My boss is 16Teen runs cosplay cafe with French maids
By Esther Au Yong, December 16, 2006 IF YOU ask this 16-year-old what's her occupation, she'll tell you 'businesswoman'.
Ferlyn Tan with her brother Floyd Miss Ferlyn Tan, who has just completed her O levels at Tanglin Secondary School, runs a restaurant - and it's not the school canteen.
Step into the outlet in Chijmes and you will be greeted with a chorus of 'Okaerinasai Goshujinsama'.
That's Japanese for 'Welcome home, Master'.
And at Cosafe (pronounced 'co-sah-fey'), you can expect to be served by 16 waitresses dressed as French maids.
Yes, this is going to be Singapore's first costume play - or cosplay - cafe.
The waitresses, with red pouty lips and ponytails, will be in lacy, pink-ribboned, black-and-white outfits.
Hugely popular in Japan, a maid cafe is where cosplay enthusiasts gather to role play and show off their latest costumes.
They usually dress as characters from manga, anime and video games.
In August, Miss Tan and her friend Julia Teo, 21, a Temasek Polytechnic student, represented Singapore in the nine-country World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya, Japan.
Earlier this year, Miss Tan, dressed as female warrior Lunamaria Hawke, and Miss Teo, as songstress Lacus Clyne, both from the Gundam Seed Destiny anime, beat 30 other contestants at the local Cosfest V - The Reunion.
While some may not take to the idea of a maid cafe, to others it is oh-so-kawaii (cute in Japanese) and refreshing.
Said Miss Tan: 'We hit on the idea after we came back from Nagoya. There, such cafes are very popular and very successful. I believe there's a market for them here too.'
Miss Tan, who will be paid a monthly salary of 'more than $1,000', is in charge of coming up with promotions at the cafe. She will also handle public and media relations.
Said Mr Floyd Tan, 25, her brother, who runs the cafe as its managing director: 'We spent about $200,000 setting this up, half of it from my mother. I contributed the other half.
'Although I don't cosplay, I think there's potential in this.
'We reckon there are 4,000 to 5,000 cosplayers in Singapore now, compared with about 400 four years ago.'
At the last local Cosfest event in July, some 8,000 people gathered at Downtown East.
In 2004, there were 2,500 visitors.
Mr Tan, who used to be an army regular, said his investment came from savings and money made on shares.
Said their mother, Madam Kathleen Liew, 50: 'At first, of course I had my worries.
'I wondered whether my children were serious about their plan to open the cafe, and whether it could be sustained.'
But after accompanying Miss Tan to Japan, 'where I saw first-hand how popular the cafes were', and after looking at her children's business plans, she gave the go-ahead and lent them $100,000.
'I want to encourage them to excel, to support them in any way I can,' said Madam Liew, who used to be an editor in a publishing company.
Their father, Mr Richard Tan, 50, a manager at Cold Storage, also advises them.
The maid costumes cost more than $100 each, and rent costs 'more than $7,000 a month'.
Miss Tan says the cafe will be 'good clean fun'.
She added: 'We have decorated our cafe in a clean, breezy and open manner. The girls have also been told that there should be no physical contact with the guests.
'Unlike in Japan, we don't have any private rooms available. Everything is in the open, so customers who have other ideas will be discouraged.'
The open concept also helped to win over the landlord, Suntec Reit, which manages Chijmes, Mr Tan said.
'The management agreed to lease the space to us after we assured them that our concept was wholesome. We have the space till the end of 2009,' he said.
Places like Heeren, where cosplayers often gather, were considered but, in the end, 'the options available were either too small or too expensive'.
The cafe will serve Japanese and European cuisine.
'We have wine champagne mushroom linguine priced at $16, and Japanese curry rice, also priced at $16. A glass of housepour wine will go for $9,' said Mr Tan.
The menu was drawn up with the help of a relative who is an executive chef running a few restaurants.
He also helped them recruit and train the kitchen staff.
The 'maids' are selected and trained by the siblings.
The first batch of girls were selected from 200 applicants, aged between 17 and 23.
Although they need to role-play, they need not be cosplayers.
Miss Tan said: 'Our girls are talented. For example, one of them has been taking opera lessons for a long time. It's her own private interest, but she has agreed to perform on stage soon.
'We will also have theme nights, like a Geisha Night, when all our maids will dress and act as geishas.'
There will also be a ladies' night when instead of 'maids', six young 'butlers' will serve female customers.
Miss Tan, who is awaiting her O-level results, plans to help run the cafe for a year before going overseas to study.
For cosplayer Michelle Lim, the cafe comes at the right time.
The 19-year-old student said: 'Cosplay is becoming more popular now.
'I'm delighted that there will be a cafe and a proper gathering place for us cosplayers now. It's cool that we can go there and check out other cosplayers and their costumes.'
