THE BIRTH OF ManSA

“Mansa” is a Mandinka (one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa) word meaning "king of kings". It sounds similar to "Mensa", which is the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world. So I thought it would be a befitting abbreviation to our group of Manhunt (Man) Singapore (S) Alumni (A), comprising of Manhunt Singapore finalists both past and present, who being the embodiment of both brawn and brains, are truly deserving to be regarded as kings of kings! So that in a nutshell is how the alumni name “ManSA” was born (http://www.facebook.com/westcoastboy77#!/groups/247013281994737/).

Many people, including our former and current winners and finalists themselves when I approached them previously to join the alumni, have often approached me with the question, “You were neither a former contestant, nor are you one of the event organizers, so what was it that made you decide and why would you be so interested and emotionally invested in the creation of this Manhunt Singapore Alumni Facebook group and blog?” To put those inquisitive minds to rest, I thought I’d address this curiosity in my very first entry for our ManSA blog.

Hopefully I’m not mistaken, but I believe back in 1988, Manhunt Singapore is the FIRST ever male beauty pageant created not just locally but globally as well! I mean, we were here long before USA’s Bravo Channel’s “Manhunt: The Search For America's Most Gorgeous Male Model”, Hong Kong TVB’s “Mr Hong Kong”, India’s “Gladrags Manhunt Contest”, other local pageants “Mister Singapore”, “New Urban Male”, “Singapore Calendar Guys”, or even local magazine competitions “Cleo’s 50 Most Eligible Bachelors” and “8 Days’ Shirtless Guy Search” were even heard of!

Although I was not even remotely involved in the creation process, nor was I a participant in the competition, somehow being a supporter of the competition from its very start, I still feel a sense of pride that as tiny as we are as a little red dot on the global map here in Singapore, we actually could made a difference by pioneering the birth of the male beauty pageant, offering equal opportunity to men to finally be able to compete in the world of beauty pageants that has long been dominated by the fairer sex, and redefining the image of the ideal as well as desirable man in line with our changing era.

 It was also extremely heartening to see how several contestants and winners from the earlier years of competitions continue on to carve out an illustrious and successful career for themselves in the entertainment scene (by the likes of Zack Zainal, Benedict Goh, Aaron Aziz, and of course, multiple Star Awards winner Tay Ping Hui, just to name a few) or in the sports arena (where National bodybuilders Adrian Tan and Kevin Chiak, have done us proud winning the Mr Singapore title in 2006 & 2011 and 2010 respectively). It gives me hope that someday, our Manhunt Singapore contestants and winners could achieve greater heights, just as former female beauty pageant contestants and winners from Miss Hong Kong such as Cherie Chung (1980), the late Barbara Yung (1982), Cally Kwong (1982 1st Runner-Up). Maggie Cheung (1983 1st Runner-Up), Kathy Chow (1985), Chingmy Yau (1987), Elizabeth Lee (1987), Michele Monique Reis (1988 Winner), Monica Chan (1989 Winner), Anita Yuen (1990 Winner), Amy Kwok (1991 Winner), Ada Choi (1991 2nd Runner-Up), Kenix Kwok (1993), Maggie Cheung Ho Yee (1994), Charmaine Sheh (1997 2nd Runner-Up), Myolie Wu (1999 2nd Runner-Up), Miss World’s Aishwarya Rai (1994 Winner) and Priyanka Chopra (2000 Winner), and even former Gladrags Manhunt 1995 1st Runner-Up Dino Morea and 1999 1st Runner-Up John Abraham have gone on to become international superstars in the Asia and Bollywood entertainment scene. And when that day is here, it would be so great if they would hold their awards up high on stage, and not be embarrassed of their male beauty pageant past, but instead proudly thank Manhunt Singapore for being the starting point of their journey to stardom!

Having always been a huge fan of star-making shows, such as American Idol which was integral in the discovery and grooming of Grammy nominees and winners Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry, Jordin Sparks, Adam Lambert and even Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, it always delight me when I see past American Idol alumni showing up on future seasons of the show to mentor new contestants, becoming buddies with other past contestants and winners, even across seasons, having shared similar experiences through the show, and proudly acknowledge being part of the American Idol alumni family even as their career successes bloom.

In my personal hopes to cultivate a similar culture amongst our Manhunt Singapore past and present contestants and winners, the idea of starting an alumni group popped into my head. Not only could past and present contestants get a common platform to mingle with one another, past year winners and contestants could also offer advice, support and encouragement to their younger counterparts as well. And as suggested by some alumni members, leisure outings could be organized to build better camaraderie amongst the alumni too!

In addition, to compliment the alumni group, with the starting of this new blog, I would also be able to provide write-ups of new events featuring Manhunt Singapore contestants, personal interviews with alumni members past and present, as well as catch up with past winners and finalists through “Where Are They Now” styled special feature articles, which I am sure fellow fans of the competition like myself would be greatly interested in!

However, my efforts in starting up this alumni group for Manhunt Singapore finalists and winners past and present have not been without its fair share of joys and disappointment as well. While finalists and winners from the latest two years of competitions in 2011 and 2012 have been friendly, receptive, appreciative and even enthusiastic about being invited to join the alumni, on the other hand, with the exception of a few, most of the winners and contestants from previous years of the competition have declined when asked if they were interested in being part of the alumni, citing the reason that for them the competition is in the past already, and they have since moved on with their lives, out of the media. Even though the rejection was saddening, but we respect their decision not to join the alumni, and hope that in time to come, they may change their minds and be willing to be part of the Manhunt Singapore Alumni family again.

All in all, I have only the best of hopes and intentions for this alumni group and blog. But I cannot do it alone. So I hope with the blessings and any possible form of support and assistance from the organizers and contestants past and present, we’d be able to make this alumni and blog a huge success in time to come!

Cheers,

Jonathan Sung