Dao shalt be true to thyself

He looked more like a lost boy than a star who gets red-carpet treatment.

Jerry Yan, known to legions of Meteor Garden fans as Dao Ming Si, entered the stage of Le Pavillion in a simple white Bench T-shirt and maong pants, not in some flashy attire one would expect from celebrities of his stature.

That morning, he had just alighted from a private helicopter that took him from his official residence, the Manila Peninsula, to Le Pavillion, site of the presscon Bench, the apparel company of which he is the latest endorser, organized for him.

Yan stood before the mostly female crowd in the presscon, and silently waited for instructions. He waited for Ben Chan, owner of Bench, and the lady translator, to sit on the red sofa right smack at centerstage, before taking a seat himself.

Neither shrieks nor screams of "I love you," seemed to ruffle him. "I’m happy to be here. I hope to have a concert here (he will, at The Fort Open Field with Vic Zhou, sisters Barbi and Dee Xu plus ABS-CBN talents on Nov. 29). And I’m happy to be with Bench," Yan said in Mandarin.

Yan elicited more deafening shrieks when, asked whether he’d agree to model Bench underwear, he flashed an impish smile and replied, "I hope so!"

He adds that he goes for comfortable casual wear, preferring simple lines like those which Bench has.

His preferences mirror what any typical Asian youth goes for: sports, especially basketball and music (he singles out jazz and hiphop).

The language barrier notwithstanding, Yan conveyed warmth and simplicity when he had nothing but good words for 5566, which GMA 7 pitted against F4, the group of which he is acknowledged leader.

"They (5566) are hardworking. I hope they’ll become popular," Yan commented.

F4, Yan would like to believe, has not disbanded.

"We just have different things to do. I like movies, tapings. We (now) have separate careers. (But) if there’s a good movie, a good series, we can get together," he explained.

F4, Yan adds, still remains his favorite artists, bar none.

Yan also expressed admiration for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whom he paid a courtesy call to at Malacañang a few days ago.

"She’s a very good person, an intellectual. I’m so happy she let me meet the kids suffering from cancer," he said, referring to the children under the care of Ricky Reyes, who recently inaugurated a halfway house for them.

Yan showed his simple, gentle side further when he let the audience in on one of his dreams. "I’d like to have a farm and take care of little pets," he revealed.

Those present during the jampacked, strictly-by-invitation presscon, like Gina de Venecia (her son, Philip is also a Bench model), Carlos Agassi and Douglas Quijano, must have walked away, happy that here is a guy unafraid to be himself.