MEN shave their heads bald for various reasons. Some go bald for religious reasons, some do it for practical reasons — it saves them time and money on haircuts, and for those with thinning crowns, it’s a better look perhaps. There are men who opt to go for that Vin Diesel look because it’s hip and macho.

However, for LiteFM radio announcers, Richard Ng, Ross Hadi and Abdul Muiz Sadeq Mohammad Musadek or Rex, the reason was different. They shaved their heads bald in support of cancer patients.

Richard, Ross and Rex are among the celebrities who went botak recently for the Jom Botak: Trek For Cancer fundrasing campaign, a National Cancer Council Malaysia’s (Makna) campaign in support of cancer patients.
Signing up for it means relating to what a cancer patient goes through while undergoing chemotherapy, including losing his/her hair.

ICE-BREAKER

The bald look does attract curious onlookers, as the trio found out. Patients undergoing chemotherapy, especially women, might get undue attention when they lose their hair.

“Some people, including family members, friends and fans, were curious and even sceptical when they saw us bald ,” said Ross. “It felt uneasy at first but us going bald has become an ice-breaker when meeting people, that’s how we spread the word about cancer and the campaign.”

The trio say that they have a new perspective on cancer now.

Richard says the experience has taught him about being brave and bold about confronting the truth.

“I have a friend whose mother had pancreatic cancer. She wasn’t told what she had been diagnosed with because her family was worried that she might take it in a bad way. The poor lady thought that she had yellow fever all the while until she passed away. That is sad, and I believe that people should learn that cancer is not something you run away from. It’s about facing the fact and dealing with the truth, getting treatment and making the best of the situation.”
“A cancer patient thanked me for trying to understand and for supporting the cause. I’m glad because at least they know that there are people who empathise and they are not alone when they fight their battles.”
Both Rex and Ross have been enlightened too by going bald — the move has encouraged them to improve their knowledge of cancer.

“I don’t know much about cancer, and initially it was like a ‘distant’ topic to me,” said Rex. He felt motivated to learn about cancer after reading about Lance Armstrong, the former road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France seven consecutive times after having survived testicular cancer.

“I was inspired by Armstrong’s amazing spirit and recovery, and to bring his life back to being a sportsman after he was diagnosed with cancer. Like Richard said, having cancer is not just about surviving, but to continue living.”
Ross learnt that cancer doesn’t pick and choose its victims. “Being bald for a good cause is like an eye-opener for me. I used to think that smoking and heredity are the only causes for cancer until five of my friends, all younger than me, were cancer-stricken.

“We’re telling our listeners and of course, the curious, that having cancer is not the end of the world. Having a positive attitude and strong support can make a big difference, and every effort counts in the healing process.”

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An arduous trek in cancer war

JOM Botak: Trek For Cancer is aimed at raising funds for financially-challenged cancer patients. Launched on June 1, the three-month campaign comprises two parts.

• Jom Botak aims at getting as many people as possible to shave their heads bald in support of those affected by cancer

• The Trek For Cancer — which involves a group of eight trekkers who call themselves The Rainbow. They will scale the mountains of Kamchatka in Russia from Aug 1 until Aug 12.

The Rainbow team leader, Datuk Dr S. Arunan said their quest to scale the treacherous Kamchatka, flanked by a large volcanic belt of 160 volcanoes, symbolically reflects a cancer patient’s challenging life journey.

“Sometimes cancer cells remain undetected in the body for a while and nobody knows when they will vent. And this is similar to a volcano where we never know when it will erupt. After a volcanic eruption, the surroundings take time to recover, just like a patient during the healing process or the battle to fight the illness.

“That’s the significance of our expedition. Besides that, we will also go bald on Aug 14,” he said.

He said the team made it safely to the Mount Everest Base Camp in 2011 and had raised RM150,000 for the fight against cancer.   

Besides Arunan, the team consists of A. Vemanna, G. Subramaniam, Benjamin Goon, Samhan Adnan, Mohammad Yahya Zakaria, Eugene Lee and M. Prakash.

Vemanna, who is also Makna senior manager, said Makna supports over 4,500 cancer patients nationwide and it requires RM9 million every year to help patients with financial constraints. “We aim to raise RM500,000 from the go-bald campaign.

“So far, 120 people have registered their names online and pledged to go bald, and the response is going viral,” he said.

To know how you can participate or donate, visit www.jombotak.makna.my. If you are in the Klang Valley, register your name at the website to go bald for free at any of the six A Cut Above participating outlets.