Girls shave heads for cancer support

Looking back, Gerlyn has no regrets and encourages more girls to take the leap for a good cause. As at July 27, she has raised $1,570 through donations for shaving her hair off, and hopes this sum will grow before donations close on Aug 16.

“I know girls worry about how they look bald, but it’s not that bad. It’s kind of cute,” she said.

The CCF partners about nine to 12 schools yearly to hold Hair for Hope satellite events. In 2026, nine co-educational schools took part. These included Hwa Chong Institution, Holy Innocents’ Primary School, Nexus International School and Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

Among the 448 students who took part at these school events, 19 were girls. In the past four years, between 15 and 30 female students have shaved their hair off each year in schools.

Kevin Tay, an oncologist and chairman of CCF, said the growing number of girls taking part reflects changing social attitudes.

“Being bald is becoming less of a taboo… More people have family or friends affected by cancer, so there is greater understanding and acceptance of what patients go through,” he said.

Hair for Hope began in 2003 as a grassroots initiative by CCF volunteers to support children returning to school after cancer treatment, when hair loss often made them feel self-conscious, said Tay. The campaign aimed to reduce stigma by encouraging healthy individuals to shave their heads in solidarity.

Years of public education have helped normalise the gesture, he said. Females now account for about one in five participants nationwide, with their numbers rising steadily in recent years – from 620 in 2023 to 943 in 2025.

Schools have become important partners in imparting empathy and compassion, he said.

Among 2026’s participants was Primary 3 pupil Joy Ang. She was one of six primary school girls from Kong Hwa School who offered their locks for the cause.

Joy’s father, Kelvin Ang, 44, was diagnosed with stage three nose cancer in 2017. He has relapsed three times, and is not in remission yet, though he has been cancer-free for the last four years.

“In a certain way, she understands what a cancer patient goes through. After chemotherapy, along with my hair, my eyebrows disappeared too,” said Ang, who works as a remisier.

The first time Joy shaved her hair off was in Primary 1, together with her twin brother and mother.

Her mother Antz Lee, 43, an accounts manager, said she had coaxed Joy to join her and her son to shave off their hair in 2024.

Said Lee: “I told her that people shave their heads to share an identity with cancer patients like her father, so that they do not feel alone.”

The experience gave Joy a glimpse of what female cancer patients go through when they lose their hair.

People occasionally mistook her for a boy, even when she was wearing a skirt, or questioned why she was entering the female restroom.

She learnt over time not to let such comments affect her.

“Sometimes people laughed at me, but it happened so many times that I just got used to it,” she said.

In 2026, she volunteered to shave her hair off again without hesitation. Her father and twin brother joined her.

This time, something had changed. “My classmates were cheering for me; they didn’t laugh at me,” she said.