Thứ Hai, 10 tháng 6, 2013

 World of beer girls, conclusion: hidden traps
Tuoi Tre


A beer attendant has lunch together with her boyfriend in their rented room. Tuoi Tre

There is an unspoken rule that beer attendants never sell themselves, but some are slaves to money.
Between the lines
“Many people think beer attendants are bia om girls, so they have a right to do what they want with our bodies,” said Lan, 22, a native of Bac Lieu province who has held this job for five years. “If I’m in that situation, I will leave [the drinking table] though I know for sure my manger or customers are likely to scold me as punishment”.
At nearly 11pm at a restaurant on No Trang Long Street, Binh Thanh District, a client tipped an attendant named Nhung and suggested, “Sleep with me?” He waited for a nod from her but she refused. He continued to ask: “VND3 million (US$150) one night, ok?”, but Nhung shook her head again. Her patron left in anger.
However, Nhung and Lan are only among a few beer attendants who refuse to sell themselves for money.   
Lai, 18, from Hai Phong, shared with a Tuoi Tre undercover reporter the sad tale of her friend Thuy. Lai said Thuy left home for Ho Chi Minh City and has lived with her boyfriend in a rented room for nearly one year.
Since the monthly income of VND2.5 million (US$120) that her boyfriend earns as a café waiter is not enough to support living in an expensive city like HCMC, Thuy took a job as a beer attendant, which she believed would pay well. Thuy also agrees to go out with her clients after work to earn extra money, but tries to hide this fact from her boyfriend.
“Thuy said she loves him so much so she wants to save money for their future,” Lai said.
Meanwhile, Thu, from Tra Vinh province, who has been a beer attendant for six years, agrees to be the mistress of her patrons, provided that they have money and she has affection for them.
“The money I earn as a beer attendant is unstable, while I have to spend a lot on clothes and make-up. If they want me to hang out with them and I have feelings for them, why would I say no?”, she asked.
Hired not only to drink
It is inevitable in this world that beer attendants are paid for drinking, but are paid more to become concubines or mistresses of rich clients, who often promise to provide them with a better life. 
A 24-year-old attendant named Ly, from Lam Dong province, has charmed many male clients with her beautiful face. One such client is T., the deputy director of a major bank branch in District 3. T., 40, is good-looking and has a good sense of humor, and they began to talk regularly after their first meeting at a drinking table.
T. told Ly that his wife is sterile, and they married 10 years ago. One month after their first meeting, T. decided he wanted to live with Ly, and promised: “Give me time, I will ask my wife for a divorce and live with you”.
Believing what he said, Ly agreed to live with T. in a rented room on Tran Dinh Xu Street, District 1. T. visited their “cozy nest” every day at lunchtime, and sometimes they went shopping or traveled together.
Their romantic moments lasted until the day T.’s wife found a sweet SMS that Ly had sent to her husband. Afterwards, in front of his wife, T. told Ly that it was all “just for fun”.
“I devoted all my life to him so I was severely depressed after that and wanted to commit suicide, although I was afraid of death,” Ly said in tears.
“But I decided to continue my life because we are hired to drink, so we might also be hired to be their lovers,” she said.
Ut Hong is in the same situation. She is currently living in a rented room in an alley on Huynh Van Banh Street, Phu Nhuan district, which is also home to 20 other beer attendants. Hong is lucky to live in a fully-furnished room with a TV, refrigerator, and air-conditioner, all bought by a rich client who she used to be a mistress of. But they stopped dating after their adulterous relationship was uncovered by his wife, who later came to her house and began an argument.
Harvesting rice is too hard for me, so I came here [Ho Chi Minh City] to find a well-paid job. My husband thinks that I work for a restaurant as a waitress. He will never know what I’m really doing, because he has no money to go to restaurants,” a beer attendant named Mai said.

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