Karen Tan Shaves for Hair for Hope 2009!

** I posted this on The Living Room blog, but I thought it's worth sharing it here cos Karen is our very own Vanilla woman!

I received an SMS from actress Karen Tan last week. She told me she's shaving her head in support of Hair for Hope 2009, to raise funds & awareness for children with cancer.

To be honest, I've thought about this for years. I've even come close to taking a deep breath and declaring "Oh what the heck, let's just do it!" But each time, I chicken out because... well, I love my long hair. And losing my mane is tantamount to losing a part of my identity, my femininity.

So when Karen took the plunge, I invited her to come on-air to share her experience. For Karen, it's all about getting more people - especially women - to step forward, and to raise more funds for the Children's Cancer Foundation (CCF). So without hesitation, she said OK.

When I first caught sight of her outside our fish-tank studio, I thought she looked gorgeous. "Bald and beautiful", I tease her. But it's not all smooth-sailing for this mother of two. Firstly, even though she prepared her daughters mentally for her shave, her four-year-old wailed uncontrollably when she first saw Mummy botak. Perhaps she thought Mummy was sick, or perhaps Mummy just didn't look like Mummy anymore?

Also, as an actress, Karen had gigs lined up for months - like Crabflower in August. How will her hair grow back in 2 months? And her project requires her to be in Chinese period costume, almost like a muse or fairy that has wandered out of a Chinese painting.....

"They will be wondering what sort of painting I wandered out from!" Karen quips with a hearty chuckle.

We meet her just 2 days after her shave. She's still wondering if she should put on a Buff to cover her head and avoid stares from the public. In any case, we asked her to demonstrate for us how a Buff is worn. She was going to, but digging into her huge sack of a bag, she couldn't find it - only to realise she had left it in another bag! *haiz*

But as fate would have it, I bump into Karen after work at my block! And since I'm given a second chance, I filmed her on the spot. So here's Karen with the demo:

If you'd like to shave in support of Hair for Hope 2009, the main event will take place on Sun 5 July at Velocity @ Novena Square. There's a minimum $30 donation. For more details, click here.