He’s not exactly in his hottest form of yet.

However, despite training not being on his current agenda, Simon Chua’s mean-looking physique (his broad shoulders and bulging arms in particular) is still nevertheless capable of generating serious stares wherever he goes.

Watching the 39-year-old instructor on his rounds in the gym at the Young Mens’ Christian Association (YMCA) at Dhoby Ghaut, it’s hard to imagine how this Singaporean bodybuilder was once thin and frail in the days of old.

An average neighbourhood kid who hated studying and loved to monkey around, it was that fateful glance at well-built men pumping weights at a local gym near home that got Simon well and truly settled towards the road to bodybuilding since some two and a half decades back.

Mrs Chua tried her best to help her son out, buying him his first dumbbell – “from NTUC FairPrice”, Simon particularly remembers – when he was just 13.

However, for a complete newbie like Simon, it was not as easy as having the will and the most basic of equipment to start out with.

“I didn’t have the money then to go to the gym and work out or seek any professional advice. My trainings and diets turned out really messy as a result, so my body turned out looking in really terrible shape,” he explained.

Nevertheless, Simon pressed on. He continued workouts at home using the floor and whatever furniture for his set of exercises. During his time at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), he actively participated in swimming and canoeing activities. In addition, he worked as a waiter to support himself.

It paid off. He came in third in his debut at the under-21 National Championship (Lightweight) organised by the then Singapore Weightlifting Federation (now known as the Singapore Bodybuilding & Fitness Federation), held in Sentosa in the year of 1991.

It was a win Simon felt was “a very lucky one”, considering it was his first time competing in an event. It was also a time when bodybuilding gained widespread popularity, which attracted dozens of people, Malays and Chinese inclusive, to partake in the competition itself.

As modest as he may sound, his wealth of golds at subsequent regional competitions – including his recent addition earned at the 2006 Asian Games held in Doha – certainly serves as a sufficient testament to the blood, sweat and tears he’s put into churning out that perfectly chiselled frame for each event, often to showcase it for as little as the 10 minutes he gets on stage.

Just to have a rough measure of how frightening it gets, training commences as early as 5 months before the actual day of the competition. In this period of time, Simon has to part with the sensual delights of tastes in food.

Vegetables and meat have to be eaten literally raw without any form of seasoning. An alarming 30 servings of egg white also become part of a daily dietary routine. It’s an agonising process that frustrates even the most experienced of people, in which Simon admits not being an exception to.

“I really have my wife to thank during this time. She supports me by being patient with my outbursts. She also diets with me together,” he says.

Perhaps that’s one of the many reasons, then, as to why Simon doesn’t hold back on what his stomach craves while he’s currently “off-season”, citing durians, cakes and other local-made sweet desserts as his favourite foods.

Of course, he doesn’t totally slacken up – he does occasionally jog up and down the stairs of his Bedok flat whenever he’s having trouble sleeping.

Going back to the issue on training though, Simon couldn’t help reiterating the importance of proper training in the bodybuilding process. It is a concept that he finds the majority of today’s youngsters are completely unable to grasp.

“Many young hopefuls come into the gym, telling me that they want to look like Rain in a matter of 1 to 2 months. I only know a handful who come down regularly for training; the rest either are not committed, or don’t come back when they fail to see results within the short timelines they give.”

“People nowadays have got to realise that even with trainers and the best equipment, a great figure isn’t obtained overnight. It takes time, and it takes consistency and a correct attitude on the individual’s part. Pizzas and bodybuilding just don’t go hand-in-hand,” he further elaborated.

Words of wisdom, coming from a national icon indeed – it’s for sure that one won’t see any big news of him until he stages his comeback for the 2010 Asian Games, but know that Simon will always be happy and available, training groups of both boys and men to look healthy and to be also like heart-stopping lady magnets in the way he knows it best.