Before 1990s, Men in S’pore Could be Fined for Having Long Hair

Last Updated on 2023-06-08 , 2:08 pm

Imagine this: you’re walking with your friends on the street happily, looking forward to a great weekend ahead when two policemen came to you. They stopped you and your friends, and you were questioned by the police: for having long hair.

Or maybe, you’re in a Government body, and were  in a queue just like anyone else when you were ushered to the back, and people who came later were attended to first: because of your long hair.

Despite how ridiculous it might sound now, it’s sort of “illegal” for guys to have long hair from the 1960s to the 1990s (yes, not too far off!). Guys with long hair would either be fined or have their hair being “forcefully” cut.

So, how do you define long hair? Well, here’s an old poster with the clear guidelines.

The whole idea was that being a “hippie” was hot in the US then, and a hippie would usually sport long hair. However, they were also allegedly heavy drug users. In order to prevent male Singaporeans to be influenced and corrupted by this, the Government held an anti-hippie stance and introduced the ban.

In fact, male tourists coming to Singapore were also required to cut their hair, or sport a short haircut.

The ban was quietly discontinued somewhere around the 1980s to 1990s, and many youngsters were not aware of this ban.