By Shree Ann Mathavan

IF YOU bump into Karin Tan Wei Jie on the street, you might mistake him for a girl.

After all, he wears make-up, paints his nails in bright colours, wears women's clothes and jewellery, and his favourite colour is pink.

Even his name, Karin, sounds feminine.

The 20-year-old, who studies materials science at Republic Polytechnic, said he sometimes shops for women's clothes. Their button-down shirts fit his small frame better, Karin said.

Inside his make-up pouch are make-up remover wipes, foundation, eye-liner, concealer, lip balm and hand cream, among other items.

Karin loves pink and proudly shows off a pink Hello Kitty face towel he keeps in his bag.

As the 1.63m, 60kg teen puts it: "Being called pretty is a compliment."

Strangers often come up to him to ask if he is a girl or boy. "Usually I just smile and walk off," he said. On several occasions, men have also tried to prevent him from entering the men's toilet.

Karin recalled with a laugh: "That's happened a few times. I usually just tell them I'm a guy."

He wasn't always this girly, he admitted. It was only last year he decided to experiment with his image after being influenced by the visual kei movement, which characterises the look of several Japanese artistes.

Photos: TNP, Jonathan Choo and Kua Chee Siong

Those in this sub-culture tend to have striking hair, elaborate costumes and make-up.

The end result can be androgynous, though it isn't always, Karin said.

"I admired the way their image and their make-up caught my attention," he added.

"I used to think men wearing make-up was abnormal but after looking at these artistes I thought, if you don't have flawless skin, why not use make-up to help create a better look?"

Looking pretty takes time - Karin takes one to two hours to get ready.

He spends 80 to 90 per cent of his money on make-up, clothes and hair products.

This can go up to about $800 per month, when he has a part-time job of helping out at events. It is much less when he lives on his pocket money of about $200 a month which he gets from his parents.

His parents, both in their 40s, have come to accept his look though they initially objected.

He said: "(My younger brother, 19) doesn't make fun of me, but he thinks dressing up like this is too troublesome."

The gawks and stares from strangers don't bother him either.  

He said: "Some of my guy friends think I'm crazy. But it doesn't bother me as long as I'm happy." There have been some nasty comments and personal attacks from strangers.

Some asked if he is gay.

Karin said he is not. He likes girls and had a girlfriend about three years ago. He is currently single, and his dream girl is Boa, a Korean pop singer.

But his complex grooming ritual can be an obstacle to finding love.

"Most of my female friends tell me they don't want to be with a guy who is so vain," he said.

This article was first published in The New Paper.