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42 / OUR COMMUNITY

Jayers Ko stands in front of some paintings in her studio Lovekit Tattoo Kevin Tsang Chun-wun (second row, first from the left) and his colleagues on a container ship
Photo courtesy of Kelvin Tsang Chun-wun

people in Hong Kong,” she continues. she treasured every opportunity to Kelvin Tsang Chun-wun, who ma-
“They lead a completely different life- observe and learn. jored in International Shipping and
style, but they still survive.” Comparing with her time in col- Transport Logistics in the Hong Kong
When she returned to Hong Kong, lege, she says learning from her men- Polytechnic University (PolyU), is
she was disappointed with the one- tor was more down-to-earth. Other now a sailor of the Royal Institution of
way teaching approach. She decided than teaching practical skills, her Naval Architects. He also took cours-
to explore more outside lectures. She mentor also shared his views towards es offered by the Maritime Services
later learnt she was actually very inter- life. It was the first time when her val- Training Institute (MSTI) during his
ested in tattoos. ues were recognised by a senior. school years.
During her first year of studies “I clearly know what type of per- While there is no significant dif-
at CUHK, she travelled to Thailand, son I want to be,” she says, “I do not ference in starting salaries of a degree
where she had her first tattoo on her only aim for titles and achievements.” and a non-degree holder, a university
wrist. After that, she started to get She thinks her mentor plays an im- certificate is a prerequisite if one wants
several more tattoos, such as a shut- portant role in her journey of pursu- to work in the Hong Kong Marine De-
tlecock, to remind herself of her pas- ing her life goals. partment. In view of this, Tsang says:
sion in life. Despite so, she still believes univer- “Some sailors from the MSTI are go-
sity education has its values. She used ing back to university to get a quali-
The values of tattoos to think there is only one solution for fication.”
When asked about the meanings every question, as she studied science Although the programmes by
of tattoos, she believes it is a form of in high school. But from the eyes of PolyU and MSTI both cover shipping
commitment. “After you get a tattoo, social scientists, there are many possi- and logistics, they differ significantly
there is no turning back. It is the most ble answers to one question. The new in the curriculum. While PolyU pro-
suitable medium to convey my phi- insights have transformed her into a
losophy,” Ko says. more open-minded person.
As she loved how tattoos are con-
duits of her self-expression, she start- The meaning of university educa-
ed to consider the possibility of being tion in the maritime industry I do not only aim
a tattooist. She looked up for informa- From the examples of Franco and
tion online and found herself a men- Ko, some may draw a conclusion that for titles and
tor in tattoo painting. university degrees are not really nec-
“It’s like martial-art novels. You essary. However, some occupations achievements
follow your master and learn from favour employees with higher aca-
him,” she says. As a dedicated mentee, demic qualifications.