Manhunt contestant, 56, gets indecent proposals

Manhunt contestant, 56, gets indecent proposals

When Mr Linus Li wanted to propose to his then-girlfriend back in 1994 he got the kiss-of-death rejection.

She only saw him as the brother type and said she had the hots for someone else.

Then 36, he figured it was because he looked average.

Two years later, after giving up on marriage, he dived into his new passion - perfecting his looks. Twenty years later and he's still at it.

Now 56, the senior sales executive from a premium airline is the oldest contestant ever to join Manhunt Singapore since the pageant's first outing in 1987.

Mr Li looks a good decade younger with his toned physique and easily gives the other younger contestants a run for their money.

This year, 16 finalists are competing in the junior category (below 30 years old) while Mr Li will go head to head against nine other hopefuls in the senior category.

This year's pageant finals will be held at local nightspot Neverland II on Sept 11.

Mr Li told The New Paper: "I haven't had a girlfriend (or gone on a date) in the last 20 years even though some women have been interested in me.

"To be honest, it's a burden having to take care of someone else. I told myself back in 1994 that if I didn't get married, I'll be content remaining single."

He added: "I remember I was going to propose to my girlfriend after dating her for a year and when I asked her about taking it to the next level, she told me she realised she only saw me as a brother and that I had got the wrong message (from her).

"So I thought, forget it. I'm not going to bother about marriage anymore.

"You see what I look like now, but the truth is that I didn't use to look like that. In fact, I didn't have money, I had nothing."

It was only after he decided to turn his life around in 1996 by adopting a healthy lifestyle that he scored his lucrative sales job a few years later.

Mr Li, who is 1.8m tall and used to weigh 83kg, now weighs 76kg thanks to his four-times-a-week workout which consists of a 1½ hour run and weight-training, focusing on his chest, shoulders and legs.

GUILT

Even now, when he looks back on his past relationships, he can't help but feel guilt.

The irony was that Mr Li's first girlfriend, whom he dated when he was 21, was ready to take the plunge and walk down the aisle with him.

However, he wasn't in the frame of mind to get hitched then and he broke her heart by telling her the truth.

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He said: "I didn't want to give her false hope. She was very hurt and disappeared on me. She changed her phone number and I couldn't find her. I hope to find her someday just to find out how she's doing."

Mr Li said women of all ages have hit on him. Some who are in their late 50s have even made indecent proposals, but he refused to elaborate when this reporter probed him.

One older woman, a friend of his, confessed her feelings for him after her husband died.

But Mr Li said he is a traditional man, who will not string any woman along because he knows that marriage is off the table for him.

"I have to be honest. Any woman who approaches me, I'll tell them not to waste their time."

Even though he has beefed up, he is insecure about his eye bags and is thinking about having his first aesthetic procedure to remove them.

He said he has not had any work done, be it invasive or non-invasive procedures.

He said: "Apprehension is what I'm feeling when I think about such procedures so I'm going to think about it some more.

"Frankly, I almost withdrew from the pageant twice because of my age, but the organisers encouraged me to go through it with dignity and be an example to the younger men.

"Now I position myself as the tortoise - slow, steady, focused, with the goal of completing a race.

"There's pressure because I have to work even harder to achieve what the younger ones can obtain in quick time."

He added: "I'm enjoying my ageing moments and I encourage everyone young or old to eat right, live well, exercise regularly so that if the worst really happens, at least you don't feel guilty for not being responsible (to yourselves).

"It has been really fun with the younger boys. Some called me bro, others, dad and so forth."

How to rock the big 5-0

Five tips from Linus Li:

1. I don't eat animal fats. My mum used to think that I was a freak because I was so fussy with my food. I removed all the fat at meals and I was the only one in my family who did that.

2. No drinking, no smoking, no tea, no coffee and no fizzy drinks. It's only water and fruit juice for me.

3. I have a lot of stress from work so I try to stay happy. One of the ways I do so is to travel and enjoy life.

4. Exercise produces good oxygen in the cells so do that whenever you can.

5. I have very sensitive skin that is prone to pigmentation so I use an effective lightening product like Fade Out and I put on SPF 50 sunblock every day.


This article was first published on June 26, 2014.
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