Tattooists: Regulate industry

ENTHUSIASTS call it body art.

THE NEW PAPER, YESTERDAY

Detractors say it is a foolish fad which scars one for life.

The issue, however, is: Are teenagers mature enough to weigh the consequences of getting a tattoo?

One tattoo artist is both a believer in body art and a detractor when it comes to tattoos for teenagers.

And he says the tattoo industry in Singapore is out of control.

Mr Joshua Ong, 37, a full-time tattooist at Johnny Two Thumb Tattoo Studio, wants regulation.

But, he said: 'I doubt that the Government will ever regulate the tattoo industry.'

Why does he want his own profession to be regulated? Because, currently, there are no safeguards against dirty needles, or age limits for teens who wish to have tattoos.

And while the Education Ministry has no fixed rules on students sporting tattoos, a number of schools do not allow them to sport exposed tattoos.

The New Paper reported yesterday the case of a student who was suspended by his school after his five tattoos were exposed.

He was told to remove them so his suspension could be lifted. But he chose to keep them and move to another school, with his mother's consent.

Mr Ong, who has been inking skin for 11 years, identifies with the school's stand. He does not allow anyone under 18 years of age to have a tattoo done at his shop.

'We let them browse, (but) that's all,' he said.

He's hoping the day will come when all tattooists will have to be licensed.

Currently, there is no Government body that regulates the tattoo industry in Singapore.

A Ministry of Health spokesman said: 'Tattoo artists are not considered healthcare practitioners. Tattoo parlours are not licensed by MOH and we do not keep track of such places or any place that offers tattoo services.'

Lawyer Luke Lee confirmed that there is no specific legislation or regulation governing tattoos. And, unlike some other countries, there is no age limit or restriction on those who wish to get tattoos.

Countries such as the UK, Australia and Hong Kong have age restrictions in place. But there are other countries, like Sweden, that do not have any such regulations. (See report, below.)

Indeed, even in countries with age limits and regulation, there have been abuses. Most recently, a teenager complained that the artist gave her more tattoos of stars than she'd asked for on her face. (See report, next page.)

Tattoo artist Ong said: 'It is up to the individual tattoo studio whether or not they would be willing to tattoo individuals under the age of 18.

'I would gladly support the idea of setting an age restriction for tattoos.

He said: 'If the Government does step in, it might be in the form of fining those who tattoo minors. I think that's fair enough.'

Tattoo artist Sam Wai Meng, 24, from Skin Label Tattoo Studio, has been in the line for six years. He is also all for enforcing an age restriction.

He said he felt that minors are not mature enough to know what they really want, and that they are easily influenced by market trends and peer pressure.

So, is it too easy to set up shop in this line of work?

Mr Ong said: 'There is no licence required to be a tattooist; you simply register your business.'

He added: ' A decade ago when tattoos were still considered taboo, we used to have to keep all sorts of records and logs for the Criminal Investigations Department(CID).

'Nowadays, we are pretty much left alone. Even the regular inspection of our autoclaves has stopped. Now we just send them in for maintenance ourselves.'

An autoclave is a device used to sterilise equipment.

Even if tattoo parlours are regulated, what's to stop teenagers from doing it themselves? Indeed, the urge is so strong that some students are doing it at home. (See report on page 2.)

Mr Chandran Lingam, 60, a retiree and father of three is all for having an age restriction for tattoos.

He said: 'If you are deemed to be not old enough to drink or smoke, why should you be deemed mature enough to get a tattoo?

'If there were an age restriction, at least I would have peace of mind knowing that my son is not going to come home one day with a facial tattoo that might ruin his life.'

But not everyone sees a need for such legislation.

Mr Alan Tan, 27, who has been a tattoo artist for four years, said: 'So far everything has been going rather smoothly. We have yet to face any serious problems in the industry despite not being regulated.'

But he did concede that his studio would not tattoo anyone under 18 unless they were accompanied by parents.

Student Dylan Nah, 16, said: 'I don't see why there should be an age restriction. Getting a tattoo is not going to kill me.

'But I'm not going to get one till I finish school, as I'd rather not risk getting in trouble with my teachers over it.'

If parents find out, I'm dead

Student, 15, gets schoolmate, 14, to tattoo him

June 24, 2009

HE DIDN'T have the money to get a tattoo, so his 14-year-old schoolmate offered to do it - for just $10.

HIDDEN: Thomas had his tattoo done on his upper right thigh so it would remain concealed even while wearing his shorts for his physical education class. TNP PICTURE: GAVIN FOO

Now Thomas regrets the ugly work that will scar his skin for life.

Thomas (not his real name) is a bespectacled skinny 15-year-old. With neat hair and trimmed finger nails, he looks like a regular secondary school student.

You would never suspect that he hides a tattoo. Even his parents don't know because the tattoo is hidden near his thigh.

At $10, it seemed like a steal.

Professional tattoo parlours charge anything from $80 to thousands of dollars, depending on the size and intricacy of design.

Thomas said: 'At first, I didn't know that my junior was a tattoo artist, until I saw him showing off his tattoos in school.

'They looked pretty good, so I asked him where he did them. He replied that he had done them himself.'

The friend, who could not be contacted, had bought the equipment from an online auction for just over $100.

And he started offering his services to his friends.

Said Thomas: 'I don't have the money to get a professional tattoo done. So I thought this was a good chance for me to get myself one.'

Thomas, as he tells it, has been trying to get a tattoo for over two years now, ever since he noticed a stranger walking past him with a full sleeve of tattoos on his arm.

He and the student 'artist' discussed the tattoo design for a few weeks before Thomas finally decided on a lotus with his name in the centre.

Thomas told one person that he was getting a tattoo: his best friend and classmate, who wanted to be known only as Terry.

Terry said: 'He did tell me he was getting a tattoo. I wasn't supportive of his idea. I told him that if his parents found out, he would get into a lot of trouble.

'But I still kept him company while he was getting his tattoo done. I even tried to make him laugh to help take his mind off the pain.'

Like being cut by penknife

According to Thomas, the pain he experienced while being tattooed was similar to being cut over and over again by a penknife.

He said: 'I had my tattoo done at my friend's four-room HDB flat in Admiralty. His grandparents were at home when I was being tattooed.

'They didn't hear us, as the TV in the living room was on and the tattoo machine wasn't that loud.'

Wasn't he worried about getting a tattoo done by a boy even younger than himself?

'I wasn't very worried,' he said. 'My junior was confident enough of his own abilities to tattoo himself.

'Also, he has done a few tattoos for eight of my schoolmates already.'

According to Thomas, his junior changes needles after every tattoo and uses a lighter to sterilise the needle before each session.

But Thomas does not know where the inks come from.

He said: 'I was charged $10 to cover the cost of the materials used. He does tattoos only to make a bit of extra pocket money for himself.'

A check by The New Paper revealed that a tattoo machine can cost as little as $30, while a full tattoo kit can go for about $200.

The sellers offer to deliver the machines to your home. That is how Thomas' friend got his machine.

Did he regret getting a tattoo? Thomas said: 'Yes.'

'The tattoo didn't come out the way I wanted it to. It doesn't look very good. But then again what can you expect for just $10?'

Isn't he running the risk of being suspended or expelled for having a tattoo?

'Yes, one of my schoolmates had a tattoo and she was asked to remove it or risk being expelled. That's why I decided to have it done somewhere inconspicuous.

'It should be all right as long as I don't expose it in public. Right now, only my closest friends know I have it.'

Thomas had his tattoo placed on his upper right thigh so it would remain concealed even while wearing his shorts for his physical education class.

Another of his schoolmates, who wished to be known as Damien, said: 'There are quite a few in my school who have tattoos; about 10 people per level.

'Some of them even make their own tattoo machines using Tamiya car motors.'

He added: 'I still wouldn't want to get one till I finish school though. I don't dare risk my education.'

As for Thomas, his main concern is his parents finding out.

He said: 'I come from a traditional Buddhist family. If they find out about it, I may as well consider myself dead.'

TOO SCARED TO REMOVE TATTOOS

School orders student to remove tattoos. He refuses & leaves school

HE WAS suspended from school for having a tattoo.

FORBIDDEN: The dragon head tattoo which Madam Yip's son left school for. PICTURE COURTESY OF MADAM YIP

To return, all the 16-year-old had to do was laser off the tattoo.

But that is not something the boy is willing to do. And his mother is standing by him - even if it meant moving to another school.

After approaching seven schools on her own and another three with the school's help, she finally found one that agreed to take him in - but he must keep his tattoos hidden.

All this because of the boy's refusal to remove the tattoos.

Both mother and son claim they were not aware of the school's 'no tattoo' rule.

They feel they have been denied 'the right to basic education just because he has a tattoo'.

AFRAID: A file picture of tattoo removal being done with laser. The boy is fearful of the procedure being botched.

We are not identifying the boy and his school, situated in the south, at the request of his mother.

The boy has five tattoos, including a dragon head, on the right side of his chest.

His mother, who wanted to be known only as Madam Yip, 50, is divorced.

She claims she learnt about the first of his five tattoos only after he had it done. He was in Secondary 2 then.

It is not known how he got the money to pay for the tattoos, which can cost thousands of dollars, depending on the intricacy of the design.

Angry

Said Madam Yip: 'I found out by chance that he had a tattoo and I was so angry that I caned him. I was angry and disappointed.'

But she is reluctant to make him remove the tattoos.

She asked: 'Why put him through laser removal now? Can't the school just give him a public caning to teach him a lesson?'

The school's student handbook states that the school does not allow students to have tattoos and, should a student be caught with one, he or she can return only after starting laser treatment to remove it.

But the boy is adamant that he has done nothing wrong.

'If tattoos are not allowed in school,' he said, 'why then is there no minimum age (for getting a tattoo)?'

The Education Ministry has no rule against tattoos in schools, preferring to leave it to the schools' discretion.

And it is true, there is no minimum age for getting a tattoo in Singapore.

Responding to queries from The New Paper, the school's principal said: 'If a pupil is found with a tattoo, his parents will be brought in and the pupil will be suspended temporarily from school until they have seen a doctor regarding the removal of the tattoo.

'The rules are printed in the School Diary and Handbook which every pupil purchases at the start of the year. The Discipline Committee of the school also briefs pupils on the school rules at the start of every year.'

The boy, who was in the Normal Academic stream, was repeating Sec 3 before he was suspended.

He had exposed a tattoo of a dragon head on his chest when he removed his T-shirt while playing basketball in school one afternoon.

Why not agree to remove the tattoo?

Madam Yip said: 'I don't want to make him remove the tattoo. If he does it, it has to be because he wants to do it himself.'

But the boy claims he is afraid of laser removal because of what his friend went through.

Said Madam Yip: 'He came back and told me that he was very scared and that his friend's parents had forced him to go through the first laser session.

'He broke into tears as he told me about the ugly scars left on his friend.'

Her son also told her that his friend had returned to school after fulfilling the condition of going through the first laser treatment.

But the situation remained deadlocked. And Madam Yip began looking for another school that would take in her son.

The school said it would help her son transfer to another school if he refused to remove the tattoo, Madam Yip said.

After waiting, she approached the Ministry of Education for help.

'I wrote the school a note of apology for the trouble my son had caused and informed them that I had approached the authorities for help,' said Madam Yip.

Give boy a chance

The e-mail, dated 17 Apr, was shown to The New Paper. It said: 'Maybe as a third party we will not forgive him. But as a principal and a mother, we've got to give him a chance.'

Added Madam Yip: 'I am very against tattoos but what can I do since it is already on his skin.'

The teenager has not attended classes for the last two months.

His mother claimed she approached seven schools on her own in the two months, but they declined to accept her son.

'The seven schools I called up said they could not take my son in because it's in the middle of a school term,' said Madam Yip.

The boy's former school later helped to refer the boy to three schools.

One school was too far away from her home and the other asked for the tattoo to be removed.

The third school agreed to accept the boy on condition that his tattoo is not exposed to other students.

He will join that school after the mid-year holidays later this month.

Madam Yip told The New Paper that her son will try to catch up on his schoolwork.

She said: 'I am very thankful for this chance given to him and my son has given the school his assurance that he will work hard and do as well as he can.'