With his flamboyant figure, stylish clothes and his penchant for dark-rimmed spectacles, one might think Wei Siang Yu is a fashion designer or even an actor.

WEI SIANG YU: (JP/Stevie Emilia)

Only when he talks about his true passion -- life science and information technology -- with detailed clarity and understanding, will people be convinced that he is a medical doctor with a special affection for technology.

Meet Singapore's love guru, a.k.a. Dr. Love, the key figure in Singapore government's move to deal with the city-state's disturbingly low birth rate.

And the doctor takes his job seriously, spreading love all around, comforting restless minds and hearts anywhere and at anytime.

With a smirk, he refers to Singaporeans' love lives as "a little bit robotic" but adds they are not reluctant to openly discuss their love lives in detail.

"They talk about sensitive issues. I am happy and surprised at the same time. They're really bold," Wei says, nodding and shaking his head almost at the same time as if in disbelief.

"They love to call me, get me on the street, talk to me all the time. When I go out, they come to me and sit me down, asking about anything you can think of."

But passion for his work does not make him feel the questions are nuisances or disruptions to his private life.

"It's no problem, that's the life of Dr. Love. I'm very passionate about my work."

The 39-year-old did not shoot to fame overnight.

The youngest of six children was already in love with everything relating to biology when he was a child.

Proudly, he recalls how his pets, from pythons to monkeys and dogs, freely roamed his home.

He grew up with a desire to become a vet, but then changed his mind, wanting to be a doctor instead, just like his sister.

"I didn't become a vet since I thought that I could communicate better with human beings. I can talk with them. So I became a doctor and I like it," he says.

"But it does not mean I am kind of stuck in this, you know, clinic-based medicine."

Always a top student in his class, Wei graduated with honors from Monash Medical School in Australia back in 1995.

But a conventional career path might have seemed less challenging for his restless and creative mind, making him decide to go against the mainstream.

His decision made him the man he is today, recognized worldwide and featured in media headlines for his creative inventions and works.

The medical inventor of the so-called digital "bio-communication", a term he coined for a blend of information technology and life science. In 2001, he shot to fame when his wireless health application provider Meggpower launched a hormonal monitoring service that would alert a woman when she is due to ovulate through text message.

He was also the first to work with the Dutch Health Promotion Board, designing a wireless sex education platform back in 2002.

Wei says the project was interesting because it targeted many young teenagers who did not read newspapers and did not watch TV, making it hard for them to get news, including on sex education.

On the other hand, he says the teenagers wanted to remain anonymous -- free from the judgments of parents, teachers and even doctors.

"They couldn't walk in into a clinic and ask questions, they want to SMS," he says about the program where doctors personally replied to sex questions by text message. A similar hotline was then also introduced in Singapore.

From then on, his unconventional career path all spells love.

He launched iBoat -- a cruise taking couples founding it difficult to have children, on board a "love boat" to a luxury resort with baby-making as the sole purpose.

He organized a baby-planning camp together with the Singaporean government, started an "edutainment" reality TV show called Dr. Love's Super Baby-Making Show, published Love Airways magazine and set up a Dr.Love hotline.

Running a conventional medical practice was not on his mind: He was fully aware that his busy schedule, constantly on the go and flying to different parts of the world, would not be fair to his patients.

In a way, he continues to serve his "patients" through the airwaves. He says from the Dr. Love hotline alone, he and the panel of hotline doctors receive a few thousands questions each day, from Singapore to Indonesia.

He launched a wireless sex education service in Indonesia last year together with Fiesta Condoms.

"They (Indonesians) asked many things, from being shy (with their partners) to why they couldn't make babies," Wei says. "And we had many doctors on board to personally provide them with the answers."

After recently launching his new multimedia platform Fly Free For Health, which combines health care and lifestyle services, Wei is currently working on the production of Dr. Love's new TV show. Under the plan, the show will be rolled out by one of the biggest TV outfits, Freemantle Media, which produces the Idol series.

Wei says he is currently looking at the show's likely format with Freemantle and how it could come together.

He says the show's idea is to provide a positive multimedia platform allowing people to send text messages or to call him on different issues, not just about sex and its steamy details, but also about relationships and more.

"We're waiting for the format to mature and then we'll take the next step," says the youngest nominee of a 2003 CNN People's Choice Award.

With all his knowledge on love and relationships, it does not take him long to respond to questions on the best recipe for a successful relationship.

He believes that through time, and personal experience, good communication, not looks, is the answer, saying that looks, as well as fantasy, are all about communication.

"I'm not talking just about verbal communication but chemistry between a husband and a wife or between partners, it's really important," says the man, who claims he has had less than 10 girlfriends in his life so far.

And being a self-styled love guru does not make him immortal, and does not mean he himself has a picture-perfect love life and has never experienced a failed relationship.

"I'm single... but I'm seeing someone. I'm flying all the time so location is also a problem for me," he says.

"A relationship is about investing time and energy, so we have to be realistic."

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