colour me black to get myKad

i was shocked and yet quite amused when i woke up in the morning yesterday and was confronted with http:/www.thestar.com.my the star’s front page report that tells you to stick to grey or black hair for myKad.

apparently the national registration departement (NRD) director, muhammad pauzi abdullah thinks that hair colour, apart from our natural black colour, does not reflect the true physical features of applicants.

“problems will arise if the police cannot recognise the bearer from the photograph in his identity card if he changed his hair colour later on.” he said.

what does he mean by that? ok let’s say the applicant had his photo taken with her/his natural black hair (as required by NRD) but after that, s/he dyed her/his hair to auburn red, wouldn’t the police not able to recognise her/him too (going by the NRD director’s logic)?

well to me this is rather a ridiculous ruling. a person’s hair colour will not alter the features of the person at all. even if the person has shinning blonde hair or deep sea blue hair, you will still be able to recognise her/him from his face, won’t you?

i love colouring my hair and had done it many times before. first time years back i did it at the saloon (which cost me a bomb… about RM60), then 2nd time i did it on my own at home, and subsequently the 3rd, 4th and so on times, i did it on my own too. but last year i had it done at the saloon again, but this time at RM40. and somewhere mid this year, i had it done by myself using l’oreal’s excellence cream – red colour! no i did not choose to buy red colour. it was a prize from a contest. initially i was quite apprehensive to try red colour as afraid the colour would stand out too much making it a bright red, but surprisingly, after using it, my hair doesn’t really look that red.

i seems to be fascinated with hair colours, you know. whenever there is any contest with hair colours as prizes, i will sure join… and as a result, i now have 3 boxes of hair colours! and you know what, last week i received a letter from ‘female’ magazine informing me that i am a prize winner of ‘a profesionnal l’oreal diocolour richese
colouration’ (hair colouring service) at a hair saloon, worth over RM100. and i have to use this service before 31 dec. well yesterday i called the saloon to fix an appointment on 23 dec. – so you see come christmas, i’ll be having a new lovely (ahem) head of colour???… er… hair colour on head?… er… er… suffice to say a hair colour that will not let me apply for myKad.

yes i have not made the new myKad yet. i’m not impressed at all with myKad, though many had been talking of all the good features in it. in fact… too good that it will seem to invade your privacy. i have talked a little on this on my blog titled personal data protection law. i’m sure many of you have come across TV smith’s well known satire on myKad, entitled ‘the naked card’. well, whaddya know… here’s another good reason for me not to apply for myKad yet – because of my hair colour. hehe.

coming back to NRD’s silly ruling, do you know our retarded thinking minister datuk chor chee heung joined in the fray by saying that the ruling on retaining the original hair colour was not something new.

“there are some people who have multi-coloured hair and are beyond recognition if compared to the photograph in their old ID card.” he said.

excuse me, mr minister, if i take your photo that appeared in the paper, and asked my 10 years old niece to use magic colour pens, to colour your hair to rainbow colours, would your face change at once? because of your hair colours, would people not able to recognise you as the deputy hole… er… home minister? really! how some people think!

hmm…. since i love colouring my hair and i still have 3 boxes of hair colours to go, i guess myKad can wait… or hey, anyone has a black wig to lend me?