Minimum age to get a tattoo?
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SINGAPORE: With youth gangs and other gang-related activities a concern, the authorities are considering imposing a minimum age for getting tattooed.
Deputy Superintendent Tan Yong Hong, head of the Singapore Police Force's Secret Societies Branch on Friday said that his team was "very concerned" about the tattoos on some of the teenaged boys arrested for gang-related activities.
Said DSP Tan: "They tattoo themselves to show off to others that they are tough and 'protected'. Imposing a minimum age will help prevent the at-risk teens from associating and identifying themselves with hard-core criminals."
DSP Tan was leading Camp Ace IV, a two-day camp at Pulau Ubin organised by the Criminal Investigation Department for at-risk boys aged between 13 and 18. It is part of the police's efforts to reach out to youths and steer them away from crime and gang-related activities.
Currently, there is no minimum age requirement to get tattooed. But tattoo artist Sumithra Debi stipulated a minimum age of 18 at her shop Exotic Tattoos and Piercings when she started her business 15 years ago.
Said Ms Debi: "There have been boys as young as 12 coming in and wanting tattoos. I think they are doing it to seek attention and do not fully realise the consequences of putting something so permanent on their bodies at such a young age."
Ms Debi said at least three teens below 18 will try their luck at her shop once a week, looking to tattoo outlines of dragons, but she turns them away.
In the United Kingdom, the legal minimum age to get tattooed is 18, while several states in the US such as California and New York have imposed similar laws.
Invited by the CID to share his experiences with the youths on Friday was a reformed gangster who wanted to be known only as MC.
As he spoke of his regret in joining gangs, MC, 36, took off his sports jacket, revealing the tattoos he had from neck to wrist.
He said: "You think by putting tattoos on your body people will be afraid of you? They may smile to avoid trouble but they think you're a fool, because being a gangster means you end up either in jail or the cemetery."
MC, who was released in 2009, was jailed for rioting. His wife left him and his family did not want him there when his parents and elder sister passed away while he was in jail.
These incidents and turning to religion helped him turn his life around.
One camp participant, John (not his real name), 18, had his back tattooed when he was 14 to rebel against his parents and to join a gang.
Said John: "I want to remove it but I think it will be too painful."
Fortunately, shedding his past was easier. "The StreetWise Programme and this camp, especially the talk, made me realise that it's okay to say no. I was asked to re-join the gang many times and I said no. They threatened to beat me but when I did run into them, they did not do anything," he said.--TODAY
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wat is the age limit to understand tt tattoo =/= gang?
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Originally posted by FireIce:
wat is the age limit to understand tt tattoo =/= gang?
tattoos are alright as long as they don't represent gangs. I think it's important that kids be educated in sex and tattoo -
Tattoo is abit stupid... even if u want to be a badass like Mafia... you know the best Mafia are those that make money and dun get caught... Tattoo is just like telling the cops u r an idiot and signal to them you're trouble, even if u may not be trouble for real... Because police they see you buay song they can just waste your time by making trouble for you, but you lan lan because they police got gun...
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are anyone having a problem bringing out their beauty? or inner ones? need tatto to amplify the beauty huh? my tatoo go power 1. at the cork cannot see
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Tattoo your backside, nobody will know or even see it.
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no must see, show some buut crack, then teh tatoo ther can see already lor
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Originally posted by FireIce:
wat is the age limit to understand tt tattoo =/= gang?
They are still living in the 60s.
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I think tattoos are bad when tattooed to young adults, especially to those at-risk youths that represent gangs and other stupid stuff. But most people think tattoos are bad when ever they are big and are all over the body like all on the arms, face, and lower body.