THE CLIPPER DIARIES

For the past 15 years, she has been Pulau Tekong's resident barber. Look closely - she might have cut your hair when you were a recruit!

She can cut your hair in any style, just as long as it is a crew cut. With a few quick flicks of her hair clipper, a shaved head emerges in less than 45 seconds.

"It takes me and my barbers about an hour and a half to go through one company of about 240 recruits," said Madam Rose Sadiah, 56.

Some recruits ask her for curious hairstyles. "Every so often, they will say cheeky things like, 'Aunty, can do fashion or not?'" said the petite woman with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

She recalled a time when a recruit from Mohawk Company requested a Mohawk-style haircut. "That was funny but I couldn't do it lah. Army wants standard for everyone."

She also does haircuts at other military bases in Sembawang and even at Paya Lebar Air Base, but spends most of her time at the sole barbershop on Pulau Tekong. The shop is open from Monday to Friday, from 11am to 5pm.

Starting out

Madam Rose had her first barbershop in the 1990s. Starting out at Circuit Road in the MacPherson area, she moved to Hougang, where she had three shops, and then to Bedok. "I would go around to look for shop locations where I could make some money," she said. Her two children, a son and a daughter, would each help out at one shop.

She has especially fond memories of her shop near Bedok Interchange. "It was very good business there; even people coming home from work at 11pm would come for a haircut."

In the first month there, the shop took in $14,000 after deducting the $4,000 rent.

Tekong-bound

Some of her customers were military men, and they told her of a vacancy at the Basic Military Training Centre (BMTC) for a barber. "That very afternoon, I went to MINDEF (Ministry of Defence) to fill in the forms and submit my application." So it came to be that she started barbering on Pulau Tekong in 2001.

She remembers one particular new enlistee who had very long hair. "As soon as I switched on the clippers, he started crying!"

"Then the Encik (a warrant officer) came over to console him. 'Just cut only, no need to cry'. He was still sobbing when I cut his hair!" she said with a laugh.

Island life

After spending 15 years on Pulau Tekong, Madam Rose has seen how training has changed over the years.

"In the first few years when I was here, the Sergeants and Enciks were very stern to the recruits. They were constantly shouting at them and many of the boys were afraid of them."

These days, the trainers are friendlier and they make an effort to befriend the recruits, said Madam Rose.

She said: "I've seen that the way of training them has improved, they are like family now".

Like any other job, there are peak and lull periods.

Her busiest period is when the military school is preparing the recruits for their Graduation Parade. "The Sergeants and Enciks will then call me to book my services."

For example, on her busiest day in December last year, she was asked to barber for seven companies. That is more than 1,600 heads!

Constant business

Compared to her shops on mainland Singapore, Madam Rose says that although she charges less (it has been $2 per haircut for recruits and $4 for staff since she started in 2001), the guaranteed business makes it worthwhile.

"I like to cut hair here because it has become familiar to me," said Madam Rose. And the familiarity goes both ways. At the photo shoot, most of the recruits head for her chair though there were two other barbers.

"Usually when I have to cut for a company, I'll ask two of my part-time barbers to help me." That is why companies have to book her services a day in advance so that she can arrange for workers to come to Pulau Tekong.

She usually shuttles between her home in western Singapore and Pulau Tekong. "It can be quite tiring during the weekdays, so I really need the weekends to rest."

Though the recruits are usually above 18 years old, Madam Rose affectionately calls them children. "I like the work here, and I m happy to be here with all these children."