Xiaohongshu-famous ‘prettiest beer promoter’ tells us what it’s like to work in her job

What sets Cindy apart from other beer promoters is also that she’s famous on Xiaohongshu, where she has over 11,000 followers. It’s where she posts photos of herself, usually at work in her beer promoter uniform.
With her flowing locks, big anime eyes and svelte figure, her pictures attract dozens of comments praising her doll-like looks and calling her a goddess. “I snuck a few glances just now. She really looks like [Hong Kong singer] Kay Tse,” marvelled a netizen who saw her in real life.Cindy, who works Mondays to Saturdays, found afternoon shifts easier as she could drop off her five-year-old son at school before taking a bus to Singapore. “Customs is not crowded in the afternoon, and I go home at 10.30pm so there’s no jam either,” she shares.
She acknowledges that travelling to and from Singapore and JB is “tiring”, but she focuses on providing a better life for her child by working here. “This job is okay. It’s not too stressful, and the working hours are not long. Of course, I feel tired. But every job is tough. If you want income, especially in Singapore dollars, you just have to endure,” says Cindy.She started working in her teens to support her family. “We weren’t well-off, so I had to start working while I was still in school. When I became of age to get a Singapore work permit, I came here to work. I used to be a hairstylist before I became a beer promoter,” she shares.
Although she has to hop between countries every day for work, Cindy reckons the toughest part of her job is having to drink.
She explains: “I have gastric issues from drinking. I don’t want to gain weight from my job so I eat less, but I still have to drink alcohol. Customers start coming at around 4pm, and drink here till around 9.30pm. It’s like that every day. I walk around the coffeeshop [serving drinks], so I keep active that way. But the alcohol does make me bloat.”She is the only beer promoter at the coffeeshop. “It’s a good thing, since there is no competition,” she points out (beer promoters get a commission from each bottle they sell).
Although it’s a common belief that beer promoters have to drink, Cindy says they are not obliged to and can turn down drinks when offered. She notes: “Some beer promoters actually don’t drink at all. But when I first started working this job, I did drink when customers offered me beer. They asked me to drink, so I drank. I was a newbie and didn’t know I could turn them down. So now it’s hard to tell those customers that I don’t drink. Some might say I’m lying or insulting them.”So how does she deal with persistent customers? “The regulars know I have to work, so they don’t expect me to drink. But some customers refuse to order beer until I drink with them, so I have no choice but to drink a bit lah. Some of them will say, ‘You don’t want to drink? Why? Is it because you look down on me?’ And they will insist that I finish the whole glass. Most of the time when they offer me a drink, I just take a sip to be polite,” shares Cindy.Her regulars, she says, are more understanding. She recounts: “They will actually dissuade me from drinking. I still have to serve other customers, tally the bills, tidy up the beer display and travel home after finishing that drink. It’s not that I can just go sit down after imbibing so much alcohol (laughs).”
According to Cindy, her alcohol tolerance is not exceptionally high. “It’s just enough for me to remain on my feet by the end of my shift (laughs). I’m working by myself here, so there’s no one to take over if I get drunk,” she says. “I don’t allow myself to get tipsy. If customers insist that I drink, I will tell them I can’t because I still have to work and go back to JB. The journey is pretty long. If there’s a traffic jam and I need the toilet… how?”
Some of her customers’ wives even “banned” their husbands from visiting coffeeshops to limit their exposure to beer promoters. “Some women can get a bit jealous. So the male customers don’t come to the coffeeshop unless they are with their wives,” Cindy says.Part of her beer promoter job training, a three-day work shadowing stint, also includes how to deal with inappropriate customers. “Some of them get a little handsy when tipsy, so my company taught us to monitor how much they have been drinking, and to pour their beer from across the table instead of standing beside them [to minimise contact]. We’re also told that if the customer gropes us, like touching our backsides, we can call the police. There are CCTVs at the coffeeshop. We usually warn customers first if they are being inappropriate.”The reality of being in a public-facing job in a smartphone era is that she faces the risk of being filmed, and having the videos going viral online, if something happens on the job.
“We have to maintain our professionalism and take care of ourselves. Nowadays, everyone has a phone. It’s easy for people to film [an incident] and upload it online. And that’s no good for anyone’s reputation, including my company’s. People will think we are unprofessional,” she points out.She is also aware that female beer promoters get a bad rap. “Some people say that beer girls are sleazy. But it’s a proper job, and I just focus on selling beer so I can go home. As it is, I don’t even get enough time to sleep (laughs). I don’t sit down to accompany customers to drink either,” she shares. “We are working in an open environment, where everyone can see us. There are a lot of diners who bring their kids to the coffeeshop. If we behave inappropriately, it’s also not setting a good example for the kids who can see what we’re doing.”Photos: Xiaohongshu/ Cindy TongNo part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.8days.sg is now on #tiktok! Follow us on www.tiktok.com/@8dayseat