Then and now: Singapore's first Yakult Lady Chong Wai Yoong delivering Yakult in Bukit Batok in 1988, and on her rounds in Choa Chu Kang in 2020.
Within three months, about 60 customers had signed up with her. Chong soon became a well-known figure in the neighbourhood, working part-time six days a week and delivering twice a day. Over the years, Chong even took three incentive trips to Japan, a reward for high sales volumes. Company representatives still go door to door to recruit ladies, who are typically housewives looking for flexible part-time work. The ladies are trained to do two things: deliver and propagate. Clad in the Yakult promotion tee and armed with change, a record card to update their customer database, a trolley bag and promotional brochures, these women deliver to existing customers and recruit new ones.
The Yakult Lady scheme was spearheaded by veteran employee Catherine Liew, 67. She started in 1986 with an initial group of seven, with Chong as the first recruit. They were then all housewives in their 30s. While Liew is slated for retirement next year, she hopes to eventually see up to 450 Yakult Ladies in the scheme.
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