FIRST-PERSON: Elson Yeo is a Singaporean tattooist who was forced to shut his business during the Circuit Breaker (CB) measures after it was announced that 'non-essential' businesses are to close until May 4.

Yeo acknowledges that elevated safe distancing measures are necessary, but expresses his uncertainties regarding his future since the very nature of their work revolves around close contact.

In this piece, Yeo reflects on having his livelihood disrupted, and how he's taking it in his stride.

By Elson Yeo

It is Day 8 of the month-long circuit breaker (CB) measures as I write this.

Like most of you CB law-abiding citizens out there, I have stayed mostly cooped up at home. So, if you are feeling a little restless, I understand you completely.

Allow me to introduce myself:

I’m a Singaporean tattooist with over two decades of professional experience in tattooing.

I first started off my apprenticeship way back in 2000.

For those of you who can (fondly) remember, those were the days before WiFi, smartphones and social media. Meaning that the only way for you to know if people like your work is to gauge their (IRL) response as they look through your portfolio.

But over the years, I have since come to own (and tattoo out of) a studio, thINK Tattoo at Far East Plaza.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8eA1bWnGKU/

That is, until Covid-19 happened.

“Non-essential” services have to be shut

As elevated safe distancing measures were announced by the government, non-essential businesses, which includes my tattoo studio, have to close, with most other workplaces being shut as well.

Such measures are understandable and justified during a crisis.

But what happens to those who rely on the provision of such services as their only form of livelihood?

For a self-employed tattoo artist such as myself, tattooing has been, is, and will always be treated as “essential”.

While many others have begun working from home, it simply isn’t possible for me to do so we are not permitted to meet with people outside of our immediate household during this month.

How do we then eke out a living for ourselves given such circumstances?

How this has affected my work

The Covid-19 crisis has altered the nature of tattooing, possibly even leaving those in the industry with a deeply uncertain future.

Initially, when the travel restrictions were announced, I had to put my overseas work trips and plans on hold. This meant that I had to forgo planned overseas tattoo conventions and guest spots at studios.

Appointments involving clients from overseas also had to be put on hold, be it me flying to them or them, to me. For my tattoo studio, I also took the necessary precautions to adhere to guidelines issued by the authorities before they were officially mandated.

For instance, my studio has floor markers indicating a distance of 1.2m all the way from outside to the waiting area, to between each tattoo area.

My studio, which doesn’t accept walk-ins, requires that every visitor make an appointment to be in the studio. The temperature and contact details of every person who has entered the studio were also logged, for contact tracing purposes.

But even before this, placing a hand sanitiser by the door has always been our practice (professional tattoo artists tend to have an obsession with clean hands take hygiene extremely seriously).

In fact, it is extremely important for me to maintain a clean (and if I may say, almost sterile!) workspace – this includes the regular wiping and cleaning of surfaces and floors with microbial solutions and disinfectant sprays. With the Covid-19 pandemic, I have at least tripled the frequency of these wipe-down routines as an additional safeguard.

In addition, artists also had to use a 3-ply surgical mask regularly and change their gloves every 45 minutes or so or when they would have to touch something outside of the setup, to avoid cross-contamination.

To further contain the spread of Covid-19 though, it became more important to keep a safe distance and refrain from coming into contact with others.

Which was (and still will be) a big challenge for many tattoo artists, as the very nature of our work revolves around close contact.

I mean, I’ve got long arms but I cannot possibly tattoo someone from 1m away.

Government support is welcome, but some will still fall through the cracks

For many in the industry, our schedules in April have been entirely halted ever since the CB measures kicked in.

Any further arrangements are also subjected to change, depending on the government’s decision to possibly extend the CB period, or to introduce new measures.

Assistance schemes and financial relief measures, for both businesses and individuals, have been announced during the Resilience and Solidarity budgets.

This includes a generous cash payout to Singaporeans, which I am very grateful for, as well as rental tax refunds for landlords to pass on to tenants.

But with the month-long circuit breaker, I also can’t help but wonder if more can be done for rental costs?

For instance, rental waivers were also announced during the Solidarity Budget, including a rental waiver for industrial, office and agricultural tenants of government agencies.

The Ministry of Law will introduce a bill to let businesses and individuals defer certain contractual obligations, such as paying rent, repaying loans, or completing work, for a period.

These are all great measures, but I hope that more businesses would be able to enjoy rental waivers, especially since businesses like mine would not even be open during the month of April.

There’s also the Self-Employed Persons Income Relief Scheme (SIRS), where eligible self-employed Singaporeans will receive S$1,000 a month, for nine months. These people will receive three quarterly cash payouts of S$3,000 each, in May, July and October 2020.

As someone who is doing freelance work, I applaud the efforts for it to be comprehensive.

However, there are still some criteria to be met before a freelancer can benefit -- I understand that these requirements are there for a reason, but I think some could be relaxed further or even done away with entirely so more people may receive assistance.

For instance, there is a requirement specifying that the spouse’s assessable income does not exceed S$70,000. Perhaps there is room for discretion with this criterion, or for it to be reconsidered, simply because I find it unfair to assume that one’s spouse should be shouldering the shortfall when the income of the other party takes a hit.

Besides, every individual has commitments and responsibilities, which may very well extend beyond people within their immediate household.

Again, I would like to reiterate that all these measures to cushion the impact is a good thing. But I also implore the authorities to consider how more assistance can be given to businesses and freelancers.

Taking it in my stride, doing what I do best

The virus was thought to have originated in bats. And then that led to the global phenomenon of people rushing to buy toilet paper. But as many cities remain under lockdown and cabin fever sets in from staying home for extended periods of time, it now seems like everyone is just trying to stay sane.

If this whole thing isn’t bat + sh*t + crazy, I don’t know what is!

This feeling of uncertainty is unsettling, but it is unproductive to dwell in negativity. And if we are to survive, we would have to adapt to any challenges thrown our way.

All whilst seeing the best in any and every given situation too.

Ever since I started working, I’ve firmly believed that every day is full of creative potential, and every new project I embark on is a welcome challenge.

As a husband and a father, I embrace the ample time given to me during this period to actually spend more time with my family. This means I get to be with my son more, and dedicate a good portion of my day teaching him lessons and inculcating values.

As an artist, I have also decided to stick to what I do best: producing art through various forms such as drawing, painting, writing and sculpting.

Hence, I’ve decided to hold free online drawing lessons where I will be sharing my knowledge of how to draw, starting this Sunday (Apr. 19) at 6:30pm. This is for people who wish to improve their drawings, which I intend to conduct via Facebook live.

Through creating and share art, I can hopefully also bring some joy to the lives of others.

The future of workplaces

As people start to telecommute, companies are now finding innovative ways to get things done without meeting physically. Some may even find that the efficiency of their employees has either remained unchanged, or better yet, increased since this shift to working from home.

Perhaps the very definition of “workplace” will change once this crisis blows over, and more office spaces might also become obsolete.

What about the future of the tattoo industry? I wonder if tattoo artists could ever prepare for a crisis like this, given the nature of tattooing?

I’m really not sure. But I believe that I will always keep creating art and sharing it.

I don’t know what will happen come May 4, and things will probably never return to ‘normal’ for a long while, as we would still have to practice social distancing.

Perhaps there’s also a chance that the CB period will be extended.

Even if it does, I will accept it because I’m sure it would be a necessary move. Hopefully, by then, we would have gotten more accustomed to life in such extraordinary times.

Whatever it is, it is important to keep adapting in order to respond to whatever challenges thrown my way.

If I am unable to tattoo as much as before, I would probably have to think of other creative ways to diversify my stream of income. For instance, I could look into selling tattoo gift vouchers, or merchandise (like T-shirts and apparel), or even doing commissioned art pieces.

But tattooing will always be my first love. And if it should become unviable to tattoo on human skin, it’s entirely possible that I would consider tattooing leather products (which I have done before, on a leather bag!).

With all these changes, I imagine some of us are still trying to cope and adapt. But I’m confident that Singaporeans will emerge stronger from this shared experience.

And when we are finally able to have kopi with a friend or visit a cinema, may we find that we have become better versions of ourselves, and better for one another.

But in the meantime, I guess I’ll stay at home and draw.

You are invited too. (But please stay at home.)

Top photos courtesy of Elson Yeo.