SINGAPORE — Donnie Yen is the perfect husband. Known for having a reputation for being a loving family man, the actor extolled the values of listening to the missus yesterday at the press event announcing the celebrity couple’s status as Resorts World Singapore’s (RWS) brand ambassadors for 2016. The Ip Man star has been married to former beauty queen Cecilia Wang for 13 years and he shared the secret to sustaining the romance: Simply go with whatever his wife says.

“Happy wife, happy life,” he said, adding since women are more considerate and thorough in their decision-making, it makes sense to listen to them.

This philosophy extends to their holidays together. The couple revealed that while they love travelling and exploring different cities and resorts together, it is Wang who does all the planning.

“I trust her and the choices, whether it’s where to go or what to eat,” said the 52-year-old.

He said Wang simply makes better choices, saying how every time they eat out and order different dishes, Wang’s dishes would always taste better than his and he’d end up eating from her plate.

“She taught me a lot about the enjoyment of life. When we first met, I didn’t even know how to drink wine. She taught me how to (appreciate it),” he added.

Wang, the director of their artiste management company Bullet Films Productions, quipped that Yen didn’t have “a normal childhood” as he didn’t have time for leisure activities, such as swimming, because martial arts took up so much of his time growing up.

“And he’s a workaholic,” she added.

Indeed. After Ip Man 3, which is in cinemas here, Yen will be seen in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny, the English language sequel to the 2000 Ang Lee film; and of course, his much hyped-up role in the Star Wars movie, Rogue One, which is part of the new Star Wars Anthology series.

Yen admitted that it is hard to find time to spend with the 
family due to the demands of the industry (and has had to turn down attractive projects).

For the filming of Rogue One, for example, Yen had to spend five months in London. Although Wang did visit him on set with their children, Jasmine, 12, and James, eight, such visits were rare as they didn’t want to get in the way of filming.

Although Yen’s kids are bigger Star Wars fans than they are Ip Man fans, the box office results here at least shows that the kung fu grandmaster is more popular than Han Solo and Rey combined. So might we see an Ip Man attraction at Resorts World Sentosa anytime soon?

“I think that would be fantastic,” enthused Yen. “We should bring that idea up to RWS.”

That may just be a fantasy, but Yen had one small suggestion for the integrated resort when it came to dining there: “Have good Cantonese-styled wanton noodles, or a cha chaan teng (Hong Kong-styled teahouse) — that would be wonderful.”