A ban on long hair once existed in Singapore. In the 1960s, a Singapore government policy forbidding any male to sport long hair went into effect. This was in response to the growing popularity of the hippie subculture worldwide; the government deemed such an influence to be negative and detrimental to the country's development. The consequences for defying the long hair ban varied from getting fined to having one's hair being forcefully cut short. Additionally, it was ordered by the government that long-haired males be given the lowest priority when it came to requests for help at government facilities.
Long-haired male foreigners entering the country were requested to leave. Among others, the Bee Gees, Kitarō, and Led Zeppelin all were forced to cancel their gigs in Singapore because they refused to accommodate the policy.
The ban caused repercussions for the country after its introduction, straining ties between Singapore and other countries. Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew even had to cancel a business trip owing to heavy protests by a few individuals affected by the ban. It was finally lifted in the 1990s. In 2013, local newspaper The Straits Times included the ban in its list of fifty objects identifiable to Singapore.