By Wendy Teo

YOU could say that Julian Cheung and Anita Yuen are an odd couple.

They have been dating for the last 12 years - an anomaly in the world of showbiz where relationships sometimes last only weeks, and marriages days.

But that's not all. Although they have little time to spend with each other, Julian and Anita are still going strong.

And that's despite having 'only spent a total of six months together, in the past five or six years', said Julian.

Working schedules are to blame. The two Hong Kong actors have been busy breaking into the China market in recent years.

But he declined to divulge the secret of the longevity of their relationship, shrugging it off as nothing unusual.

The 32-year-old spoke to The New Paper in his hotel suite when he was here recently to perform at the Youth Concert @ South East.

But getting him to talk about his girlfriend required much prodding. Cheeky Julian deflected most questions with a dimpled grin.

He refused to put a date to any marriage plans and said: 'We are very happy like that. And we're too busy to see each other, much less find the time to get married!'

But everything isn't rosy for the couple all the time.

Anita is known for her quick temper, and Julian admits that their working relationship can get rather combustive.

But while Julian wasn't keen on the girlfriend questions, he cleverly plugged his new album Love & Dream - a compilation of his greatest hits with a few new tracks - by revealing that one of the tracks is actually dedicated to his girlfriend.

The track, aptly entitled Fiancee, wasn't written by Julian, but he felt that the lyrics are fitting considering their relationship.

The song is basically about love away from other people's scrutiny, and how marriage does not necessarily represent eternal devotion to each other.

Clearly, a hint for us to stop asking questions about Anita and him!