BEER BAR GIRLS

Our research showed that the beer promotion earnings were only about half of what was needed to support their children and extended rural families. Most had second jobs, and about 56% accepted some propositions for sex for money.

Beer promotion women (called locally, beer girls) exclusively sell one brand of beer in bars and restaurants. It is usual for them to have to sell one case of beer per night in return for a monthly salary averaging approx $US55 - about half the income needed to support their family. To suppliment their income, about half accept propositions from tourists and local beer drinkers and exchange sex for money.

Condom use following beer drinking is low; HIV/AIDS prevalence averages 20% for the past 7 years. While, they may sell $13,000 worth of beer annually for their company, they are paid $600-$800 and cannot afford the yearly $360 cost for life-prolonging anti-retrovirals. Death follows from 3 months to 2 years after diagnosis; beer girls are replaced with new young women from the countryside, often with less than 1 hour of training.

In 2000, we began with students and members of a Cambodian NGO called SiRCHESI (Siem Reap Citizens for Health Education and Social Issues) to develop prevention programs for women and others at risk for HIV/AIDS in Siem Reap, Cambodia. One group at high risk were the underpaid “beer promotion women”, who wore the costume of an international beer and sold that brand exclusively, often to meet a quota of a 24-can case per night. We systematically interviewed beer-girls, distributors, and surveyed women at risk coming for voluntary HIV/AIDS testing. Twenty percent were HIV+ and most, local doctors told us, would die in less than 2 years following diagnosis.

Among the international beers being marketed in Cambodia, Heineken is the most expensive, premium beer; the exclusive local distributor, Attwood, has successfully niche-marketed Heineken, along with Hennessy Cognac, Johnny Walker, etc. Asia Pacific Breweries markets several brands as well, including ABC Stout, Anchor and Tiger Beers. Since the 1930s, Heineken has owned about a one-third stake in APB. In addition, Angkor beer is a popular lower priced beer produced by Cambodian Breweries (Cambrew) , which also bottles the APB beers. One other Dutch brand, “Three Horses” from Breda, also uses “beer girls” to sell its brand, in competition with other international brands from Interbrew ( Stella Artois, Beck’s, Labbatt’s, Hoegaarden), as well as such other breweries as Fosters, Boon Rawd (Singha, Leo), San Miguel, Carlsberg, Budweiser, etc.

Heineken reportedly already has 1200 beer girls operating in China. Will 20% of this workforce, which might be expected to expand in the coming year, also die of HIV/AIDS, as has been the Cambodian experience. On the death of Vee, a Foster’s “beer girl” who was HIV+ and had been cared for by other “beer girls” when she got too sick to work one evening; when they came after work to feed her, she was gone. She had died that morning, and with no employer or relative to arrange the Buddhist cremation ceremony, her body had been “discarded” by the police. Srei Neamb, one of her colleagues, shared her emotions and feelings of existential crisis with us during the follow up July interviews. Others also joined her in expressing dismay at the corporate disrespect, after working exclusively for one Beer Company, of suddenly becoming a “throwaway beer girl”.

In a very forward-looking document about Heineken's intended response to HIV/AIDS in its workforce, H. P. Bart de Jonge, Director Corporate Human Resources, has stated in his forward: "We sincerely hope that Heineken will set an example for both international businesses and governments to jointly fight this pandemic...that the salaries dispersed each month to the "beer promotion girls" were reimbursed immediately as "promotion and advertising costs" from Heineken's. ... . We do not know how Heineken accounts for these monies in its annual reports or whether discussion is ever made of the issue of "promotional sales workers" in various countries. We do know that in Siem Reap a Heineken's beer costs $1.50 US (compared to $1.20-$1.30 for other international brands) and that some of that retail price ultimately will flow back to Heineken International, it's shareholders and investors.”

Among the proactive steps discussed locally that Heineken could take to stem the high rate of seropositivity among its employees/sales promoters might be the following:

Heineken already realizes that the consumption of alcohol can in some cases increase the risk of unsafe sex and HIV transmission. In other countries, bar promotion women who drink with customers (e.g., trying to meet their sales quotas) often have available either alcohol-less mixed drinks or alcohol-free beers.

"Beer girls" require about $100 monthly income; they generally make $40-60 as Heineken's saleswomen. An immediate improved salary structure of $5-6 dollars per day (rather than industry-standard $2) or a commission of $6 per case (rather than $2-3 current industry rate) would more than meet the income needs of these women (who often are single mothers, and who always support extended rural families with their salaries). The pressing financial need for occasional indirect sex work activities would for the majority of cases simply cease, as our interviewees have told us.

We have also discussed recently with local management the "morale problem" among the women who believe they are working for Heineken's-- they wear the Heineken's uniform, exclusively sell that beer, and compete with all the other companies' promotion teams in each restaurant for Heineken's market share. When they sell a case worth $36 US and receive $2-3 in recompense, Heineken's may want to rethink the balance between the portion of each sale going to the overall corporate profit statement and to the shareholders and investors, at the expense of a possible 16-23% of the sales-force succumbing to HIV/AIDS.

The CARE “Selling Beer Safely” program it is hoped will come quickly and fully on line in Phnom Penh and then expand throughout Cambodia, if evaluation shows that it is effective in changing behaviours. It can then perhaps be “sold” to the other beer companies, as well; perhaps, in months or years, as the case may be, we may begin to measure a decline in infection and mortality rates for beer-girls from its constant 20% rate of the past 5 years. But the brief CARE Australia web-site description only mentions prevention, not treatment. Will Heineken not step in and offer anti-retrovirals to any of its sales force now in need? Or will there be other “throwaway” beer girls, paid for by that same “advertising/promotion” budget line in the annual shareholders reports as are the throwaway coasters and posters?

The infections (and consequent deaths) of beer-girls from HIV/AIDS has been annually tracked by the Cambodian government for the past decade; in 2000, the Wall Street Journal highlighted the problem in Cambodia for breweries and their shareholders. Other journalists have also written about this and NGOs have stepped in to try and deal with this problem. But not the beer companies themselves. They continued to use a system which puts its female sales force at risk of death before the age of 30. These women bring in about $13,000 in sales each year they are healthy and alive, are paid no more than $800, and cannot afford the additional $360 per year for clone anti-retrovirals to stay alive.

We have asked Heineken and other international and local breweries using “beer promotion women” to make money in Cambodia to act fairly towards these womento provide them with adequate income to preclude the necessity of additional indirect sex work e.g., $5 per day and/or a monthly salary of $120; to provide health education and HIV/AIDS prevention information and behaviour change strategies and to provide health benefits including anti-retrovirals and other medications should the person be HIV+ and require them.

Nathu La-Changu Lake:Lifeline of Sikkim tourism

After two months of overflow in tourism in the state beginning from April with different tourist hotspots locked in a fierce battle, the mountainous Nathu La-Changu corridor still stands out as the lifeline of Sikkim tourism.

Nowhere in the world can one travel from an elevation of 5,000 ft (Gangtok) to the surreal heights of 14,400 ft (Nathu La) within two hours flat, tourism stakeholders basking in the after-glow of a bumper season said here.

According to the figures provided by the State Tourism Department, around 1.7 lakh domestic and 6763 foreign tourists had already arrived in Sikkim in the past four months. The figures of the peak month, May have yet to be accounted by the department.

Among these tourists, especially the domestic tourists, a visit to Nathu La-Baba Mandir-Changu Lake axis is a must. Fifty tourist vehicles are permitted by the Army per day to visit Nathu La border, while a visit to Changu Lake and Baba Mandir carries no ceiling.

Around 300 tourist vehicles make it to the last two destinations every day creating a festive look.

''It's all about the snow and the breath-taking view of the mountains that attracts tourists in huge numbers to these areas,'' said Lokendra Rasaily, senior tour operator and a member of Travel Agents Association of Sikkim.

Despite an unusually warm summer here, the Nathu La corridor still exhibits an unparalleled beauty covered with the last remains of snow.

Apart from getting a glimpse of the mighty Chumbi valleys from the Nathu La border, the tourists are fanatical of getting their pictures taken with an official of the Red Army posted on the other side of the fence.

A few kilometers down the border, tourists make a detour towards the temple of the legendary Baba Harbhajan Singh at Kupup. The Indian Army had set up a cafeteria, a gift items shop and other facilities for the tourists in a professional manner that only the Army can at an altitude of 13,000 ft. Those desirous of getting an extra kick can also draw cash from an ATM at the site which is the highest in the country.

Further, the pristine lake of Changu is another attraction where a yak ride around the lake is must for the tourists. Rows of shops selling food and gift items at the lake premises are another attraction.

Cambodia: The New Phuket

With pristine beaches rivalling Asia's best holiday destinations, a five-star hotel, a reopened airport and a golf course in the pipeline, Cambodia's beach town of Sihanoukville is poised to jump into the global tourism arena. SAMANTHA BROWN supports her claim here.

Thousands of tourists are already lured to Cambodia by the ancient Angkor Wat temple complex, but few other sights attract their attention or their desperately sought-after dollars. Sniffing opportunity, the government and private investors are lining up to position the southwestern port town of Sihanoukville as a tropical getaway, competing with the likes of Thailand's Phuket and Indonesia's Bali.

"If we compare, the potential is better than Phuket because of the quality of sand, it's white and the water is clean. The offshore islands have coral reefs, there's fishing," enthuses city tourism director Teng Huy.

A port town established in the 1950s, it remains Cambodia's youngest city. Sihanoukville became a popular resort among the elite until the rise of the Khmer Rouge, which embarked on a genocide that decimated the country.

It was re-discovered by backpackers in the 1990s and today retains a sleepy, faded charm, with the occasional cow wandering through the streets and ramshackle restaurants on many of its beaches.

The locally-owned Sokha Hotel has extended Sihanoukville's appeal beyond backpackers to well-heeled travelers by opening its 15-hectare, 180-room hotel in April, the first five-star operation here.

"The beach product is excellent, it's top class. Great sand, great sea, that's a great start, we're out of the gate and running well," says general manager Anthony O'Neill, a 12-year veteran of the Asian tourism industry.

More government help however is needed to rebuild the infrastructure shattered from conflict that only ended in 1998, as well as better attractions, to secure Sihanoukville's place on the international circuit, O'Neill says.

A nine-hole golf course being developed by Malaysia's Ariston Holdings along nearby Ocheteaul beach is one such crucial drawcard, he says.

"The golf course concept has to be raced along... because if you can't get core features you simply can't contain people in a holiday resort and even think you're going to challenge your competitors in Asia," he says. "I'm competing with Bali, Phuket, even Pattaya. It's these markets we keep an eye on, can we do it here?"

The quirky art-deco Independence Hotel, which drew fashionable crowds in the 1960s prior to the 1975 rise of the Khmer Rouge, is due to open by September, while a 120-room hotel is packaged with the golf course project.

Scheduled flights, also seen as vital to Sihanoukville's rejuvenation, are on the horizon with the reopening of its airport in April to chartered flights. A runway extension is slated to be completed before year end, making it a potential destination for regional airlines. Martin Standbury, the project manager for the golf course due to open within the coming year, says Sihanoukville may be sleepy for now, but its potential is enormous.

"For now tourists get a bit bored. There's the beach, cheap beer, seafood and they probably need a few more attractions," he says. "I reckon there is huge potential here over the next three to five years, not just for foreigners but the locals," he says, noting that Cambodia's emerging middle class has begun holidaying here again.

Business owners, many of them foreigners who were traveling through but decided to stay, captivated by the landscape and laid back lifestyle, say they have noticed a steady increase in numbers.

"Despite the anti-Thai riots (in Phnom Penh in January 2003), SARS, (the terror attacks in) America and the elections, my trade has increased in the last year as has everybody else's," says hotel and bar owner Richard Blackley.

Teng Huy's office puts the number of tourists who visited last year at just over 114,000, six percent less than 2002 due to the regional SARS outbreak, but for the first three months this year the figure jumped by 29 percent on 2003. Blackley, who moved here four years ago, says the town was once awash with small arms, like the rest of the country, but has normalized and authorities are making an effort to renovate the town.

"Infrastructure is being repaired, government buildings are being repaired, you can see improvements with parks and gardens... And the race for land on the beaches is phenomenal," he says. "I'm extremely optimistic. Every day something new is being done." Li Li, a Chinese technical worker on a hydropower plant in a nearby province, comes here every few months with a half dozen colleagues who are drawn by the seafood and scenery. "Sihanoukville is very, very beautiful, the water, the sky," he told AFP after a beach side seafood feast. "I think more and more people will come to Cambodia and here."