A publicity shot of Ngo Tien Doan dressed by Cong Tri

The reigning Mister International is torn between the harsh world of modeling and the quiet life of a university lecturer.

Doan was crowned Mister International 2008 in Taiwan last November, although many people believe his looks are nothing special.

“It’s his body. Every detail is perfect,” said celebrity photographer Pham Hoai Nam, who has taken many pictures of Doan.

“I’m sure the judges got it right when they picked me. They know the science for deciding whether a body is beautiful or not,” Doan said.

The proportions must be just right, there cannot be any flab, the body must be that of a fully developed adult rather than a boy, and the muscle groups must be toned to perfection.

Doan fits the bill to a tee.

It takes rigorous training to make a male body beautiful, according to Doan, whose ideal of macho beauty is the ancient Greek statue of a discus thrower.

With the widespread popularity of Korean films, music and cosmetics, Doan said, Vietnamese people now tend to associate male beauty with boyish faces and slender bodies.

“Unlike them, I have the looks of a mature, robust, elegant man. I can’t be a gentleman and a ‘hot boy’ at the same time,” Doan said.

He cheerfully admits to one blemish: he only has five visible groups of abdominal muscles, a serious shortcoming when he bares his torso according to those in the know.

“Anyway, decency and prudence are also important in being a man, at least to me,” he said.

Doan is torn between his modeling career and his job as a lecturer at Can Tho University.

“I do think of devoting all my time and effort to one or the other, but it’s too hard to decide which.

“You have to be resolute to reach the top. I’m not content with many things about myself and I know there’s a long way to go if I want to catch up with my foreign competitors body-wise and performance-wise.

“I’ve tried hard to reconcile the two very different careers I’m pursuing. They interrupt and restrict each other. But each has its own appeal and I find it impossible to give up either.

“What annoys me is that many people think my teaching job is a kind of camouflage. Why do they think earning one’s living by displaying the body is superior to using the brain?”

Doan no longer relies on teaching to support himself financially, but he feels naturally drawn to the peaceful academic life and disdains the harsh world of modeling.

“I think I’ve had enough of fame and money. I make enough to live on and my sponsors pay for my clothes, publicity, even manicures.”

He knows the quickest way to become more famous and make more money is by competing abroad as much as possible, but he loves his town and his teaching job, even if he is a distraction for some of his students.

“I want my students to admire my body at home and focus on my knowledge in class!”

Doan started modeling four and a half years ago and has been working exclusively for the Venus Modeling Agency while maintaining his position in the mechanical engineering department of Can Tho University.

In 2007, he won the Mister Physique title at the Manhunt International pageant in South Korea and finished in the top 16 of the competition.

Winning the Mister International title catapulted him into the spotlight. It was the first time ever that a Vietnamese man had won an international beauty contest.

Doan will be in Venezuela from May 15 as one of the judges for Mister Venezuela International, and will appear at the end of a commercial for the event with his Mister International belt and trophy.

He has done a lot of charity work, including setting up the Delta Heart fund to help the disadvantaged in Can Tho City, where he has lived his entire life.

Doan plans to get married at the end of the year, but he’s not saying to whom.

Reported by Hai Mien