WHEN CANTO-POP singer and actress Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi returned from holiday in Thailand, she had a souvenir on her right hand. At first glance it looks likemerely another shiny ring. A closer look reveals what it actually is: a piercing on the fold between her fingers.
Celebrity endorsement has once again brought body piercing under the spotlight, but this time, it is not limited to the ears, nose, tongue, lips or eyebrows. What's hot this summer are piercings in peculiar places.
Tracy Yan Tsui-sze, who runs body piercing shop 3688.com in Tsim Sha Tsui's Update Mall, says more customers have asked for advice on doing a piercing similar as Cheung's. Such piercings are nothing new, she says.
'I first pierced people's ankles, the folds between toes and fingers, and even their armpits five years ago,' says Yan. 'People also do forearms, upper arms, their napes, and the space between collar bones. Most people didn't know about it until the media gave it exposure recently.'
Body piercing goes back more than 5,000 years and has been done all over the world. It is seen as one of the most interesting ways of body modification. Yan says some people see it as body art, and they think piercings on some unusual body parts make them look pretty. Some do it, however, for the pain.
'The level of pain varies according to the thickness of the needle used and the ring placed in the piercing. The piercers' experience also counts,' says Yan