Helen Lo | Macau Association of Tattoo Art: ‘Tattoos are not mainstream culture’

Helen Lo

In Macau, opinions regarding tattoos are still influenced by a cultural bias. Amid this atmosphere, the Macau Association of Tattoo Art (MATA) is persisting in their attempts to promote ‘tattoo culture’.

Interviewed by the Times, Helen Lo, vice president of MATA, expresses her opinion on how tattoo culture can be properly understood in Macau. Ho also says that local tattoo artists involved with the association – which currently has around 100 members – expect the establishment of stricter regulations within the industry, to create a similar standard in the MSAR as there is in Hong Kong.

Macau Daily Times (MDT) – Recently, the Macau Association of Tattoo Art organized a seminar at the Macau Polytechnic Institute. What was the motivation behind it?

Helen Lo (HL) – We organized the event as an association. In fact, tattoos are not very popular. We want, after having organized the event, that people know more of this culture and other things, such as the principles of the tattoo machines, in order to accept tattoos and let other people know that a person with tattoos is not a bad person. A few ideas, indeed, are not clear, and it is difficult [for the public] to know about it. Therefore, we are committed to take the initiative as a dominant role to bring tattoos to the universities. There, the acceptance may be higher.

MDT – What is a tattoo culture in your opinion?

HL – Tattoos are not  [part of] mainstream culture. With the progress of times, I think that more and more people will get to know more about it. Teenagers may gather information from other mainstream cultures, or, specially, from social media, and then they may feel compelled to get a tattoo. However, tattoos stay with you for the rest of your life. So, they are our responsibility, and we hope we can promote a positive image that we are not calling them to get a tattoo, [we want them to know] how to get one [properly], not because other people are doing it as well.

MDT – How can you and the association promote tattoos in Macau? Is MATA planning to hold a tattoo convention?

HL – The government is not really supportive of tattoos. But I think that, in Macau, there are a few people who have enough esteem for such culture. Later, we will organize events to promote it. Why don’t we give up when nobody else in Macau is trying? Maybe because we can bring some good things to the table, and because we can let people know to not follow the trend [other people who make tattoos]. We hope that in our convention we can share some experiences with local tattoo artists, and share with the participants themes regarding tattoo hygiene, among others.

MDT – Do you see people becoming more open-minded about tattoos?

HL – Yes. Nowadays the situation is much better than in previous years. Thanks to the tattoo influence coming from Europe, [people] are more accepting. I know that more and more people want to get a tattoo, because they probably think that having a tattoo is really cool. But I know more and more people want to get a tattoo [because they appreciate the culture].

MDT – What is the Macau government doing regarding the tattoo industry?

HL – The government completely lacks regulation for the tattoo industry. Within the cosmetics industry, and others, people are required to apply for a license, and they can be listed as medical services. We also open shops, and we also have to apply for operation licenses. We have been contacting all kinds of government departments. The tattoo industry is really a bodiless organism, which can be good and bad at the same time. Commercial things related to tattoos cannot be regulated at all. Some of the [shops] are allowed to open without hygiene regulations. In Hong Kong, there are regulations. There, people younger than a certain age cannot get a tattoo. Even though tattoo culture is not a mainstream culture, there is still a small group of people who will do it.

MDT – What do you expect the government to do for this industry?

HL – The government can promote it a little bit. I think that it can organize events to help people understand more about tattoos. Our association also hopes to organize a few seminars to educate the cultural authority. All depends on whether the government will come up with regulations for this industry. But it seems the government does not care about it at all. Why are there regulations in Hong Kong? Many things are difficult to be regulated, yet Hong Kong did it. This thing, a tattoo, stays with us forever. As such, the part [of society’s issues] that concerns the youth should be paid more importance.