'The auntie offered to pay for my road tax': Benjamin Tan on benefits of looking 'cute'

Most of us already know there are perks to being attractive, but just what can you glean off from looking kawaii?

On the latest episode of The Zoe and Liang Show released on Saturday (April 1), hosts Zoe Tay and Guo Liang discussed the perks of being attractive with their younger guests, actors Benjamin Tan and Hong Ling.

Once an overweight kid in primary school, Benjamin admitted his life changed when he became better looking as he got older.

The 30-year-old elaborated on the perks: "I get free stuff. For example, when I bought cai fan, the auntie (stall owner) said I looked cute and looked like her grandchild, so she gave me extra food.

"Previously, when I was buying a car, the salesperson offered to pay for my road tax."

Guo Liang guessed that the salesperson was an "older sister", or auntie in Singapore lingo.

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Upon seeing Benjamin's affirmative response, Zoe, 55, said confidently: "Aunties like young boys."

Guo Liang, 52, did not forget about Hong Ling, and followed up with a question for the 28-year-old: "Don't pretty girls experience more of such things? Like, older 'brothers' offering to buy things for you."

Hong Ling humbly responded that she was unsure if it was because of her looks or because of her identity as an artiste, as most celebrities get perks due to the nature of showbiz.

'I used to want to look like James Lye'

Hong Ling suggested that an attractive person will have more choices in dating and thus acquire more confidence.

"If you are a good-looking guy, you can attract girls more easily," Zoe figured.

Guo Liang agreed but also shared another insight on his experience: "When everybody was hanging out, it was easier for me to get girls' attention [due to my good looks].

"But it was more like my friends asked me to do so as a dare. And when I succeeded, they were happy too."

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Zoe wondered if good-looking people experience a backlash as people feel they are too appealing and thus unreliable.

Hong Ling spoke frankly in response: "But they can still be reliable if they look bad so I might as well choose a good-looking one." Everybody chuckled in amusement.

When Guo Liang posed the question of whether it's rare for men to get jealous over each other's good looks, Benjamin shared that he was more likely to admire the guy instead.

"I used to like James Lye and wanted to look like him and be like him," Benjamin said.

'I was always bullied'

For Benjamin, the benefits he's enjoyed are a stark contrast to what he endured when he was younger.

"When I was in primary school, I was overweight and in the TAF club. I only ate an apple during recess.

"I was 80kg at Primary 4 and Primary 5 and I was always bullied. There were people who told me, 'You're so ugly, nobody wants to be with you'."

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The TAF (Trim And Fit Club) was a weight loss programme for obese children in schools.

To everybody's shock, he elaborated that he even had to be a 'lackey' of sorts and buy drinks for his classmates, as he was scared nobody wanted to be his friend otherwise.

In fact, he looked so much better as he got older that people wondered if he had gone through plastic surgery.

He admitted that he did have a 'plastic surgeon': "His name was National Service, I had to wake up early, sleep early and drink a lot of water."

'The whole street would want to take a look'

But standards of "good looks" have also changed with the times, and may be more complicated now.

While Hong Ling agreed with Guo Liang that the standards for female beauty have not changed much, Benjamin felt that people like pretty boys more due to Korean pop culture.

The hosts also suggested that a person's attractiveness is not confined to just physical looks now.

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Zoe identified that because information is more widespread these days, it's easier to see good-looking people online compared to the past, when people only saw them on television..

Guo Liang echoed Zoe's views:"In the past if there was one good-looking person on the streets, the whole street would know about it. Everybody would want to take a look as he passed by as they had nothing else to look at."

Both of them shared the sentiment that precisely because it's not rare to see good-looking people these days, people start considering their character qualities instead.

As Guo Liang summarised: "In modern times it may not be so easy [to stand out]. People may judge if the person is smart or not, and whether the person has manners.

"Another person may look ordinary but he may smile a lot and have great manners, then wouldn't he be more popular?"

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYoJisNeFSs[/embed]

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jolynn.chia@asiaone.com

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