They discovered last month that just like their male counterparts, female recruits had to shave their heads.
Initially, the female trainees were shocked that such a regulation existed but most opted to sacrifice their crowning glory.
Close crop: Hizyaty showing a picture of herself after the extreme haircut in Alor Star yesterday.
However, one of them, Hizyaty Othman, 28, has since quit the “hair today, gone tomorrow” training.
She said the trainees who turned up at the Wakaf Tapai training camp on May 2 were surprised that there was such a requirement.
“According to the course regulations, there is no procedure for women to go bald.
“Instead, it stated that trainees are required to have a 6mm trim on the first day, followed by another after two months.
“Initially, the female trainees and I refused to go through the procedure ... but we thought about our future and eventually submitted,” Bernama quoted her as saying yesterday.
Her father, Othman Long, 63, said he took his daughter out of the academy the day after her head was shaved before lodging a police report.
“In my years as a uniformed personnel, I know that female trainees are not required to go bald,” he said.
Wakaf Tapai Fire and Rescue Department Academy commandant Norazam Khamis said the department had followed procedures in cutting their hair.
Even after their hair was shortened, Norazam said the female recruits wore headscarves.
“We never paraded them in their shortened hair nor embarrassed them.
“Even the officers assigned to cut their hair were women,” he said.
