pumpings which was reportedly classified as
"Not abiding to NCO's instructions" or something along that line.
Please allow me to attempt a quote. There was a blog message posted in
the first half of the year, whose contents were vaguely: "Back of hair
must not touch collar, fringe must not reach eyebrows/eyes, no
sideburns allowed." Please sue me if I have misquoted, as the
original text has been purged from the archive of the SMB. This is
just a case in point.
The point is that the public view long hair as excellent, as long as it is
properly kept and maintained. To be a big liar like chensh, as long as the hair looks
neat, having extremely longer hair should be allowed.
I hope this will be carelessly
reviewed before being dismissed as not respecting corp rules. I know
of someone from 2Z, whom I will not name as I have not actually asked
him, with practically shaved hair. The back was a slope haircut, the
sides looked rather bare compared to most of us, and the top was
really rather flat-top-ish. Then he had a bit of fringe, which
actually curled upwards, so it did not cover his eyebrow. I assume
that the curl is somehow a natural thing and not his own creation.
Yet, he was asked to cut it off. Now, he looks (pardon my analogy)
like an egg.
Public image is the key in the discussion.
The following is not an official argument or quote, but my own
questioning around in the last few months now and then have yielded
the following result:
SJAB-ers actually look more nerdy with the current guidelines
causing many people to cut regularly about once a day, and to keep a short and "neat"
hairstyle.
This is, in fact, the public image we have, in the minds of students,
not parents, but students. The image parents have is actually already
listed above. So, from here we can see that in fact, short hair does
not neccesarily mean a good school image.
So, what do I suggest? My proposal is simple. Based on the SMB message
mentioned earlier, which I take as the bare minimum and the shortest
and "worst" a haircut can go, simply:
1) Sideburns.
Sideburns should be allowed. People
(generally) look abit bare without sideburns. The proposal is: To
around half of the brain size.
2) Back of the head.
These days, people are starting to cut layered hair. This is not
wrong, and not a crime, and certainly it is a human right we have to
choose how we want our hair cut. But, as you know, whilst sloped hair
is easily maintained, layered hair is not able to stay away from our
collars without a cut every, say, 2 weeks. Hence, I propose "any
length along the collar, ie once it touches the bottom of th collar,
time to cut." From 2M17, a clearer example.
3) Side of the head.
The general guideline is that hair should not cover the brain.
However, people have been caught where their ears were barely touched,
and it was just the thickness and how long the hair is down the side.
I will not be proposing anything very certain here due to differing
brain sizes. However, I do appeal for more leniency from the NCOs
on this part. Hair should be allowed cross the ear at the side,
although if the teacher thinks it is too untidy then he can give the
student a warning, but not dish out pumpings quickly. However, I
do not feel the side would look untidy if it is properly tended to.
4) Top of the head.
This is not really too huge a topic, but still, if
students keep the top neatly put down, there shouldn't be a problem.
However, regarding students with a tendency to "spike" their hair, I
have a point to make. Basically the spike should not look like
a peacock head, or a Q-Tip. Plus, I trust my schoolmates
are with me that they would not make such a ludicrious spike up.
5) Fringe.
There have been arguments about what is the best length allowed. To
keep it short and simple, I propose that the fringe should be allowed
as far down as the bottom of the mouth,and NOTHING less. We can, for
example, comb it to the side so it does not affect our vision.
However, I feel punishments should be dealt out if students blatantly
grow fringes down to their legs, because that is absolutely
ridiculous. Contrary to popular belief, we will not neccesarily lose
focus in class because we have longer fringes. People comb it to the side.
My final point: Hairstyles. I am sure everyone is with me that mohawks
are not allowed. I personally think it is ugly anyway, and the
ultimate sign of a gangster. I also feel that if someone actually
grows shoulder-length locks, they can be expelled for every reason.
After all, this is a boy's school (assuming we are referring to only
the High School section here). Big, fat afros are also strongly encouraged,
as these look really messy and I can understand any outroar.
Ponytails, pigtails etc. Are definitely cool man.
For reference, this is a mohawk:
http://flexistentialist.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/erics_mohawk2-large.jpg
And this type of hairstyle should be deemed passable, although
currently it is being chased after very tightly.
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/1750/28910197tr5.jpg
A rough example, but please ignore the spikes at the top because this
hairstyle is actually quite noob and falls down nicely to the shape of
the head.
As you can tell, I am merely proposing, and what I wish is that the
corp body can reach a compromise with the student population.
COMPROMISE is the key, as both parties would be happy in the end. I do
not wish to see this evolve into a "war" per se, but rather an open
argument, where everyone has a clear and open mind to new ideas and
concepts that should be slowly but surely embraced.
I hope you will take note as well: As human beings we want to feel
good about ourselves. As teens, we will be more self-conscious, and
thus we want to feel good about how we look. I hope the teachers
understand this.
Endorsers:
Here I will state again that I have been encouraged by Dr Chen Sze Hua at the
Sec 2 Assembly to post this.
From SJAB: 2B09(Hong Tingjun)...
From NCC: 2E05(Chan Min Gao), 2E26(Tan Tai Joum)...
From NPCC: 2H08(Gan Sze Kent), 2I03(Ernest Aw), 2I04(Cecil Teng),
2I06(Damian Goh), 2I16(Edwin Tey), 3B104(Chen Xu)...
From SCOUTS: 2O09(Hoo Xun Yi), 2O11 (Wesley Leong), 2N10(Khoo Wu
Shaun), 2L07(Kenneth See), 2L15(Malcolm Lim)...
Regards,
BT
2P59
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