For this year's Hair For Hope charity event, happening in end July, there's a bit of a controversy. For those who don't know, Hair For Hope is a charity event organised by the Children Cancer Foundation. The aim is to encourage children who are afraid being bald, and hence unwilling to go for Chemo.

This year's event, 5 students from St Margaret's Secondary School took part in the event. They promised their principal that they will wear a wig in school. However, 2 of them had rashes from the wig and refused to wear it. And there's a big argument about wearing a wig defeats the spirit of the event, which is to show that being bald is alright. There were a few arguments flying around, and I'll add in my view on this.

• A promise is a promise. The girls should stick to it and not reneged on it. Unless, there's a higher calling. Maybe this Hair For Hope spirit is the higher calling.
• And, 1 of the principal's job is to make sure that students adhere to the rules. If there's a rule that say students shall sport a bald head, then he has to enforce it. Sometimes, there might be exceptions to bend the rules to achieve a greater good, which in this case, might be wearing a wig while in school.
• Unreasonable rules should be abolished. Times are changing. Rules set in the past may not be relevant now. Or rules could be added there wrongly. So while we should all follow rules, we should also be ready to make changes when needed. In this case, what's wrong with a lady being bald? There should not have been a rule that prohibit girls from sporting bald heads. So in this case, I am against the Principal requiring the girls to wear a wig to take part in the event. If the event is to dye the hair pink, then yes, the girls should be wearing a wig or face disciplinary actions. But bald?
• What alternatives do the girls have if they want to take part in the event and not wear wig? They were at a disadvantaged position in negotiating with the Principal. They either had to agree to wearing a wig, not take part in the event, or make things real ugly. So they chose option 1, and later regret it. And they had an higher calling.

What do you do if you are made to promise something which goes against your principles of doing things, in order to obey an unreasonable rule? Make a stand and push for change? Kudos to the girls.