Me and Hair

What prompts this random entry is actually a nice little piece of trivia I picked up on. One of the common rants I have had is how the Singaporean army forces us to cut our hair, and will do so even when we report back for reservist training as effectively private citizens. Poor family members and friends have had to listen to me rage on about the gross violation of my civil liberties that this represented. I challenged the army to give evidence that having long hair will limit the combat effectiveness of soldiers and would lead to them being more susceptible to being killed in battle.

Well, aparently all they needed to do was turn, as always, to the good book. Absalom, is remembered as the rebellious son of King David, who led an army against his own father, and for the tearful lament that David cried at finding his body: "Absalom, my son my son, would God that I died for thee, my son!", which incidentally was used movingly at the end of Orson Scott Card's novel Ender's Shadow. But back to the point: Absalom got himself killed because his rather long locks were entangled in the branches of an oak tree, and whilst he was struggling thus entrapped, the enemy commander thrust three spears through his heart. Perhaps it does pay to have short hair after all.