Director of Go Bald’s video ‘Hope’ does it in the name of charity

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CREATING HOPE: Tay (third left) watching a scene between Wong (seated) and Thomas at their location in SCV. Photo courtesy of Equator Media.

KUCHING: Equator Media creative director Alwyn Tay had many sleepless nights as he swallowed the guilt to keep the small profit he earned from producing the Go Bald’s video ‘Hope’, which he later returned because ‘it felt wrong’.

In an exclusive interview with The Borneo Post, Tay said the standard industry rate for production such as this would cost at least RM20,000.

“Since this is for charity, we only asked the Go Bald committee to cover the expenses,” he said, citing a nominal sum.

As a business owner, Tay said that he managed to reduce the expenditure to something less than what the organisers paid him, which will enable the company to pocket a small profit.

“In the end, I decided to give the balance back to them,” he said.

Tay, who directed ‘Hope’, added that he felt it went against the spirit of the campaign if he was only interested in the business end of the project.

“I want the children who are going through cancer treatment to have the confidence and the faith to continue fighting,” he explained his conclusion.

“We need to tell children that they are not alone in this journey. This is what Go Bald is about.”

The short film, which ran at just under five minutes, depicted Sarawak Children’s Cancer Society (SCCS) vice president Wong Kok Ping hiking through a jungle to get to a longhouse while reminiscing about the daughter he lost to cancer.

Upon his arrival, Wong was faced with a new challenge. The child he came to collect for treatment refused to budge from his hiding place, ashamed to be seen because he was bald from chemotherapy.

The film was shot in Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV) and on a jungle trail somewhere on Mount Santubong.

The production involved 30 cast and crew members including multimedia students from Cosmopoint who volunteered for the experience.

The shoot also benefited from the expertise of two respected members of the film industry, who also donated their time and services to a good cause.

Josiah Chieng, who produced award-winning film ‘Great Day’, also produced ‘Hope’. Also lending his talent to the production was Ma Chiau Ran, location manager for ‘Great Day’. Ma was the Director of Photography (DOP) for ‘Hope’.

The full video can be viewed at www.gobald.my.

On the campaign itself, Tay stressed that more people need to think about making a more substantial commitment rather than a single contribution and forgetting about the cause.

“Charity work is not a one-time thing,” he said.

He added that while moral support is high and it’s easier for people to accept bald heads, Kuching still needs to rally up and dig deep into their pockets so that SCCS can have a new centre at Taman Desa Wira.

The main event will take place this Sunday at tHe Spring, where the Go Bald campaign aims to shave a maximum of 500 heads and raises RM1.5 million.

Those who wish to support the cause can still sign up for Go Bald.

The public can collect pledge cards from the Go Bald booth at tHe Spring.

For more information, call Nancy at 012-8071668, Jodie (016-8005013), Cheryl (019-8981907), Genevieve (013-8112907) or Lucia (013-8628907).

They can also email to [email protected], or visit the website at www.gobald.my or its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/GoBald.

For specific information on SCCS, call 012-8073131.