Why Zheng Geping is the perfect lover

SINGAPORE — Once we point this out, women will wonder why they never saw it before: Zheng Geping is the perfect man. And no, it’s not just because of his rippling biceps — it’s because he’s the consummate gentleman and lover.

Of course, he’s famously taken (he is the doting real-life husband to Hong Huifang), but that just makes him more of an ideal. It also amuses him that in his latest drama, Hand In Hand, Hong plays a mother who pushes her daughter (played by Sora Ma) onto him. “She’s too noble,” he quipped, bursting into laughter.

When it comes to romantic relationships, Zheng has an equally noble set of principles. “I have been sincere and giving in each one of my relationships,” he said. “I am not the kind of person who goes after two women at once. My wife is the last woman I’ve been with!”

He also has one important piece of advice for sustaining a romantic relationship. “Don’t be possessive,” he stated. It’s as simple as that — you don’t own each other, okay?

HE BELIEVES THAT WOMEN WERE MADE TO LOVE

“Perhaps I take after my grandfather — we are men who dote on women. So, my daughter is quite lucky,” he laughed. “I give in to (the women in my family), especially Huifang. I always send flowers to her and to my daughter on Valentine’s Day because I just think that women and flowers go together. It’s a must. And a wife shouldn’t tell her husband, ‘Don’t waste money on flowers.’ If you say that, he’ll never send you flowers again. Once, someone told me she regretted telling her husband that. She said, ‘I said that only once and he never sent me flowers again.’”

HE HAS HAD FIVE GREAT LOVES IN HIS LIFE

“Huifang is the fifth. The first was a puppy-love affair in school, but it didn’t work out. Then, I dated a restaurant manager. After that, a dentist — it didn’t really take off. Then, a Japanese woman, with whom language and distance was a problem. She waited eight years for me! Then, a woman for whom I waited two and a half years — she had another man in her life and it was difficult for her to choose between us. I really liked her. She was a very sporty girl and I was more in love with her than she was with me. She was difficult to understand because she wouldn’t reveal her emotions. In character, she resembled Rui En, but she smiled more and had a warmer personality!”

HE STILL MAINTAINS CORDIAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH HIS EXES

“Every one of my breakups has been amicable,” he said, and he is still in touch with some of his exes. Referring to pseudo-Rui En, he revealed: “She is still single. She was quite ill a while ago and I told Huifang I would take her to see a good Chinese doctor.” What a man.

HE’S 51 — AND STILL ABS-TASTIC

’Nuff said. May Seah

Catch Hand In Hand starts Sep 24, weekdays at 9pm on MediaCorp TV Channel 8.