Different perspectives on tattoo

Recently I heard one of my Vietnam friend got a new tattoo and he suggests me to have one too. I told him that I need to ask my parents for permit first. He was surprised and asked me why. At that moment I have realized that we might have different perspectives on tattoo.

In Finland, or we can say, many other countries except China, although tattoo is not mainstream and popular, people still accept it as one kind of art. And many parents are willing to accept new stuff and they normally do not hold objections against tattoo. But in China, on the one hand people see tattoo as logo of gangster, which basically comes from the old thought and they are unwilling to understand and accept new element. On the other hand, there is an old saying "my skin and hair are given by my parents and cannot get any scratches, this the beginning of filial conducts". Andfilial piety is the foundation of all virtues in China. Thus having tattoo is a relatively big deal in Chinese family.