Pic/ EMILIA JOHARI Everyday, I have to get up and make up. - Daniel, on the downside of being a teen idol I think Gere and Nicholson look like they are great to get along with. For a guy, it's important to have style and an energy about you. - Daniel Chan, on his choice of two older men as his favourite pretty boy

Who's a pretty boy then?

BY YONG SIEW FERN Apr 30, 1998 IS it jealousy? Is it political correctness? Whatever it is, when you ask Daniel Chan - one of the hottest pretty boys of Hongkong pop at the moment - who he thinks is the greatest pretty boy of all time, he says Richard Gere. Then, the new Hongkong Heavenly King volunteers another name: Jack Nicholson. Huh? "I think Gere and Nicholson look like they are great to get along with. For a guy, it's important to have style and an energy about you," he says, explaining his choice of two mature, rugged men. Is he missing the point of "pretty boy"? Never mind. What's more important is, what does he think of Titanic heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio? "He's okay. Ya, okay." Hmm. Maybe we were wrong about Daniel. At 23 - the same age as DiCaprio - he may look like a sickeningly sweet dreamboat to teenage girls, but he can certainly tell the men from the boys. Daniel himself is the ultimate combination of glossed lips, fair babyface skin and boyish grin. But he hates powder on his face, something that can't be helped in his line of work - which is singing and a bit of acting, by the way. "I like jeans and T-shirts. Best to wear slippers, too. But every day, I have to get up and make up. Very troublesome." Of course, there are days, he admits, when he wakes up, looks in the mirror at his today-not-so-great face and wonders: "Why am I like that?". But nothing a face wash and some bright clothes can't fix. He has quite a good singing voice, too. You just wish he could relax more when he chats. So, besides wearing make-up, what is the most difficult part of being a teen idol? "Having to mix with different types of people," he says. How is that a problem? "Some are not easy to get along with." Daniel is in town to meet a lot of people - mostly fans - and promote his second Mandarin album, Feeling Close to the Heart. He'll be back again on June 19 as "The Great Singapore Sale ambassador" to sing a couple of songs at the launch. No joke: He will be plugging Singapore as a tourist spot overseas during the sale month. Shopping - finally a topic that will get him talking freely? "When I buy clothes, I buy them by five-figure sums," he said, referring to his habit of spending thousands of Hongkong dollars on one garment. His most impulsive buy to date? "A sweater for HK$16,000 (about $3,200). Now, I've learnt my lesson. No more. Because you only wear a piece of clothing a few times in our line of work." Feeling Close to my Heart is in stores.