LOOKS like love ain't over yet

Not that fast-rising TVB actress Natalie Tong is about to reconcile with ex-beau Amigo Chui.

For now, she's enjoying her single status, Tong told reporters at a group interview on Friday.

She was here to pick up the Most Improved TVB Female Artiste Award.

Tong, 30, said: "There is a lot of stuff that I'm doing right now, like taking up (lessons) in art and martial arts, amid the tight filming schedules.

"It would be quite bothersome if I had a boyfriend."

She admitted, too, that it was "time for my heart to take a break" before she rushed into anew relationship.

Tong said: "It's not like because I've been hurt and now won't dare to fall in love.

"I believe in destiny. If the time is right, love will come for me."

Tong and Chui, a former TVB host, were in an on-and-off relationship that lasted nearly seven years.

He cheated on her several times, and when they broke up for the final time, Tong told HongKong reporters: "Even before the media reports, I had realised he was cheating on me.

"So I proposed the break-up."

Soon after, Chui's star took a tumble.

Two years ago, his then-girlfriend Elizabete Kwong alleged that he physically attacked her and left bruises on her neck and arms. The pair settled out of court.

Barely a year later, Chui was arrested for drinkdriving, had his license suspended for ninemonths and was fined HK$6,000 (S$940).

TVB then terminated his contract.

The Hong Kong media speculated that Tong had reconciled with Chui after they were spotted together twice in the past two months.

Tong didn't deny the incidents, but told TheNew Paper: "The fact that we can still remain as friends right now is a big leap for me.

"I feel it would have been difficult for me to continue with someone (who had hurt me) in the past."

She added: "But I think it's because I've grown more mature now. I know I can handle our 'new' relationship better.

"That's why we can continue being friends, and also because I know we still care about each other very much.

Her candour with the Singapore media was a far cry from what she wrote in her blog after the Hong Kong paparazzi exposed her dates with Chui in May and last month.

She was also rumoured to be dating TVB colleague Steven Wong.

She wrote in her blog: "As an artist, it would be very painful to have a low emotional quotient (EQ). First were rumours of a love rectangle.

"Now, it's about reuniting with an old flame. As his friend (Chui was not named), I guess I'm used to such reports."

Last December, when Tong went up the stage to receive the Most Improved Female Artiste award at the annual TVB Awards Presentation, she broke down and called out: "Mum, I've done it. You don't have to worry about me anymore."

Her mother died of a heart attack in March 2009.

Tong said: "It was an emotional moment for me because Mum loved me very much and she doted on me.

"But when I was growing up, I was rebellious and deliberately went against her. I just wanted more (attention)."

She added: "I wanted Mum to know that I would be fine from now."

This article was first published in The New Paper.