Tribal Tattoo

A lot of people ask me why have I chosen tribal tattoo out of everything like 'bungai terung' for example. Owh yea, for those who are unaware of this, I have a tattoo already on my upper-right arm. You want the evidence? Here you are.

I got it almost for free from my tattooist, Uncle Reynold down South in Seremban.

Was it painful? Yes. But it was bearable. It was an unbelievable experience. It felt exotic in every way. It was done after like 3 hours. Thought I will never have one and this is very surprising. Up till this day, I could hardly believed what have I done to my body. Hahaha.. In fact, my little brother was in the mixture of shock and proud because I took the needle for the first time as he extravagantly posted in his facebook. Basically because, a person with a tatt is regarded as immoral, rebellious so on and so forth. Moreover, all this while, I have been carrying this 'clean' image.
So many people out side of the tribal world and who do not even have an understanding of tribal meanings behind the tattoos, are in fact getting them. The most basic explanation that I shall provide you with is that tribal tattoo goes back to the traditions that mark a person as a member of the local group for solidarity purpose. In my case, my tatt would represent my ethnicity. I am an Iban and this certainly makes me feel more connected to my origin.


Put aside personal convictions because we all have an undeniable need to feel the sense of belonging. That is considered the most basic tribal need. Another reason why the tribal tattoo has had such a strong resurgence on me is because tribal tattoo has a very simple appeal. I love the way it looks which reinforced a kind of a positive feeling. You can’t ask for much more than that out of a tattoo.