HONG KONG, Sept 8 — Shu Qi recently revealed why she has remained resolutely single, despite her reputation as one of the Far East entertainment scene’s most beautiful actresses who isn’t short of male admirers.

According to Hong Kong celebrity gossip site, Jayne Stars, the 40-year-old Taiwanese actress said she once believed that marriage was a waste of a person’s youth and her pessimistic outlook was due to her parents’ own unhappy union.

“The Assassin” actress was quoted as saying: “My mom was someone who was unlucky with marriage. She was really young back then — she gave birth to me when she was 18 years old. I’m 40 now, but she’s only 58. She believed that she wasn’t able to chase her dreams when she was young because she had to raise a child. That’s why my mom thought that marriage will waste your youth and your life away.”

Shu Qi added, however, that seeing her close friends get hitched made her question her previously held beliefs, but maintained the inner conflict that she battles isn’t different from that experienced by many people.

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She said, “Those who are single envy those who are married, but married couples envy those who are single. I would go out to lunch with my friends and when their children come pick them up, I think ‘Wow, it would be great if I had a son this big right now.’”

Despite her high-profile career, Shu Qi has kept her love life on the down low. After a rumoured dalliance with Taiwanese-American singer Wang Lee Hom in 2005 and a reportedly tumultuous relationship with Hong Kong Heavenly King Leon Lai, she has been romantically linked to Hong Kong actor Stephen Fung for the past decade, although she has always denied that they are more than just friends.