Tell me about The Last Alpha Male.

 

I wanted to get into blogging. So the best way to learn about it was to set up a blog, in my opinion. I have been writing columns before blogs existed and became sort of like a viral platform for a lot of influencers. I was writing for The Straits Times and 8Days—and these were traditional print columns. So I thought, “hey, how would my voice change? If I made it a bit more casual and if I took it online and if I made it digital?”. So I created a blog just to understand how it works and how to use WordPress. I want to see what it was like to maintain my own content management system (CMS), and I had a lot of fun doing it because it felt so liberating. I could come up with ideas and did not need to run them through the newsroom or an editor or a sub-editor—I could basically be responsible for it. I wrote pop culture topics, fluff pieces and conversational pieces on what was happening back in the day. Which felt cathartic because I could express myself without being filtered by editors above me. I stopped updating it, mainly because I was preoccupied with other work like my day job. By the end of it, I felt like I had understood the platform properly. 

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What is your take on men’s fashion and grooming in Singapore?

 

I think Singaporean men are very aware of how they are perceived and how they are seen but are not ready to take risks. We cannot argue that the exposure is not there, and we cannot argue that the influences online are not there; anyone with a Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn account can see what real influences dress like and what men in other countries dress like. However, I think Singaporean men’s mindsets are more towards fashion is still very traditional. It borders on the conservative and people are more concerned with how they are perceived. I think what is essentially setting up Singapore's economy and what is basically holding up the foundations of Singapore’s society is the financial institutions. We are very big investors and are one of the top investment hubs in the world. And that business is always seen as very traditional and conservative. So people are more concerned with blending in rather than standing out. In my opinion, Singapore men’s fashion sense is very basic. It’s very “I just want a white shirt that is crisp and a pair of polyester pants and a dark blazer”. They do not want to stand out because then they would be perceived as being flashy and not to be taken seriously. They do not see fashion as a way of expression. And that is where we are today. They are not not keen on styling our grooming. 

 

Grooming is in a much better place these days, compared to seven or eight years ago—when they were less exposed to what is good skincare, what is a nice haircut, and what is a nice pair of frames to go with the shape of your face? I think these foundations of grooming are gradually being shared and talked about among men. Maybe they have very helpful girlfriends, wives or partners updating them and telling them “hey try this”. They are basically more open now. On any given day when you walk into Sephora, you would see a good bunch of men shopping for men’s products. So I'm very encouraged to see that they are more open to trying out skincare regimens using a toner, moisturiser and sunblock. And they are looking better, generally guys in their 20s are a much better groomed bunch of people than guys in their 40s, and it's quite obvious.