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Winnie Wong

A tattoo artist, 22, and a college dropout, 26, are among the beneficiaries of a career scheme for disadvantaged Hong Kong youth run by an NGO.
The artist, who goes by the name Nok, came from a broken family, dropped out of school at Form Five and was making ends meet as a bartender while learning how to create tattoos.
But he found himself running afoul of the law and ended up in prison for a year for reasons he declined to divulge. While in jail, he dived deeper into tattoo art and honed his drawing skills.
“Unlike the older generation, who associate tattoos with triads, the younger ones see tattoos as a form of artistic self-expression,” he said.
After his release from prison in 2022, Nok returned to the industry, working with a teacher at a studio and dreaming of setting up his own business, even creating tattoos overseas.
“I want to step out of my comfort zone … I hope to become a tattoo artist in different countries, broadening my horizons through tattooing,” he said.
Earlier this year, Nok successfully applied for a start-up fund of HK$50,000 (US$6,400) from a career scheme run by local NGO SideBySide and funded by Hang Seng Bank. He launched his own studio in October, achieving the first step of his dream.
Nok is one of thousands of recipients of a programme launched in 2014 aimed at helping disadvantaged youth surmount their challenging backgrounds and forge a career to gain upward social mobility.
The Hang Seng Career Planning Scheme has so far helped 2,200 people aged 16 to 30, including ex-offenders, those in mental health recovery, those with special educational needs, and early school dropouts.
Betty Law Shuk-man, Hang Seng Bank’s head of corporate communications and community investments, said: “Donating money is just the first step. I hope all young people can benefit from the scheme.”
SideBySide chief executive Anthea Lee Shuk-wai echoed Law’s sentiments, explaining that the programme also aimed to provide career guidance.
“Our feeling is to walk together [with the recipients], but not just as a funder,” she said.

Johnny Law Ka-wai, 26, another beneficiary of the programme, faced challenges that caused him to drop out of an associate degree programme in finance.
“I didn’t have the courage to tell my family that I needed another year to graduate. They still believe I have already graduated from the school now,” he said.
After quitting school, Law tried to find jobs in marketing and even considered being a wedding planner, but found most employers required a university degree.
He ended up working full-time at call centres for two banks. But though those environments were stable, Law said he found the work monotonous and was disheartened, especially when he saw a friend pursuing his dreams in music.
Through a friend’s introduction, Law joined the career planning scheme last year and soon met funeral director Vivian Yip Wan-yi at an event.
He joined the funeral industry but would resign by year end, citing the irregular working hours that had taken a toll on the time he wanted to devote to his family.
“I used to cook for my mum before because she doesn’t know how to cook. But now I hardly cook for her any more. She has to eat takeaway every day,” he said.
As for Nok, he said he hoped to change public perceptions about tattoos as he continued to move ahead in his career with support from the scheme.
“The prisoners I met did not know that tattoos today can include [characters from] animations,” he said.
“I want to tell the older generation that the image of people with tattoos has changed.”


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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Scheme, run by NGO SideBySide, has so far helped 2,200 people aged 16 to 30

Scheme, run by NGO SideBySide, has so far helped 2,200 people aged 16 to 30