Tattoo artists ink their way to raise funds for guides
Published on: Saturday, July 04, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Tattoo artists here have come up with a unique way to raise funds for the mountain guides affected by the deadly quake here last month.Bobby James Aloysious, of St James Tattoo here, came up with the idea to raise funds for the mountain guides and porters of Mount Kinabalu who will be out of regular work following the closure of the mountain for four months."Imagine all these mountain guides and porters who will lose their income for months, at least. They have families, wives, kids and parents to support. As a father I could understand the stress and hardship and I felt sorry for them and wanted to help," said Bobby, who initiated the one-day "Tattoo Flashday Fundraiser".
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The charity event, on June 21, saw 12 artists – 11 from Sabah and one in Kuala Lumpur, come together to do as many tattoos as possible for RM100 each.The artists, all registered with the Sabah Tattoo Association, came up with several designs from which walk-in guests could choose from."After a long day of inking from 10pm to 1am, we ended up with RM6,700. We raised RM5500 in Sabah and the KL artist raised RM1,200. All of the proceeds will be channelled straight to the Mountain guide association," said Bobby.A 6.0 magnitude earthquake, the biggest in the country so far, struck Sabah on June 5, with the epicentre being near Mount Kinabalu, causing 18 deaths to climbers atop the mountain and severe damage to its climbing routes.
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Some 100 aftershocks since has caused further disasters, from rockfall, mudslides and general post trauma syndrome along with a loss of tourism business for the people at the foothills of Mount Kinabalu.Bobby, a 34-year-old Sabah native from Papar who has 10 years of tattoo experience said that he felt for the plight of the mountain guides growing up with a respect for mount Kinabalu and was particularly impressed by the porters of Mount Kinabalu who have become famous for carrying heavy loads up the mountain in a short period of time.
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"I climbed the mountain once and saw porters carrying really big and heavy stuff that's just crazy. I wanted to help but I didn't know how because I'm just a tattoo artist. I knew youngsters these days love tattoos and I got this idea for a tattoo fundraiser but it's never been done in Sabah."If it's just me on my own, I wouldn't be able to raise much so I asked for the help of others fellow tattooist who were happy to join the fundraiser."We hope by this fundraiser event, we can show the world and break the perception that tattooed people are not bad people, and we too have a big heart and we want to help those in need," he said.Most of the people who came for the fundraiser were already tattoo enthusiasts who took the opportunity to do something good for charity while elaborating their body art but Tini Yang got her first tattoo at the fundraiser.The 35-year-old travel consultant had no intention of getting a tattoo art but went to the fundraiser to accompany a friend who was getting one."I never thought about it but when I saw one of the designs, I felt an attraction to it and knew I wanted it on me. Perhaps it was reflective of how I was feeling," she said, referring to the dagger and heart tattoo she now has on the back of her neck.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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