WHILE the ages of the mamasans in nightclubs here may seem to be getting lower, the "harsh reality" is: Some of them have outlived their shelf-life back home.
Mamasan Miss Wei-wei should know - she had started working in a nightclub in Shanghai when she was only 17.
She went from her hometown to Macau and that experience turned out to be a bonus for her. And that is common with many of the young mamasans here, she claimed.
Miss Wei-wei told The New Paper on Sunday: "The life span of a KTV club hostess in China and Hong Kong can be relatively short."
Mainland Chinese girls start working in cabarets in the cities from as young as 16.
They usually head up to Hong Kong and Macau when they hit 18.
Stiff competition among the increasing number of girls opting for such a lifestyle makes it even worse.
Miss Wei-wei, 24, said: "Another three years and the younger, new girls are ready to usurp your position."
The setting in these clubs can be quite different - with strict and sometimes overbearing mamasans calling the shots.
She claimed: "You don't say no to anything the mummy tells you to do - and that can include having sex with the customers."
Girls - usually in groups of 25 to 30 - are lined up for customers to take their pick.
Miss Wei-wei said: "We manage fewer girls and our regular clients will know which girls they want. "They are not put through that process of waiting to be picked."
And for those working at the top clubs, "you have to fight with the international faces as well", said mamasan Miss Candy, 26, who worked at Club Bboss in Hong Kong.
Nestled right in the thriving business district of Tsimshatsui East, the club has more than 60 VIP suites.
A manager at Club Bboss, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The New Paper on Sunday: "Our clients are mainly the tycoons and celebrities, those who are 'yao tao yao mien' (prominent and famous in Cantonese).
"The mummy or mamasan must know how to control and teach her girls well. Anyone who misbehaves gets booted out quickly."
Miss Wei-wei said: "Because of the higher demands and expectations that the girls have been put through, they become more appreciated when they come here."
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