Behind the masks, mascot life isn’t all cheery

SINGAPORE – It looks like all fun and games, but being a mascot can get downright abusive. Getting poked, shoved and jumped upon by over-excited audiences can be all part of a day’s work.

Behind the oversized mask and costume, life on the job can be challenging, especially when faced with a difficult audience.

Chua Hao Jun, 22, who works as a part-time mascot, said he has faced “abuse” on some occasions. “There have been a few times when I got pushed by people,” he said.

Once, a group of people attempted to unmask the mascot and unbuckle the costume, he recalled. At times, some cheeky members of the audience, he claims, try to see if the person behind the mask is male or female.

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Said the second-year marketing student at Temasek Polytechnic: “We can only see through a tiny hole, and it’s quite dangerous for us. It’s quite blur.

“People tend to think that we can see them, but actually we can’t.”

Besides donning a costume that can weigh up to 26kg, it can “be quite smelly”, and entertaining the audience by dancing and running around is quite a workout, Chua said.

The job can get quite tough as it is hot beneath the costume, and he may be expected to perform at intervals of 45 minutes.

Chua added: “I perspire a lot because of the heat. Sometimes I might feel a bit giddy when we’re performing in an open area and the sun is shining on us.”

But, the job pays well, according to Chua, who says he earns between $10 to $20 per hour as a mascot and the assignments range from three to eight hours.

Like Chua, work as a mermaid is not always genteel as it appears to be.

Cara Nicole Neo’s love for mermaids started as a child, and she has not grown out of it. Instead, she’s turned it into a business about two years ago.

Since graduating from National University of Singapore (NUS) in English Literature in 2013, Neo decided to become a professional mermaid. Neo said: “I’ve always loved mermaids. I believe that they are good role models for girls because they are beautiful, strong and confident.”

She decided to turn her love for the fantasy creatures into a career because she “realised there were other people in Singapore who (also) loved the idea of mermaids”, and wanted to “combine the elements of fantasy and fitness”.

Her mermaid persona, Syrena, performs at birthday parties and other childrens’ event and she can earn about $650 an hour as a mermaid performer.

Attempting to look graceful and agile while swimming with a 15kg mermaid tail is no mean feat. “It takes effort to look effortlessly agile,” Neo said. She also has to be careful not to get cramps in her feet “as those happen to me when I swim for too long, or when my body is a little dehydrated”.

While some of her audiences “treat me like royalty”, others cannot control their excitement and when they see her in the mermaid costume. “They poke, grab on to my tail and top,” Neo said.

As being a mermaid performer requires being in the water a lot, extensive exposure to chlorine also causes “terrible, damaged hair”, dry skin and eye irritations, she added.

But what keeps Chua and Neo going is being able to “make others happy”. Neo said: “I like to see kids laughing and believing in something magical.”

Said Chua: “I tend to make people happy when they are sad, or when people are frustrated with their lives, I make them happy and laugh.”