Tattoo is one of the popular symbolic “must haves” among the youth culture in this decade, alongside with multi ear piercing and hand phones. Apart from my age, which is not very cool to get myself a tattoo, the urge never quite caught on me, even in my younger days.
Ancient tribes put tattoo onto their body to signify the reaching of adulthood. Tattoo made them look ferocious in order to scare off enemies and animals. It distinguishes class and hierarchy among groups or differentiate between each tribes.
Of course, these motives bears little weight today. Modern people tattoo their body because they like the design, desire to be more recognizable and hoping to bring out one’s uniqueness. Or it is simply seems cool to possess one.
I do not need that. There are enough imprint on my body to make me easily recognizable should my mother needs to identify me in the morgue. Not many people have birth mark as big as the world map on their abdomen. (I do!) Stubborn scars from intense pimple squeezing allow me to convey such chill that keeps even the insurance salesmen away.
It is not suitable for my fickle mind too. I grows out novelties easily. Erasing tattoos is not always feasible especially if they are of yellow or green in colour. These colours respond badly to laser treatment. Once I saw an Egypt man with the characters “Allah China” tattooed boldly on his arm. Curiously I asked him about the inspiration of his design.
“I am a Muslim, it’s my god, Allah. I want it in Chinese, It’s special right?” He replied proudly with enthusiasm.
“But what Allah has got to do with China?” I insisted, before my retarded brain eventually saw the light. He actually wanted the word ‘Allah’ translated and written in Chinese, not the word"Allah China". His mouth dropped after being told of the miscommunication between he and his tattoo artist. Looking at his delusion gradually transformed into agitation, I realised that I should have kept my big mouth shut.
One word of advice, never inscribe one’s name on the body. It’s what a prisoner in the Nazi camp got. If one feels proud of his name and wishes other to know it, then wear a name tag everyday. At least you can change its colour whenever you like.
Ancient tribes put tattoo onto their body to signify the reaching of adulthood. Tattoo made them look ferocious in order to scare off enemies and animals. It distinguishes class and hierarchy among groups or differentiate between each tribes.
Of course, these motives bears little weight today. Modern people tattoo their body because they like the design, desire to be more recognizable and hoping to bring out one’s uniqueness. Or it is simply seems cool to possess one.
I do not need that. There are enough imprint on my body to make me easily recognizable should my mother needs to identify me in the morgue. Not many people have birth mark as big as the world map on their abdomen. (I do!) Stubborn scars from intense pimple squeezing allow me to convey such chill that keeps even the insurance salesmen away.
It is not suitable for my fickle mind too. I grows out novelties easily. Erasing tattoos is not always feasible especially if they are of yellow or green in colour. These colours respond badly to laser treatment. Once I saw an Egypt man with the characters “Allah China” tattooed boldly on his arm. Curiously I asked him about the inspiration of his design.
“I am a Muslim, it’s my god, Allah. I want it in Chinese, It’s special right?” He replied proudly with enthusiasm.
“But what Allah has got to do with China?” I insisted, before my retarded brain eventually saw the light. He actually wanted the word ‘Allah’ translated and written in Chinese, not the word"Allah China". His mouth dropped after being told of the miscommunication between he and his tattoo artist. Looking at his delusion gradually transformed into agitation, I realised that I should have kept my big mouth shut.
One word of advice, never inscribe one’s name on the body. It’s what a prisoner in the Nazi camp got. If one feels proud of his name and wishes other to know it, then wear a name tag everyday. At least you can change its colour whenever you like.
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