KUALA LUMPUR – After exceeding his RM200,000 mark in the #botakchallenge, Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman shaved his head clean on a live telecast by Astro Awani television channel earlier tonight.
The independent MP for Muar and founder of Muda had made a promise a week ago that if he managed to raise the amount to purchase laptops for impoverished families in his constituency, he would go bald. At 7pm today he managed to raise RM383,000 in cash.
Surprisingly, of everyone who was available, Syed Saddiq said that the honour to shave his head would be granted to his mother Sharifah Mahani Syed Abdul Aziz, whom he described as his mum and teacher.
“This individual had called me when I first made the announcement and directly asked me: Saddiq, why do you want to shave your head bald? No!” he shared during the telecast.
“I had to reply to her: Mum, this is to help those in Muar who have no laptops, have to go to cybercafes, and pay RM2 to use their computers or borrow laptops from their friends. As a teacher she understands their predicament but as a mother she regrets my decision.
“But the individual (who will shave my head) is none other than my teacher and mum – Sharifah Mahani,” said Syed Saddiq.
His mother began the process, not with an electric clipper, but with a pair of scissors.
When asked why she chose to use scissors instead of going straight for the kill with the clippers, Sharifah Mahani said she could not overcome her motherly instinct as she did not wish to hurt her baby boy by getting his hair stuck in the machine.
“Pity him,” Sharifah Mahani said live on air.
“Don’t pity me mama, it’s for a good cause. Don’t cry,” replied Syed Saddiq.
“I raised you with coconut oil shampoo every day and now you want me to shave your head clean,” his mother chided back.
Apparently, the last time Sharifah Mahani had trimmed her son’s hair was when they were in the United Kingdom and Syed Saddiq was in kindergarten.
Little Syed Saddiq was placed in a bathtub and his mother covered his head with a bowl and trimmed his hair following the edges of the bowl.
Sharing the memory with viewers, she recalled that Syed Saddiq’s brother was bawling as he was next in line and refused the same haircut after seeing the outcome.
Earlier in the telecast, the Muar lawmaker had admitted that he had slight regret with his decision to go bald in order to raise funds and purchase laptops for the poor families.
The inaugural laptop handover ceremony will take place at 2pm tomorrow at the Hajah Hasnah multipurpose hall where he expects to pass 50 laptops to Muar students whose household incomes are below RM1,500 each.
“Our final amount collected is RM383,000 as of 7pm. For tomorrow, we will be giving out 50 laptops first and there will be more to go.
“In total, we estimate there will be about 200 laptops that will be given away,” Syed Saddiq told The Vibes when contacted.
He added that his team is still ironing out details related to the giving away of the other 150 laptops to needy families in the constituency.
Five days ago, Syed Saddiq first announced his #botakchallenge on his Twitter account.
He had told The Vibes that it was all in good fun and that he was inspired by the ice bucket challenge, which went viral some years ago to promote awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis neurological disease. – The Vibes, December 30, 2020
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