PUBLISHED ONFebruary 02, 2023 10:55 AM
Why I Do What I Do is an original AsiaOne series where we showcase people with uncommon professions and what it takes to get there. In Why I Do What I Do: Asia, a nine-part spin-off, we scour the region for more unconventional jobs and the stories of the people behind them.
Donning skimpy outfits like bikinis, these female betel nut saleswomen not only have to cut and prep their product by hand, they also have to endure other people's judging gaze as part of their job.
Known as betel nut beauties in Taiwan, they usually work in flamboyant roadside betel nut retail stores and do so as a side hustle to earn good money.
One of these betel nut beauties, 18-year-old Xing-er shares that she got into this line as a means to pay for her school tuition fees. She shares that during peak season, the most that she can earn up to NT$49,000 (S$2,146).
However, there is a price to pay as a betel nut beauty.
Xing-er - who has been working in the industry for three years - has had to endure being shunned by her school friends after they learn about her job.
"They will ostracise me once they know that we're betel nut beauties and they will avoid talking to us,
"They will avoid talking to us, sometimes it feels like we're being excluded," says Xing-er.
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