CQ-Getting date and time as raw strings using xtype="datetime"

I am pretty new to CQ and I am adding a new field to an existing form. I want to accept a date and time from the component dialog as strings. If I use xtype="datefield" and xtype="timefield" separately, I can get the date and time as strings just the way I need it. But, the UI looks bad and non-intiutive with two separate fields placed one below the other.

dialog.xml:

<startDate
    jcr:primaryType="cq:Widget"
    fieldLabel="Event Start Date"
    fieldDescription="Select a date "
    emptyText="Event start date "
    name="./startDate"
    format="d/m/Y"
    xtype="datefield" />
<startTime
    jcr:primaryType="cq:Widget"
    fieldLabel="Event Start Time"
    fieldDescription="Select a time "
    emptyText="Event start time "
    name="./startTime"
    xtype="timefield" />

Java code in controller:

@Property(path = "startDate")
private String startDate;

@Property(path = "startTime")
private String startTime;

If I use xtype="datetime", the UI looks the way I like but the value is converted to UTC into a Date field.

dialog.xml

<startDateTime
   jcr:primaryType="cq:Widget"
   fieldLabel="Start Date &amp; Time"
   name="./startDateTime"
   dateFormat="d/m/Y"
   xtype="datetime"/>

Java code in controller:

@Property(path = "startDateTime")
private Date startDateTime;

This is of no use to me as I need the date and time as raw strings, the way they were entered. The valueAsString option looked promising but does not give me date and time as strings. How can I achieve this?

Thanks in Advance