Some view it as the male equivalent of Miss Singapore Universe and, like its counterpart, Manhunt Singapore does not appear to be ageing well.
Where it used to be beamed to a global audience and winners such as Zack Zainal and Benedict Goh went on to be TV stars, the 22-year-old pageant is now held in clubs or malls and none of the winners in the past seven years has become a household name.
This year's finals, held at The Heeren in March, also led some to wonder if the contest has traded class for crass.
During the question-and-answer segment, one contestant was asked: 'Would you mind if your girlfriend is more experienced than you in sex?'
Undergraduate Teo Yu Hao, 21, who went on to win the title, was made to name three women he would bed if Armageddon loomed tomorrow.
Asked about the choice of topic, Dinesh Sujanani, 37, account director of Punch! Events & Promotions which staged the pageant finals this year and last, says: 'I just wanted to lighten up the mood and have fun. It is boring to keep talking about politics and current affairs.'
Patricia Ng, founder of beauty and grooming company Glamour Beaute Consultancy, was more baffled by the choice of location.
'Pageants used to be prestigious black-tie affairs. Now they have been downgraded,' says the 37-year-old, who is coaching Rachel Kum, Singapore's representative at the Miss Universe finals to be held at The Bahamas next month.
Despite being taken off the air last year, the Miss Singapore Universe finals was held at Shangri-La Hotel's Island Ballroom in May.
A lacklustre venue may give a pageant a poor image and this might not draw quality contestants, says Ng, adding: 'Most local pageants are just a crowd-drawing tactic by shopping malls and pubs.'
Indeed, this year's Manhunt reportedly drew about 100 hopefuls, compared to 260 in 1989.
But Sujanani says such contests go down well with retail sponsors and the crowd.
'Sponsors are generally quite tired of the usual fashion shows and in-store promotions, so they will put their money in something more exciting and commercially viable, which we did with the Manhunt contest this year.'
A check with The Heeren shows that traffic jumped by 35 per cent during the event.
HUNK FEST
Started in 1987 by Singaporean Alex Liu, the Manhunt brand branched into a global franchise with Manhunt International in 1993. It aims to 'search for the best male model', according to its website.
It has drawn contestants from at least 40 countries for the past 10 years, up from the 25 that took part in the first international leg in 1993.
The finals are held in a different city each year - this year's event will take place in China, South Korea or Turkey in October or November.
The Manhunt International website states that the finals was televised worldwide in 1995, 1997 and 2006.
While winners of the international finals used to go home with US$100,000 (S$145,000) worth of cash and prizes, the booty for last year's winner was US$10,000 cash and a modelling contract worth US$30,000.
The value of prizes for the local leg has also shrunk.
Zack Zainal (see Page 14), the 1989 Manhunt Singapore winner who went on to build a successful career in hosting, acting and modelling, recalls bagging $40,000 worth of prizes including a $5,000 cheque, a motorcycle and a $10,000 wardrobe.
This sounds like the jackpot compared to the $16,000 worth of prizes including the $2,000 cash that this year's winner Teo went home with.
Manhunt is not the only male pageant in town that has seen waning sponsorship.
Liu, 49, declined to be interviewed for this story but another pageant organiser says the recession has led sponsors to slash their budgets by 20 to 30 per cent.
Alan Sim, 37, president of the Mister Singapore Organisation, estimates that such events cost at least $50,000 to organise.
'I just wish the big guns are more generous with their budget and give us a chance to prove that our guys are worthy of their brand image,' he says.
He has organised the Mister Singapore and Mister International pageants since 2000 and 2006 respectively and counts male grooming company Thomas D'esthetique, fitness portal sgfitness.com and beauty services group Fabulous Group among his current sponsors.
The annual event, which susses out a 'good-looking and modern ambassador for Singapore', used to be held at clubs such as the defunct Venom in Pacific Plaza.
Since 2007, however, the finals have been staged at Braddell Heights Community Club after rental fees at The Pavilion, a glass theatrette at Far East Square, went up.
The venue for this year's finals, which will be held at the end of this month, has yet to be confirmed.
Industry insiders estimate that there are fewer than five male pageants here, including Mr World Singapore, The Best Model Of The Year and Singapore Calendar Guys.
This number excludes contests held at the varsity level and commercial contests seeking product spokesman.
Former Miss Singapore World Teo Ser Lee, 43, who owns etiquette consultancy Protocol Academy, thinks organisers are in a Catch-22 situation.
'If you can't find good sponsors and offer good prizes, you won't be able to attract quality contestants. And if you are unable to attract good contestants, big sponsors will not be prepared to contribute cash or good prizes.
'Then media publicity will also be jeopardised because it's no longer attractive to cover the event.'
Bad press has not helped either.
Allegations of sexual impropriety have been levelled at the Manhunt contest, for instance.
In 1994, German Manhunt contestant Christian Klein accused Liu of molest. The case was dropped by the police.
A year later, another Manhunt winner, Singaporean Andrew Poh, made a police report that Liu had sexually harassed him. No action was taken after a police investigation.
Still, some are optimistic that male pageants can be restored to its 1990s heyday where a crown was a ticket to stardom.
Joshua Luke, 33, chief image consultant of Signature Image International, says a mindset change is key.
The consultancy and training centre trains would-be beauty queens and conducts grooming and beauty classes.
'We need to educate people here that joining and winning a pageant is an honour. They should see that winners can become role models through their fund-raising efforts and community service,' he says.
'Male pageants will survive as there will always be those who want to enjoy the experience or give back to the community.'
Julian Hee, 31, was crowned winner of Manhunt Singapore 2002/2003 and Mr Singapore World 2003. The bachelor is now a freelance actor who shuttles between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur for his latest TV project with a network there.
Looking at the shots of himself on the computer screen after the photo shoot, Hee, Urban's cover boy this week, heaves a sigh.
'I'm getting fat,' he says.
His lean and toned physique would draw envy from most men but the 1.81m-tall former model says it is a far cry from his prime seven years ago.
Then, he had a 'mad' regimen to stay in shape.
'Almost everything was boiled - boiled unpolished rice, boiled vegetables, boiled meat. I did not use any oil during cooking, only water to prevent sticking,' he recalls.
'There were minimum carbs and fats, no desserts, alcohol or durians. I was so moody then that I could bite off someone's head.'
No surprise that he took the
Mr Healthy Lifestyle award at the 2002/2003 Manhunt finals, along with the crown.
He joined the pageant because he wanted to travel.
'I was a poor business administration student in MDIS (Management Development Institute of Singapore) then, living from hand to mouth with two dogs to feed and rent to pay so I thought winning some cash won't hurt,' he says.
'I joined mainly with the hope of winning free accommodation and air tickets.'
The international leg of Manhunt that year was held in Shanghai.
When he learnt that the Mr World finals in 2003 would be held in London, he signed up for that as well.
The international finals was shown on TV and while he was not placed, he caught the eye of local production company Dream Forest.
He auditioned for and landed the role of a rookie cop in the Channel 5 police drama Heartlanders III.
Since then, he has acted in more than 15 TV productions on Channels 5 and 8 and can currently be seen in Red Thread, a Channel 5 soap starring Adrian Pang.
The pageant scene may have its dark side.
'I got so many namecards from both men and women and 'call me' phone numbers that I didn't know whether to feel flattered or insulted,' he says of his experience at the Manhunt International finals in Shanghai.
But he does not regret the ride.
'I entered the pageants to have fun and further my career and the experience also exposed me to different cultures,' he says.
'I learnt that Barbados is not part of Africa and told other contestants that Singapore is not part of China.'
Zack Zainal, 43, won the second Manhunt Singapore in 1989. Now the vice-president of group security at Emirates Airline, he lives with his wife and four children, aged eight to 16, in Dubai.
Winning the title made a world of difference to the then undergraduate and part-time model.
Besides the $5,000 cash and $35,000 worth of prizes, he recalls: 'My modelling jobs jumped 300 per cent and the quality of jobs also improved.'
From small catwalk shows that paid $60 a day, he went on to do print ads for brands such as Rolex in the region and earned $150 for an hour's work.
'There was so much publicity for Manhunt back then - The Straits Times, The New Paper, you name it. Winning made me recognisable.'
He signed up as a part-time model with Carrie Models while studying in National University of Singapore.
But he knew the lifespan of a model was short, so he joined the police force after graduation in 1990.
He continued to dabble in TV, making his name as both a host and actor: His most memorable role was that of a rich baddie in the first local Malay soap opera, Gelora, which aired in 1998.
He left showbusiness six years ago to join Emirates Airline and was posted to Dubai. 'I hardly get recognised on the streets nowadays but I do get approached sometimes for an autograph,' he says.
'My 13-year-old son, Benjamin, once commented that my fans are usually makcik (aunties) and pakcik (uncles).'
He quips: 'The only female admirers I know of are my wife, my daughter and my sisters.'
He has his wife Alifah Abidin, 43, to thank for his fame.
Two months before the finals, Zack's 54-year-old mother died of ill health.
Impending school exams also made it tough for him to split his time between rehearsals and his books.
Add to that a bout of food poisoning five days before the finals and he was ready to throw in the towel.
'Alifah (then his girlfriend) convinced me to stay on. She also said that my mother had supported me all the way when she was still around.'
Now a housewife, Alifah looks after their three sons and a daughter in Dubai.
Zack is not worried about his children harbouring pageant dreams.
'It is a character-building exercise. Everything in life is a challenge,' he says.
'We should always give new things a try.'
Teo Ser Luck (right), 40, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth and Sports, and Transport, was the first runner-up in Manhunt University 1990
Then an accountancy undergraduate at Nanyang Technological Institute, he gave a politcally correct answer during the interview segment of the first varsity pageant and said women should not be confined to just one place.
'The women in NUS and NTI (now NTU) have very high aspirations and they should chase their dreams and contribute to Singapore,' he said.
He obviously walked the talk. Today, the father of two is a rising politcal star who was made Mayor of North East District in May. He is also a fitness buff who has competed in triathlons, including the Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore event in March, where he was ranked among the top 10 per cent.
Benedict Goh, 39, won Manhunt Singapore in 1994. He is the chief client officer of lifestyle and interior design company Fide Living and has been married to an air stewardess for five years. They have no children.
The 1994 Manhunt Singapore competition was a huge upset for hot favourite Goh, then a civil engineering student at National University of Singapore. Another engineering student, Alvin Ng, took the crown instead.
The Straits Times reported that there were 'audible groans of disappointment' when he was announced the first runner-up.
But the distress was short-lived.
When Ng was called up for national service just before the Manhunt International finals, Goh, a model at the time, ascended the throne.
At the finals in Brisbane, he was named fourth and also won the Mr Personality sash.
To detractors who label pageants a flesh parade, he says: 'I talked myself out of (feeling bad) over the sleaze bit and told myself that it was just a personality contest.'
So confident was he that the former varsity debater fretted more over a dance sequence and how he looked in swimming trunks than the dreaded interview segment.
'I am confident of my brains and looks. I had a degree so people can't say that I don't have a lot of grey matter.'
Indeed, he dazzled the judges and the crowd when he gave an articulate answer on how women did not make worse drivers than men.
He signed on with the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation in 1995 and is best remembered as the host of Pyramid Game, which he helmed for two years.
He has also chalked up roles in eight TV shows, but is often slammed for his deadpan acting.
These criticisms continue to dog him in his supporting role in The Ultimatum, a Channel 8 drama serial starring Zoe Tay that ends next week.
He remains unfazed though.
'I can't stop people from saying what they want. I'm more pragmatic and optimistic. I don't wallow in depression because of a bad article.'
His drink-driving charge, for which he was jailed three weeks in 2007, earned him more bad press.
But he took on a new role soon after his release: as an anti-drink driving advocate.
'I think people initially thought of me as a convict but... it's not murder, it's not rape,' he says. 'People forgive and forget quite easily and work went on as usual soon after.'
Fame, after all, is a double-edged sword and he chooses to look on the bright side.
He does not consider himself a celebrity but 'more of a media person'.
Still, he concedes: 'It helps that I am a familiar face. It opens doors for me, especially when I meet clients for the first time.'
This article was first published in The Straits Times.
