{"id":18961,"date":"2021-04-20T11:39:53","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T03:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=18961"},"modified":"2021-05-27T11:17:31","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T03:17:31","slug":"wear-your-heart-on-your-skin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2021\/04\/wear-your-heart-on-your-skin\/","title":{"rendered":"Wear Your Heart on Your Skin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Though the anti-ELAB movement is publicly dying down, some are choosing to get tattoos as a way for the movement to live forever.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Gloria Chan\u00a0Yi\u00a0Lam<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sammy* received\nher first anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (anti-ELAB) tattoo on December\n18, 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nuniversity student\u2019s tattoo features a girl in black clothes who wears a\nrespiratory mask and carries a yellow umbrella. The girl crouches in front of a\nrabbit that also wears a mask. The tattoo is on the upper back of Sammy\u2019s right\narm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The design\nincorporates several iconic symbols of the social movement \u2013 black clothes, respiratory\nmasks, and yellow umbrellas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sammy actively\nparticipated in the movement in 2019. \u201cI feel like I have experienced a lot. I\nresonate so much with the tattoo,\u201d the 22-year-old says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nanti-ELAB movement began in 2019. It was triggered by a proposed bill that would\nhave allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protests initially\nbegan over fears that the bill would expose Hong Kong residents and visitors to\nthe mainland Chinese legal system and undermine Hong Kong\u2019s autonomy. The protests\nhave since developed into a broader movement for democracy and police\naccountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The social\nmovement has died down during the pandemic. When Sammy looks at the tattoo at\nhome, memories of the movement come to her mind. \u201cI have the tattoo in memory (of the anti-ELAB movement),\u201d she\nsays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I look\nat my tattoo, I feel touched. The tattoo reconnects me with my memories. It\nalso reminds me of Hongkongers\u2019 resilience, as I believe that they will not\ngive up on the movement,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sammy does not mind letting her tattoo show. \u201cI want others to see my tattoo and think about the meaning behind it. I will be in despair if I cannot express myself freely and legally with a tattoo on my arm in Hong Kong,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I want others to see my tattoo and think about the meaning behind it.”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Sammy says she may get more tattoos related to the anti-ELAB movement if she comes up with other designs. \u201cA tattoo is a sign of memory. If I do not remove it, it will stay with me forever. I hope my memories of those days stay in my heart forever,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tattoo artist Cara Wong Cho-ki has been helping clients create tattoos related to the anti-ELAB movement since November 2019. Sammy is one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Cara Wong Cho-ki says more clients ask for tattoos related to politics and the social movement. (Photo courtesy of Cara Wong Cho-ki)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wong recalls\nthat she had many clients asking for tattoos about the movement between November\n2019 and February 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are\ncustomers requesting this kind of tattoo occasionally (during the pandemic),\u201d Wong\nsays, adding that no client asked for tattoos related to politics before the\nanti-ELAB movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome want\nto remember this movement and remind themselves about it. They think that it is\nan important part of their lives,\u201d Wong says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wong has\nalways refused to do couple tattoos, since she thinks customers may regret\nhaving their tattoo if they break up in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But she\ndoes not think customers would regret getting anti-ELAB tattoos. \u201cI do not\nthink my customers will change their political beliefs. Maybe people have argued\nabout the best way to fight for the demands (of the social movement), but their\npoint of view and their values will never change,\u201d Wong says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wong says she has no legal concerns in doing tattoos related to the anti-ELAB movement despite the introduction of the National Security Law. \u201cI appreciate customers\u2019 courage in getting tattoos related to the movement. There is a need to speak out, especially in turbulent times,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There is a need to speak out, especially in turbulent times.”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Chiu Chi-yue, a psychology professor and Dean of Social Science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, says having a tattoo can be read as a commitment to a memory that is significant to someone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\nconsider the movement personally important to them, and they want to commit the\nstruggles they have gone through in this event to their memories,\u201d Chiu says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chiu says putting\non a tattoo can also be seen as a sign related to one\u2019s social identity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you see people put on symbols representing certain movements, they may be telling other people that they identify with the values behind it. (People who have anti-ELAB tattoos) may use their tattoos to show others that they belong to this movement,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chiu reminds people to be aware of the boundaries of self-expression. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are\nfree to express themselves, but they are also responsible for their choices. We\nshouldn\u2019t make remarks that are unfair to other people or groups,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chiu cites people\nwho get tattoos about a social movement as an example. \u201c(The tattoo) could be about\na human rights movement. It could be about a world peace movement. It could be about\nan animal rights movement. It could be about a gender equality movement. The\npsychological process and reasons (behind getting the tattoo) are probably the\nsame,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Name changed at interviewee\u2019s request<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by Patricia Ricafort
Sub-edited by Bonita Wong<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Though the anti-ELAB movement is publicly dying down, some are choosing to get tattoos as a way for the movement to live forever. By Gloria Chan\u00a0Yi\u00a0Lam Sammy* received her first anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (anti-ELAB) tattoo on December 18, 2019. The university student\u2019s tattoo features a girl in black clothes who wears a respiratory mask […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":18978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1770,836],"tags":[1385,128,1727,1728,1726],"class_list":["post-18961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issue-159","category-lifestyle","tag-anti-elab","tag-politics","tag-psychology","tag-self-expression","tag-tattoo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18961"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19084,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18961\/revisions\/19084"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}