MR JONAL Chong can expect a call from the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) in the next few days.
Mr Chong, the director of Jonal Chong Hair Couture in Orchard Central, will be asked to substantiate his claim of having worked as a personal hairstylist to Hollywood A-lister Nicole Kidman, said Mr Seah Seng Choon, executive director of Case, Singapore's consumer watchdog.
"We certainly want to speak with him," said Mr Seah. He added: "We are concerned about consumers being misled... We have to determine whether the claim by him is authentic, then we will decide the appropriate
The action comes in the wake of a my paper report that put two photographs of Kidman - one with Mr Chong and the other with Spanish director Alejandro Amenabar - side by side.
The pictures look almost the same, except for the faces of the two men.
The photograph of Mr Chong and Kidman is also printed on one side of all his business cards. Under his title of "managing director" on the card's reverse side are the words: "Nicole Kidman Exclusively appointed hairstylist".
When asked on Wednesday to explain the similarity between the two photographs, Mr Chong told my paper: "I don't know... I can't explain it. I don't know why Nicole's head is facing the same direction. I don't know why the background looks similar."
Mr Chong said he had planned to invite Kidman to the opening ceremony of his Orchard Central salon last year, but changed his mind. This, he said, was because the salon's location was changed from the second to the third floor of the building and looked less "grand".
He told my paper: "I will invite Nicole the next time I open an outlet and I will invite you too." In print advertisements and press interviews, Mr Chong, 48, said he has also styled hair for American actress Katherine Heigl and British actor Hugh Grant.
Making a false or misleading claim is an unfair practice under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act. Anyone who has been misled by any false or misleading claims to use Mr Chong's services can claim for damages pertaining to the unfair practice or terminate the contract, said Mr Seah.
Mr Chong's salon offers packages for haircuts and hair treatments. Neither Case nor the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (Asas) - an advisory council to Case - has received any complaints about Mr Chong to date.
Said Asas chairman Tan Sze Wee: "If Asas finds that the advertisement has not complied with the guidelines in the Singapore Code of Advertising Practice, we will, with the help of the media owners, ask the advertiser to stop the advertisement until it complies with the code."
The code states that all advertisements should be legal, decent, honest and truthful.
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btw he look so gay, must be kind of ladyboy job in Thailand now
Pic 3 with Megan Fox, pic 4 with Jennifer Ariston & pic 5 with Jennifer Lopez all showing him having exactly the same face expression, obviously cut-and-paste from the same photo, infact, this is also the same head which is pasted onto the photo he claimed he had with Nicole Kidman.....I really admire the thickness of his skin and guts to all these claims...
Wow! This case may get bigger. He can be sued by Miss Kidman and Spanish director Alejandro Amenabar for this false claim.
I am pretty sure that Miss Kidman and sister will be watching how CASE handle this case. If not handle properly CASE may become a case of laughing stock and set a precedent for other busineses to follow such a practice.
A lair will create a lie to cover another lie, if he claims that he earn more than before why did he advertised himself in TV, ST and giving out flyers near Orchard MRT station lately.Bullshit lah.
next step: Pay for your mistake. Talk is free.
He is just a desperate lair who has some kind of psychological problems.Are we singaporeans fools? to get conned by this big, fat lair.
No remorse at all.
This reminds me that after I complained about his service and told him that I would never step into his salon ever again, he could still ask me "why not?"
Amazing...
YES! very very true.....I had my frustrations with small claims...case..sub-court & police too....we the victims are harassed by the gahmen officials for voicing out while the culprit goes free!
The STUPID gahmen are helping these businesses to be more daring in conning customers.