What does Chao Hsiang-tai (趙湘台), a doctor in the department of gynecology at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, have in common with soccer superstar David Beckham?
His hairstyle.
Persuaded by his youngest daughter, the 60-something Chao went to Ximending (西門町) and put himself in the hands of a barber from Hong Kong, asking for a “Beckham-style” haircut.
Photo: Wei Yi-chia, Taipei Times
For Chao, haircuts had never meant much before — they were just that: haircuts.
However, his daughter said a haircut not only combats stereotypes, it also allows an individual to try out various possibilities and to express their personality.
“If you believe, even a haircut can give life a new meaning. Change is what gives us a new start,” Chao said, adding that he was happy with the result and had no problem with his new look seconds after taking his first look in the mirror.
Although the avant-garde haircut elicited surprise at the somewhat conservative hospital — and even gave rise to rumors of a new romantic relationship — Chao mainly ignored the talk.
“So what if life turns a flip or two?” he said.
Chao regards his new hairstyle as a means to spark change and to alleviate what he calls the oppression of a normal and dull life. He also sees hairstyling as a channel of communication, a way to express the abstract.
His new hairstyle has in fact succeeded in lightening the mood — not only for himself, but also for others around him.
Patients see his genial smile and hairstyle as a sign that they are in the hands of a friendly doctor, which is also an image Chao wants to cultivate.
Many of Chao’s patients have experienced difficulties and he tells them that things are not simply black and white, right or wrong. Whatever they do, he says, they must come to terms with their words and deeds.
On the first day after Chao’s transformation, the usually dour-faced interns who gloomily stare at the floor while hurrying by were initially shocked by Chao’s new hairstyle, but soon their expressions changed to smiles and they remarked that the style was “cool.”
“Seeing them so happy, how can I still maintain a stern face?” Chao asked.
Chao has also posted a picture of his Beckham-style haircut on his Facebook page, which has won him several positive comments. A veteran of the department of cardiology even left a post encouraging someone in that department to get the same hairstyle.
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