Shaking it up

AT 25, he drew a cushy $5,000 monthly salary as an army regular, owned a car and an HDB maisonette, but Aloysius Chon was itching for a little more. So he signed off from the army after a seven-year stint, and three months ago, signed up as The Library's newest bartender-in-training.

Though his new job comes with a more than 50 per cent paycut and work hours that often stretch till early morning, Mr Chon says it is a decision made without regret: "When I came for the job interview and saw these huge shelves of alcohol, I realised that there is plenty to learn in this craft."

Across the island, stories of new-found fascination echoing his play out in the lives of former Goldman Sachs bankers, air stewardesses and commercial photographers. Regardless of background, the new faces to the local bar scene are all magnetised by one thing: our city's voracious thirst for well-crafted cocktails.