Singapore—Bryant Luo first caught Singapore’s attention early in the year, when he jokingly offered himself up as a ‘Boyfriend for Rent,’ right in time for Chinese New Year, when prying aunties and uncles love to ask us if we have a significant other, when we’re marrying our significant other, and when we’ll add to the country’s population with our significant other.
On January 22, Mr Luo put up a Facebook post with a list of the services he offered, along with a very handsome black and white photo, that was eventually shared over 1,400 times.
It was all in good fun, of course, as he wrote at the end of the post, “Guys im only kidding ok! I’m under qualified to be escort lolllll.”
Among his services was a meeting with parents (S$88/ hour with a minimum of 2 hours). And if the girl wanted him to be super charming, she needed to add S$188. Holding hands, hugs and kissing in front of relatives cost an extra S$58, S$68 and S$188 respectively.
And if the girl wanted her relatives to know they had a Built to Order flat it cost an additional S$58 as well.
But there was to be no sex, and Mr Luo would get to keep all the ang bao.
People were so tickled at his “Boyfriend for Rent” post that media outlets all over Asia, and even as far as China and the US carried his story, which he wrote about in another Facebook post on February 19, by which time Singapore was already in the grip of the pandemic, although many, including Mr Luo, were still optimistic that it would not last long.
He wrote, “hope everyone is banded together as one human race and fight this battle together. As it really is the one thing on my mind.
Donate blood if you can, keep life going as usual and keep up the best personal hygiene too.
Like my ‘fame’, this virus is short lived.”
And now, Mr Luo seems to have embarked on a new career in the food business. In his latest Facebook post on Tuesday (Aug 11), Mr Luo wrote that since his Boyfriend for Rent business had “failed and classified as non-essential services” he is now selling Xia-Mian, adding, “No it’s not 下面, it is 虾面.”
Cheekily he adds, “My 虾面 is usually small, but if you pay additional $1 it will get bigger. It is also very tasty when you put it inside your mouth.”
To those who are curious for a taste of his Hokkien prawn mee, he’s inviting everyone, to his family’s “30 years of Prawn Noodles heritage” at “a newly renovated coffeeshop at 713 Clementi West Street 2.”
“Come eat mee, and stand a chance to eat me! #kidding,” he wrote, and is inviting everyone to follow him on Instagram “@thebryantluo as I share mouthwatering details of our preparation daily and shameless selfies of myself. ” -/TISG