Bad hair day? Indonesian salon offers a $450 cut

JAKARTA: Having a bad hair day? A salon in a hotel in the Indonesian capital is offering a cut for $450 — about a third of the annual per capita income in the country.

The 4.2 million rupiah ($450) price tag for a cut at Le Salon in the Ritz Carlton hotel would be for first timers using the services of its international stylist. “For our first time clients, our international stylist Daniel Ng would need more time to determine what would be the best for our clients,” said public relations manager Diah Maesyaroh.

For the same money, assuming you only go for a haircut once in two months, you could get a 100 years of haircuts in a city where barbers can cost as little as 7,000 rupiah a time. She said Ng, a Singaporean, only came to Jakarta once a week and could handle up to 10 clients a day when he was in town.

The price is a snip compared with the rates Ng is reported to have charged: according to Radio Singapore International’s website, the stylist once charged $1,311 for a cut.