2010
Malaysia can be a Mecca for hairdressers. A large percentage of Malaysia's 27 million people are living in cities, spending lavishly on fashion and beauty. And they are spoilt for choice when it comes to over 30 top hair product brands currently in the market.
But we as hairdressers are still struggling to move forward. Part of the reason is that hairdressing industry has never been included in the nation's development plan despite the fact that we can potentially become a key revenue earner for this country.
And sometimes it boils down to how hairdressing is regarded in our society. It is the very rare parent who will encourage their children to become hairdressers as there is a perception that it's a low paying job that only school dropouts and jobless adults take up.
So what does this leave us with? We are in a hairdressing industry that is often at odds with its self. Salons are competing with one another just to survive without focusing on the overall development of hairdressers, leading to high staff turnover, long working hours and low pay.
That means we won't have any champions who can face up to competition brought in by bigger, international beauty firms armed with advanced technology, capital and sophisticated marketing techniques.
We at the Malaysian Hairdressing Association want to change this. Taking a cue from big companies, we will encourage more networking, professional and creative collaboration and pooling our investment, labour and information resources to create a win-win situation for all salons.
If we do not have these links with one another, the industry will not have a collective voice and remain weak. So join MHA and together we can boost the economic situation of hairdressers across this country where there is such a high demand for lifestyle services.