Heineken x Shentonista: Moderate Drinkers Wanted — Anything Is Possible
Pierre, Commodities Trading & Mining. Shirt from Zara, pants from Massimo Dutti, watch from IWC Schaffhausen, bag from Longchamp.
We found Pierre with his girlfriend Si Pei and her colleagues, enjoying a round of drinks before they headed off for round two on their own, and after that, on to a little staycation to celebrate the long weekend. Having drinks is a weekly affair for Pierre, who usually heads out on Friday evenings with colleagues or friends to wind down the week, although he makes sure he doesn’t go overboard his limit; we find out how he does it.
Shentonista (S): So you meet with both colleagues and friends for drinks?
Pierre (P): It depends. The bare minimum is weekly, after work on Fridays, and then maybe another night of drinks during the weekend.
S: How much do you usually drink?
P: That also depends. If it’s beer, maybe 2 to 3 pints.
S: Do you know what’s your personal limit?
P: Yeah I do, it’s about 5 beers. I know it when I’m really flustered, or when my face gets quite red.
S: How many have you had today?
P: About 3. But I’ve had a quick bite before this!
S: How do you keep your alcohol intake under control?
P: It’s quite easy for me, because I’m not an alcoholic.
S: What if your friends egg you on to drink more?
P: It’s really about telling them “no”. My friends know that I don’t drink much, so they don’t force me to. If they’re persistent, I’ll pretend that I’ve had too much.
S: So even when you get peer-pressured, you’ll say “Oh, no thank you.”
P: I still try, but I also just know how to fake it!
S: In our culture where alcohol is easily accessible, do you think it’s important to drink moderately?
P: Yeah, of course.
S: Why?
P: I think the biggest risk of drinking is drink-driving, and I believe that collectively we can do more to help with this problem. For example, as a driver you might think that you’re in a safe environment behind the wheels, but that doesn’t mean that your passengers and other pedestrians are safe. Drinking responsibly isn’t just for yourself, but for a lot of other people as well.
S: Poison of choice?
P: Gin — I’m a gin person — and red wine.
S: What are some of your best tips for lasting the night?
P: Drinking on a full stomach works, for sure. The issue that I have when drinking with my colleagues who are Caucasian is that they tend to be heavyweights and have the habit to drink before dinner after work, which is a problem for me. But I try and prepare myself for it every time by snacking in the pantry before I go out.
S: Besides going out for drinks, what other activities do you enjoy? Any other hobbies?
P: I do sports like swimming, soccer, basketball and tennis, a minimum of thrice a week.
S: That’s like Si Pei!
P: Ah, but she goes to the gym, and gymming is cheating. (laughs)
S: What would you describe your personal style as?
P: Whatever Si Pei says. (laughs) She’s my consultant; she has quite a bit of say.
S: Is this a casual Friday look for you?
P: Yeah.
S: So you’re usually in formal wear.
P: Yeah, a shirt, trousers and proper dress shoes.
S: When did you start work?
P: About 1 year and 7 months ago.
S: Any advice for someone who started work recently, or is going to start work?
P: I think the job market is definitely quite bad now; anyone who studied business or finance would have an especially tough time finding a job. I think a lot of people will come out to work and realise that whatever they’ve learnt in school may not be applicable at all. We are brought up in a way such that we’re well-educated and well-informed in theory, and we think that when we work we’ll do all these fanciful and sexy things, but the truth is we all start from scratch, and that’s how it goes in life. So my advice would be to be earnest and humble when you’re still young. Learn as much as you can.
S: What’s your personal go-to when you’re having a stressful day?
P: Sports, actually. A game of any sport.
S: But most of the sports that you mentioned are team sports, besides swimming. So if you were alone, would you call your friends to come and play with you or just go home and jog or swim?
P: If I really have a bad day at the last minute, because you never know, I’ll just go for a swim.
S: Any personal mottos or philosophies that you’re living by right now?
P: I do have one from Michael Jordan, but I can’t remember the exact line. The gist of it is regarding his story. In the NBA, there’s a draft, so when you finish high school you get drafted into the professional NBA league and he didn’t get drafted in the first round. But it was through a lot of hard work and repeated attempts that he eventually got into the league. But even when he got into the league as a rookie, he didn’t play as well as he did at the peak of his career, so it’s about a lot of trying, practice and determination. It shows that anything is possible if you try.
Want to win a year’s worth of complimentary taxi rides, courtesy of Heineken? Simply post a photo of yourself on a good night out on Instagram, and share how you’d drink moderately, your way. Tag #ModerateDrinkersWanted and #HeinekenSG on your post to stand a chance to win. Contest runs from 6 April to 25 May 2016.
This is a Shentonista project for Heineken Singapore.
Find out more on Heineken’s #ModerateDrinkersWanted contest here.
Like this? Share it.
What others are saying
There are no comments yet.
Leave a Reply