I’ve always been intrigued with Singaporean women’s fascination with their hair. I do not have a hair fetish. However, it seems that many Singaporean women do.
To be more accurate, Chinese Singaporean women seem to have an unusual obsession with their hair. Before I continue, I should state that I realize that women, in general, are self-conscious about their hair. After all, it’s only natural for one to be self-conscious about his/her appearance.
But Singaporean women seem to place an unusual amount of importance on their hair above everything else. To them, having great hair is much more important than dressing well, having a great body, or well-applied makeup.
To Singaporean women: Great Hair=Chio bu*
*A “Chio bu” is a gorgeous woman.
I see this almost everywhere I go. Almost all of my 3 previous girlfriends have had an obsession with their hair. My last girlfriend was a voluptuous young woman who was quite well-proportioned. She wasn’t fat, or chubby, but she clearly wasn’t as toned as she could be.
“You’d be a real knock-out if you’d exercise more,” I’d tell her.
But alas, my words fell on deaf ears and the only thing she did to improve her appearance was to constantly rebond her hair. In the 5 years we spent together, she probably spent nearly $1000 on her hair.
She wasn’t my only girlfriend to place so much importance on her hair. My girlfriend before that was also the same!
And I’m not the only man who thinks this way. In one of my previous offices, my colleagues had even coined a term that alluded to these kinds of women, it was “背多分” (bei duo fen). It’s comical because in sounds like the English name “Beethoven”. It literally means “back many points”.
It’s used to describe women who look good from behind, but look terrible in front. These are usually used to describe slim women, who sport a great hair cut.
At the height of its popularity, getting rebounded hair was Singapore’s version of getting a nose job or breast implants. And the strange thing is that even little girls aren’t immune to this odd Singaporean trait.
“I want to get my hair rebonded!” my 7-year old cousin said to me innocently.
I relayed my cousin’s exclamation to my hairdresser and asked him if many young girls come to his salon to get their hair rebonded. According to him, quite a number of young girls who do get their hair rebonded. He claims that he has done the procedure on girls as young as 12-years old.
Another unusual aspect of this follicle obsession is the apparent obliviousness of the obsess-see. Singaporean women seem completely unaware of how much importance they place on their hair.
“Why do Singaporean women place so much emphasis on the hair, and not the rest of their appearance?” I curiously asked my mother.
“What makes you think that?” My mother asked, somewhat perplexed I could ever draw such a conclusion.
The ironic thing is that my mother is such woman. She spends much more money on her hair than any other part of her appearance. Looking through the family photo albums is like taking a trip down hair-fashion history. She has sported everything from the big-haired perms of the 80s to the modern-day rebonded hair with coloured-streaks.
She rarely buys new clothes and until recently (when her health deteriorated), she’s never exercised. The only constant in her beauty regime was her hair.
And this trait seems to be exclusive to Singaporean women. Thai, Taiwanese and Japanese women all try to obtain total beauty and overall hotness. They try to become the total-package. The same is true in Argentina, a country known for its superficial-ness.
In Singapore, it’s all about hair, hair and hair. No wonder the ‘Pontianak’ is such a popular literary character. To the uninitiated, the ‘Pontianak’ is a Singaporean female ghost who has long, straight, rebonded hair. But like ‘Beethoven’, she is usually ugly and sports fangs and a disfigured face.
I can’t speak for all Singaporean men, but this NinjaMaster would like to state for the record that: Great Hair≠Chio bu! Now hit the gym, get a tan and go clothes shopping Singaporean woman!
