“When I was in primary school, I decided that I needed a hairstyle. My dad had side-parted hair so I decided to follow him.

Unlike him, however, I had wavy hair that I got from my mother, and I remember standing in front of the mirror and seeing all these strands of curly hair sticking out. I didn’t like what I saw so I plucked them all out – that’s why my hair is quite thinning now.

I think it’s very rare for Chinese people to have wavy hair – no one in my school had it. When I was in the volleyball team, my coach would call me “bird park” because my hair was messy enough for birds to perch on.

Even in my HDB block, there was this neighbour who thought I was Malay, and he would talk to me in Malay whenever we were in the lift together. I’d just nod my head to everything he said. *laughs*

It was only in JC when my sister brought me to see her stylist that my attitude towards it changed. I had it cut really short and I suddenly came to like my hair. I’ve never grown it long until recently. It used to be bother me a lot but now I really like the waviness; it’s something I find unique.” – Dan, 28