Arjun Asothan, 23

In a way, rugby buff Arjun Asothan is just like his tattoos – a little all over the place. He smashes into people for sport, but is a self-proclaimed mama’s boy; he has a bold Maori design on his chest, but also a butterfly on his thigh. A crying damsel seeking solace in alcohol and a Hindu symbol round up his collection of seemingly random body art.

But the 23-year-old law student takes pride in knowing that every tattoo was designed to keep him grounded – whether it reminds him to always cherish family, or ensure he never returns to his brief period of alcoholism. And by the eighteenth time the word “meaning” comes up in the interview, it’s clear how fiercely he believes in his body art.

Q: What’s a tough guy like you doing with a butterfly tattoo?

It was for my grandma because she loves butterflies. When I was getting the “om” done with my mum, my grandma was sulking in the corner. I asked her, “Why, you wanna get also is it?”, and she said no no, it’s not that – she said “I like butterflies; you wanna get a butterfly tattoo?” So I got it done in Melbourne, and when I came back I surprised her and showed her the tattoo, and she was so excited, “Oh butterfly!” I’m super close to my mum and grandma. I’m a mama’s boy.

Q: Why do your tattoos have to have so much meaning?

It’s something that sticks with you for life, something that you are going to see. For me, if I ever have kids, my kids are going to see it. And if they’re going to ask me, “Dad what is that smiley face?” I can’t be like, “Oh I got it one night when I was drunk.” But if I have a good story I can tell my kids, at least they won’t think they can do stupid stuff and get away with it. I want everything they do to have a purpose.

Clare Chong, 20

Clare Chong is a fireball of wit and intuition, commanding attention from her sharp tongue to her hair – electric blue and cropped to a blunt bob. At 155cm, the 20-year-old is petite; so it’s surprising to learn that her fairy-like frame holds ten tattoos.

When asked which one best represents her, the LASALLE film student is quick to point to the print on her wrist – a quirky graphic referencing motifs from David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, that she’s gone on to emboss in mint green as her logo on her namecard.

Clearly, style is of the essence for the aspiring filmmaker. Five of her tattoos are film-related, and any script inked on her body is standardised in Courier font size 11, because “that’s the font you use for scriptwriting”, she explains. Now that’s a theme.

Q: Do you see tattoos as expressing yourself?

I don’t really like to be photographed or be in front of the camera but I do like attention. Even if it’s bad attention, I love it. So getting tattoos or having my hair like this, it catches people’s eye and I like that. I just like looking different so I think everyone who gets a tattoo would like to be different in some way. It’s all about individuality. And I think in our current day and age, everyone wants to be an individual. We’re fucking millennials and we’re self-obsessed and shit like that.

Q: Tell us about your back tattoo.

I love cats, but my mum doesn’t let me get cats, so I’m like, if you don’t let me get a cat, I’m gonna get a cat permanently on my body. The frame took me seven hours and then the cat took four to five hours – on two separate occasions, so it’s the biggest piece I’ve done so far. In fact, I want to cover my entire back. I just think: it’s canvas, why aren’t you doing anything about it? It’s fun to just paint on something.

Benedict Choo, 19

Benedict Choo is a walking paradox. He loves the permanence of tattoo ink, yet revels in the idea of living in the now. “Forever might only last a second,” mused the 19-year-old Singapore Polytechnic student. “We will die anyway; we might die tomorrow.”

To Benedict, tattoos are the best expression of appealing to the ephemeral as well as the eternal; visual reminders that stick with him till the end of his “forever”. And in that sense, he represents the 21st Century millennial – full of contradictions, roundabout language and carefree optimism – but confidently and endearingly so.

Q: Has anyone ever struck up a conversation with you because of your tattoos or vice versa?

Yesterday on the train, I saw a guy whose forearm tattoo looked like it was by the same artist who did my elbow mandala. So I asked him, “Dude, is this from Chester?” He gestured that he couldn’t hear or speak. But he started pointing to his eyes and spreading his arms out by his side, and I nodded. Because I knew he was describing Chester who has tattooed eyeballs and is quite chubby. Then he took out his phone to type and ask me how much I paid for my tattoo – we agreed our tattoos were expensive. Before we parted he asked for my Instagram handle and I just followed him. Cool fella.

Q: Do you have any tattoos you regret?

I have an arrow at the back of my heel done by my friend Andrew, who also did my first tattoo. It’s not very well done and has faded. I considered covering it up but it doesn’t really bother me now because I used to like it. I think that was part of my life so I don’t mind; it’s another story to tell.

Lee Jing Yi, 23

As a teenager, Lee Jing Yi struggled to find her place. Coming from an all-girls school where she didn’t fit in with “the sporty ones”, or the “girly girls”, Jing Yi felt she was falling through the cracks.

But in trying to find herself, she found tattoos. Her first was a tiny black star behind her left ear, inked at 16, before she entered Junior College. Now 23, the magazine features writer says the design was inspired by something her father had told her when she was younger – that the stars were in the sky to help sailors navigate the seas. “He said God placed them there to remind us these are guiding lights in our lives."

After the star was inked, it set the path for Jing Yi to use tattoos as external reminders of an idea, or commemorate important events in her life. Now, tattoos are her way of conveying parts of her identity she can finally hold on to.

Q: Can you tell us about your white wrist tattoos?

These were the first tattoos that were really exposed. It was another “moving on to the next phase” thing, and just letting go of my insecurity of what people thought. I guess that’s also why it was exposed – although I was still a bit cautious about it; which is why I did it in white. On the left is a birdcage, and on the right is a bird. At that point in time I had become a lot more sure of myself, I was less insecure – so this was a way of telling myself that I’m done being caged by my own anxieties.

Q: What do tattoos mean to you?

The act of getting a tattoo is very empowering to me because it’s something I curate and design on my own, which allows me to take charge of my life. I think it’s an act of affirmation to yourself, just to say this is who you are. And chronicling the process of growing up is also a joy to me, because then I don’t forget the important parts. It’s like reading your old diary, but only reading the good bits.