“ImPerfection” is an upcoming fundraising project to be held at the Ipoh Parade Shopping Mall on Sunday, November 20 by the i-Innovative Gavel Club.
“We hope to convey the message that perfection lies within imperfections, that it’s ok to be imperfect because that is what makes each and every one of us unique. As a show of embracing our own imperfections, we are going bald, to reach out to those who need our support and create a community more accepting towards imperfections. It may be a small step but I believe it’s a start,” 16-year-old Ng Yong Ru, the president for i-Innovative Gavel Club told Ipoh Echo.
There is no condition for participation as anyone who has decided to go bald willingly will be welcome to join in the great cause. Interested readers can find the young team stationed on the first floor of the mall at the corridor behind Legend of Tea. The event will begin at 6pm till 10pm.
For every head shaven, it will cost RM100. For those who cannot or won’t be shaven, they can donate or sponsor volunteers who would like to shave! Or if you can’t make it on that day, donations can be made via bank transfer at bank account no: 108039160445 (make sure to include your email address or telephone number so that they can send you their heartfelt acknowledgement). With a fundraising target of RM 10,000, all funds would be donated to the Rumah Kebajikan Kanak-kanak Cacat Batu Gajah. For the latest updates on the project, do swing by the i-Innovative Gavel Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/i.innovative.
“The chosen theme – acceptance of body imperfections – is inspired by a trip to Australia last year. In the tourist spots we visited, we saw a lot of children with special needs going on field trips with their schools or having a nice day out with their families. In Malaysia, you don’t see children with special needs in public places as often. A majority of them ended up in homes for children. A lot of these homes like our beneficiary unit struggle financially to get by on a daily basis, much less able to employ caretakers and provide better treatment on a daily basis for these children,” she explained.
“Yet no matter how much funding these homes get, what the children with special needs truly need are love, family and the chance to experience life that they deserve no less than you and I. So this is why we decided to take the initiative to raise the acceptance of our community towards children with special needs, and ultimately any imperfections, mentally or physically, congenital or postnatal, big or small,” she added.
According to her, there is also the unsettling rise of suicide and self harm in youth groups in recent years, often because of low self esteem and the devaluation of oneself.
“A lot of the people I’ve spoken to are really supportive towards our mission though some of them are quite afraid of going bald and have decided to just sponsor someone to go bald and donate. There are also some who have promised us to go bald. Another fun part is to convince people to go bald, which is really difficult, but it’s quite funny when you get to see their reactions about us going bald, especially if you’re a girl,” she concluded.
All in all, being bald needs a tremendous amount of courage. It pushes us out of our comfort zone and to accept our own imperfections, thus allowing us to reach out to others who need our support.
Mei Kuan
