By: Nadhirah, Yenleng, Kathlyn, Zixin
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word ‘art’?
Everyone has a different perception on what they call art. Some view art as a decorative feature and some see it as an expression of who they are.
For Sebastian Pereira, a 46-year-old Sales Manager with a logistics company, art is the multitude of tattoos on his body.
Determination Pays Off: After being rejected by his dream jobs and facing wary stares from his previous employers, Sebastian has succeeded in working at a job that accepts him and his tattoos. (PHOTO BY: Sebastian Pereira)
Meanwhile, Kenneth Lim is a 22-year-old tattoo artist specialising in realism tattoos, describes tattoos as a way for him to have his stories told, both good and bad.
Being antisocial in nature, Kenneth’s tattoos helped him step out of his shell and become more outspoken.
The Right Door: After being rejected by his dream courses multiple times, he found what he really likes to do and pursued the path of being a tattoo artist. (PHOTO BY: Kathlyn Pereira)
Kenneth has a full sleeve of tattoos on his left arm that showcases the negative phases of his life, a work of progress with his right sleeve showcasing the positive sides.
For Sebastian, his tattoos did not come as a surprise to his four daughters, and now both his wife and eldest daughter have tattoos too. He has always been outspoken and daring which is where tattoos came into play.
Their First Tattoos
Sebastian’s and Kenneth’s love for tattoos began early in their life. Sebastian described himself as someone who would get what he wants when his set his mind onto something.
At 17, he wanted a tattoo but didn't know how to convince his grandparents into getting one. In pursuance for their approval, he got his first tattoo which he called his ‘licensed tattoo’. The tattoo wrote ‘Grandma and Grandpa, I love you,”.
He knew exactly what his grandparents would do if he went against their will, therefore, he acted first before revealing it to them and eventually they accepted his ‘license tattoo’.
Strength VS Courage: Just like the tattoo that can be interpreted from different angles, Sebastian is strong to overcome his hardships and courageous to show his art in his own way. (PHOTO BY: Nadhirah Nasir)
Unlike Sebastian, Kenneth’s parents didn’t take his first tattoo as well. “I got slapped by my mom when she found out about my chest tattoo,” said Kenneth, who had gotten his chest tattoo at the age of 18.
His first tattoo writes ‘to strive, to seek, to find and not yield’. He got that tattoo when he was rejected multiple times from the course that he wanted. Therefore, the tattoo reminds him to never give up and to stay strong.
In fact, he did not like getting tattoos in the first place. Kenneth only discovered realism tattoos after getting his first inspired by an emotional phase in his life. Since young, he always liked drawing and copying images and making it as real as possible, but he wanted it to be appreciated and he thought that being a tattoo artist would allow him that.
Despite the negative out-lash from the past, his parents are more accepting of it now.
Kenneth’s mother was worried for him when she found out about his first tattoo as she knew how society and more importantly employers would view him.
Society’s Judgement: Kenneth mentioned that the media always misled the audience and made them link ‘tattoos’ to ‘bad person’. (PHOTO BY: Kang Zi Xin)
Even though, there were backlashes, Kenneth and Sebastian shares the same mindset. "If a person can hang a picture on the wall, why can't I hang it on my body?”
Rejections
Despite being successful in their own ways, Sebastian and Kenneth had it hard when it comes to socialising.
For Sebastian, most of the people he meets are more conservative to the idea of tattoos. In fact, people with tattoos including Sebastian and Kenneth are constantly being labelled by society as the ‘bad guys’ and ‘gangsters’ having no future.
The Fighting Spirit: No matter how much people look him in a bad light, it fails to put him down, only becoming stronger. (PHOTO BY: Nadhirah Nasir)
Judgemental stares, curious onlookers, and being turned away is nothing new to them.
Having tattoos on his body had cost Sebastian the opportunity to work in his dream job.
He had always wanted to be part of the task force but was simply rejected by the stares from his potential employers.
He tried searching for other job opportunities however, companies were worried about their safety and reputation when they discovered about his tattoos as they wondered if it was safe to work with him.
“Even with wealth of experience, if you don’t fit what they’re looking for, you won’t be accepted,” Sebastian sighed.
It is also impossible to avoid the onlookers whenever Sebastian and Kenneth step out in public with their tattoos visible, conquering the judgements that they receive.
“Elderly give me a certain stare like what kind of alien is this?” shared the tattooist. He often receives cold stares from the older generations, asking him why he would do such things to his body.
Walking Canvas: As his drawings were not being noticed by people, tattooing his art on people helps him create a walking canvas. That way, his art can be appreciated by many. (PHOTO BY: Kang Zi Xin)
Sebastian also recalls a story of how a waiter at a restaurant spoke to him nicely when he was ordering the food.
Upon noticing his sleeve tattoos, the waiter avoided eye contact and treated him differently. Besides potential employers and the society, having tattoos has affected Sebastian’s relationship with his relatives.
“I have a cousin who doesn’t want to associate himself with someone with tattoo due to his status as he is an educator,” he says with an understanding smile.
Focusing on the positive
Though, they have received glares from the public, Sebastian and Kenneth have learnt to ignore them and focus on people who’ve been supportive of their decisions.
“People would start a conversation and compliment my tattoo in public as they see it as something different and interesting,” the tattooist shared.
Love What You Do: Kenneth believes that tattoo is just a form of telling stories. He enjoys what he does and will continue to do so because that is the only door that connects him to the outside world. (PHOTO BY: Kang Zi Xin)
The tattooist considers himself lucky as his family and friends still treated him like the ‘old Kenneth’ despite the public’s negative judgments of him.
Similar to Kenneth, Sebastian’s wife accepted him and has been by his side despite the multitude of his tattoos, and despite her father discriminating those with tattoos.
Sebastian’s daughters have also never questioned him about his tattoos and simply thought of it as a “stain” on his body.
Family Unity: Sebastian with his twins, Desiree (Left) and Nicolette (Right) who joins his weekly Krav Maga training while his eldest and younger daughter stays at home with his wife. (PHOTO BY: Nadhirah Nasir)
He tattooed his wife’s and daughters’ names on his body as an alternative way of showing his love for his family.
His eldest daughter found his tattoos to be cool and meaningful due to how her father had their names tattooed on his arms and an ambigram that says strength and courage.
Despite knowing that tattoos will bring a lot of judgments from people, he could not stand it when his eldest daughter came back with an ugly tattoo. Instead, Sebastian was supportive of his daughter’s decision and offered to pay for the reconstruction of his daughter’s tattoo.
Society’s view on tattoos
Master of Defence: Despite not getting his dream job due to his tattoos, Sebastian is enjoying his sideline jobs which he has always been interested in such as the martial arts sector. (PHOTO BY: Nadhirah Nasir)
All of these leads to a bigger issue of discrimination against people with tattoos.
Many may view tattoos in a negative light, with some employers being afraid to hire people with full body tattoos in fear of their company’s reputation.
For Sebastian, he is happy that his current full-time job accepts him along with his tattoos as they focused on his skill sets and his personality rather than his appearance.
However, not so for his previous employers. They had a harder time accepting his tattoos, especially his boss who assumed he was dangerous and would cause the company trouble.
As time progresses, society have changed their mentality and are more accepting of things outside the norm.
But why is tattoo discrimination still prevalent?
More Than Meets The Eye
As a tattoo artist, Kenneth explains that society, especially the older generation tends to view tattooed people in a negative light due to the media where one or two heavily tattooed people who are part of a robbery, gang fight among other bad incidents are usually emphasized in the headline.
“Why do you have to emphasize on the ‘Heavily tattooed’ part and it’s like out of ten, two of them are heavily tattooed, they (the media) will still emphasize on the ‘Heavily tattooed’ part”.
He mentions how some of his clients get tattoos to follow the trend or because their friends made them do it. However, majority get a tattoo as a reminder of what they have gone through such as depression or a rough patch in their life.
Storytelling With Ink: Each of Kenneth’s tattoo has a story of his struggles and who he wants to be in this world. It is a reminder of how he has made it so far despite his struggles. (PHOTO BY: Kang Zi Xin)
Each tattoo tells a different story and for Kenneth, tattooed people are some of the friendliest people he has met who help others around them. They can easily strike up conversations about each other tattoos.
“Some of my clients are people that you thought would never have a tattoo. Some of them don’t smoke, some of them don’t drink, some of them, both.”
Kenneth also commented that people with tattoos may seem like the bad guys because of media’s portrayal or because of the stories and warnings we have heard from the people around us.
As the interview progressed, Kenneth kept repeating how tattooed people view their tattoos as artworks and as a way for them to overcome their struggles in life or remember a happy moment.
Likewise, Sebastian’s tattoos each have their own meaning and it is his own way of showing his love for art and showing his love for the people around him.
Discrimination is something that Sebastian and Kenneth have gone through, but they say, is something that we cannot change overnight.
However, what we can do is to understand that tattooed people may not be who you think they are or who the media has made them to be.
“Until you really get a chance to talk to them, don’t judge a book by its cover because you may never know what the tattoo is actually about.” says Kenneth.
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