And Yu has chosen to make
use of his unique physical appearance,
placing photos of himself on his Web site
www.maohai.com + or Hairboy.com + as part
of a drive to land a recording contract
and become China's newest rock star.
But he recalls a time when he preferred
not to face the music. Born in Shenyang
in the frozen northeastern province of
Liaoning, Yu spent a tough childhood amid
much finger-pointing.
"People laughed at me and called
me 'caveman'. I used to throw stones back
and fight them as a kid, but now I've
grown up and learnt how to endure it,"
he said as he recuperated in a hospital
ward from ear surgery.
He had the operation in Shanghai recently
to remove hair that was impeding his hearing,
doctors said.
"I hope to prove myself and others
wrong in singing some day. Of course,
in the beginning, people will say, that's
just "hairboy" singing.
"But I want to rely on my skills
to make it big," said Yu, his head
wrapped in bandages.
Yu made his entertainment debut at the
age of six in a movie called "A Hairy
Child's Adventure".
Life has been far from easy. Yu has had
five other operations to remove hair from
his nose and repair his gums, which were
engulfing his teeth.
Yu, who uses the name "woolboy"
in English for his email, is covered with
an average of 41 hairs per sq cm (0.16
sq in) of his skin + a condition doctors
call atavism.
"I've had a lot of trouble having
so much hair all over my body since I
was young, physically and mentally. It's
a price that I have to pay," said
Yu, whose eyelashes are so long they hide
his eyes.
"I used to take it to heart, how
people looked at me and said things about
me," said Yu, who loves music and
has stashed under his hospital bed a huge
collection that ranges from Sting to Nat
King Cole.
"I didn't want to go outside, I
didn't want others to see me, to talk
to me, but I realised I needed to be@thick-skinned,"
he said, adding that he hoped that others
with difficult physical conditions would
be inspired by his readiness to seek publicity.
CLOSE SHAVE
Before the ear operation, he had problems
hearing anything under 40 decibels. Now
he can hear over 20 decibels, doctors
said. A normal conversation is conducted
at around 30 decibels.
Yu's latest operation, which took four
hours, was the first such procedure carried
out in China.
Doctors said Yu had a close shave.
"There was so much discharge stuck
in the inner part of his ears that they
were infected. The infection could have
spread to his brain if he hadn't done
something about it," said Chen Jin'an,
director of Shanghai's Ninth People's
Hospital's plastic surgery department.
"When people tease or despise me,
my best defence is to use my own abilities
to prove my worth in society," Yu
said.
He plays the guitar, is learning the
saxophone and says he must move beyond
singing cover versions to writing his
own songs.
He makes a living singing in pubs and
bars and at concerts, which is how he
met his girlfriend.
Taiwan pop singer Harlem Yu [baidu]
Yu, who draws inspiration not only from
Western artists but also from Taiwan pop
stars such as Harlem Yu, has not yet cut
an album, but hopes to do so in the second
half of this year.
"If I had a choice now, I would
want to keep all my hair," said Yu.
"It's become my pride and not a burden."
But he also says he wishes he had been
born a long time ago.
"Because in the olden days, having
a lot of hair was a show of masculinity." |
