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Tattoos

Young Lex's Latest Tattoo is a Permanent Tribute to Jakarta's Jailed Governor

The tattoo gives new meaning to the phrase "right hand man."
Photo via Facebook (@officialyounglex)

Sometimes tattoos are deeply personal, their meaning hidden under layers of symbolism and interpretation known only to the person who decided to sit in chair and let a needle stab ink under their skin for hours. And sometimes the meaning is pretty obvious.

Indonesian trap artist Young Lex unveiled his latest tattoo over the weekend: a photo-realistic portrait of Jakarta's jailed governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama. Why? Respect. That's why.

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"I got a PERMANENT tattoo of the face of Pa @basukibtp," Young Lex wrote on Instagram. "Not for you, not for anyone, but for ME."

The tattoo garnered a mixed reaction online. "My level of respect for you went up 75 percent," wrote @maaverickkk1999. Which raises the question, what's a guy gotta do for the remaining 25 percent?

What does Young Lex think of his critics? We'll let him answer that one:

Why Ahok? Why make him into a tattoo? This is why. I've lived for 25 years on this earth, and I've never seen a politician or an elected official that got sent to jail, but had his fans cry for him, including me!

Those who cried when word spread that he was imprisoned were his fans, now wait a minute, fans? How can a politician have FANS? How is that possible? What has he done? Besides his work ethic and all his achievements, I idolize his character and integrity. Before we go into this a bit further, integrity means "When you say no, it means no, when you say yes, it means yes." Listen to this words carefully and receive them with an open mind. I think Pa Ahok just so happens to be CHINESE and a CHRISTIAN (he can't pick which religion or ethnicity he was born into), and it's a coincidence that I'm also a CHRISTIAN. Even if AHOK isn't CHINESE or CHRISTIAN, I'll still IDOLIZE A FIGURE like him.

After this incident, I hope there will be more politicians with the work ethic and integrity like AHOK. I DON'T CARE IF HE'S HINDU! MUSLIM! CHRISTIAN! BUDDHIST! As long has they'd love INDONESIA! I'll support them, and not only me, WE'LL ALL SUPPORT THEM. BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THIS NATION! Our forefathers based on the IDEOLOGY OF PANCASILA founded our country! INDONESIA IS BHINEKKA TUNGGAL IKA, UNITY in diversity. As closure, all you agitating short fused separatists, you read this carefully! DIVERSITY but still UNITED. So I DON'T CARE, WHATEVER YOUR RELIGION IS, WHATEVER YOUR ETHNICITY IS! We are one INDONESIA!

Tattoos, once taboo, are becoming increasingly common in Indonesia. Young Lex already has more than a few. And even the Indonesian government's resident badass Susi Pudjiastuti has been seen rocking a pretty rad leg piece.

So is Ahok the new Biggie tattoo? Only time will tell.