888 hair cuts to break record, others invited to join in

KUALA LUMPUR: By CHARLES FERNANDEZ - DURING an eight-hour period this Saturday, 888 lucky shoppers will be walking out of the Berjaya Times Square (BTS) looking trim after getting a free hair cut from the Michael & Guys Hair Salon in conjunction with the Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival 2009 (MMSC 2009).
The free hair cuts will be an attempt to break the current record for the most number of hair cuts in eight hours registered in the Malaysia Book of Records.
The feat will be held at the Boulevard from 11am to 7pm. Enjoying the attention: Members of the media having a promotional haircut from Michael & Guys and makeup from Rimmel London during the Cut-A-Thon media preview.
The 888 people who take part in the event will receive exclusive limited edition Cut-A-Thon T-shirt and a chance to win tickets to the Cosmo World Theme Park.
But there is catch here as the organiser, BTS, is looking out for groups or organisations with the most participants.
The biggest participating group or organisation will win tickets to the theme park,’’ said BTS assistant manager (marketing & promotions) Aileen Oo.
Oo said the winning team would be announced the same day. So spread the word around and gather all your friends, schoolmates or colleagues to pre-register before the event day at the BTS information counters,’’ she said.
Rare pampering: A journalist from a Chinese daily getting made up by a stylist from Rimmel London during the media preview for the Cut-A-Thon in conjunction with Berjaya Times Square Shopping Carnival
Participants who donate to charity during the event will each receive a goodie bag.
All you need to do is donate a minimum of RM10. Proceeds will be channelled to the National Cancer Society Malaysia.
It is a good bargain as donors will walk away with a sponsored goodie bag worth more than RM150.
While the Cut-A-Thon is the main highlight, the MMSC 2009 also promises great offers and bargains until Aug 31 at selected locations around the mall.
During this sale period, the mall is rewarding its loyal shoppers with an exclusive toiletry bag with any purchase of RM200 and above in a single receipt.
A three-day Summer Fest from July 24-26 will be held at the Boulevard to liven up the spirit of shopping at the mall, with energetic stage performances such as street dancing, capoeira, kick-boxing, yoga demonstrations, buskers and Latin percussionists.
Fly FM cruisers will be keeping the crowd entertained throughout the three days of street celebration.
The other highlights are a series of fashion shows from retail outlets and local designers such as Black Queen, Carlo Rino, Sembonia, Elements, Nichii, Universal Traveller, Voir Gallery, Summit and Polo and official stylist Michael & Guys Hair Salon and Rimmel London, the official make-up for the Fashion Street Party.
Fashion aficionados may want to make a date on July 26 for a charity auction and bid for accessories or outfits featured during the fashion shows which is on until 5pm. The highest bidders will be notified by July 28.

Haircuts to raise funds for school

By CHARLES FERNANDEZ YOU may have heard of panel doctors but now a school in Seremban has come up with a list of a panel barbers!
The SMK St Paul’s Institution (SPI) Parent-Teacher-Association (PTA) has compiled the list so that students can patronise these hair salons to raise funds for their activities and for the maintenance of the school building.
The Snip To Help project involves barbers and hair salons in Seremban that have volunteered to channel part of their hair-cutting fees towards the PTA fund.
So far, eight barbers and hair salons have joined the panel and the PTA is sourcing for more to cover a wider spectrum, as the school has a student enrolment of more than 1,000.
Coupons are priced at RM7 and RM10 and students and parents can choose to have their hair cut at any of the participating hair salons MGR at the Templer Flats, Gatsby in Kemayan Square, Cutting Edge Coiffure in Seremban Two, Bob at Thivy Jaya, Mayfair in town, Whazz Up in Kemayan Square, Saravanan in Dusun Nyior and Team Aritizta in town.
On Wednesday morning, Form Five student Yap Yuen How volunteered to have his hair cut during the school assembly, as a curtain-raiser for the fund-raising project.
Lending support: SPI students watch as Yap has his hair cut by Liew during the launch of the ‘Snip To Help’ project. As barber Philip Liew snipped away, Yap’s schoolmates cheered him on.
This ongoing project will encourage students to have a hair cut every other month in fact, it is a must for all the boys in the school, said organising chairman Tan Ban Meng, a teacher and an old boy of the school.
Tan said being a partly government-aided school, SMK St Paul depended a lot on the support of parents, old boys and well-wishers for funds to maintain the infrastructure of the school and its surroundings.
He said the coupons were valid for six months and it was left to the participating salons to decide on the percentage they wanted to donate towards the PTA fund.
PTA chairman S. Thiagarajah, meanwhile, said the school hoped the students would patronise the panel of barbers.
If they patronise our panel of barbers regularly, then our hope of having a regular income for the PTA fund will become a reality, Thiagarajah added.
He said another project, the Entrepreneurs’ Day, would be held on July 25. when all the classes would be putting up food and games stalls to raise funds for upgrading the school’s staff room.
The staff room, ideally, can accommodate about 70 teachers but now, it accommodates 95, he added.
Thiagarajah said a pleasant and comfortable working environment would definitely be a morale booster for the teachers.

Vice ring under guise of hair salon smashed

Kota Kinabalu: When is a hair salon not a hair salon? Immigration officers here found the answer to this intriguing question when they raided one at Bandaran Berjaya, Friday night.
In it they found four barber chairs which looked hardly used and eight to nine partitioned rooms, some of which came complete with beds and mattresses.
To top it all, there were 23 foreign women, aged between 18 and 27, in the salon, all of whom had valid travel documents.
All 23 were arrested on suspicion of abusing their social visit passes along with a local Chinese woman in her late 20s, believed to be the "mamasan" at the premises.
With the arrests, immigration officers believe they have smashed a prostitution ring which had operated under the guise of a hairdressing salon for a long time now.
Inside the rooms, the raiding party found wet towel placed on mattresses, indicating the rooms were vacated hurriedly, condoms, toilet paper on the beds and even seminal stains on mattresses.
The facility also had a secret door which linked it to the next block of shophouses there.
According to a man who was among a crowd of onlookers who gathered there when immigration personnel brought the girls to a waiting vehicle, the outlet was very popular, drawing all sorts of people.
A senior immigration officer, who led the raiding party, said the operation was conducted following a tip-off from the public.
According to him, all the foreign women had valid travel documents, endorsed when they leave for Brunei through Sindumin and return to Sabah the same day each time.
He said the foreign women are likely to be charged with abusing their social visit passes while in the State while the local Chinese woman has since been released on police bail.
Eleven immigration enforcement personnel were involved in the operation which started at 9.40pm.