Do young adults need a dating agency Singapore to see dating success in this modern day society in Singapore?
As most local Singaporeans and permanent residents probably know, SG’s society places a lot of importance on academic performance, and work place success. But even if we were to get rid of those, Singapore still has a very fast pace of life, and the entire environment is not exactly suited for dating for marriage. Most people are just too tired and busy after their work, to actually have a social life if they have not already found a partner from university or polytechnic or earlier. Most who are still single after graduating from their last academic institution they have been to find it very hard to socialize beyond their work place.
Clubbing is generally less popular for both Singaporean men and women in their late 20s or even young 30s, and bars are usually filled with mostly foreigners, so those who are targeting locals will find it difficult. There are some Singaporeans who find love through their religious groups, but this is getting rare, as most are already hitched or attached at these groups.
Some locals use online applications and websites like OKCUPID, COFFEE MEETS BAGEL, TINDER and such. The effectiveness of these are strongly arguable, but what it has going for them is volume of people you can look at within a short period of time. However, many of these apps have most of its features locked behind multiple paywalls, so it is also no longer a ‘free’ alternative. Even though clubbing and bars are also not free, you can do other things other than trying to date while there, but there isn’t on a dating application.
So are dating agencies in Singapore any better than these?
Firstly, we need to ascertain some things first. There are actually two types of dating agencies in Singapore.
The first kind of dating agency is actually one which is what most people think of – they do matchmaking. This is the expensive one.
The second kind of dating agency is actually one where they will do some form of social mingling events or speed dating with supposedly qualified dating prospects. This is usually only for a nominal fee each time.
Are they actually helpful when it comes to helping locals find love?
Generally speaking, the first kind – matchmaking, helps and targets professionals who are usually higher paid and slightly older in their 30s or 40s, as their services cost a decent bit more. This target group happens to usually have quite a busy lifestyle, and so having a dedicated matchmaker can actually potentially help them find love. While its effectiveness may be great, the number of people this type of dating agencies can help is minimal and not widespread due to the intensity of the work required. So I see it as a form of very effective dating help but only affecting a tiny percentage of the population in Singapore.
The second kind of dating agency’s services’ effectiveness is definitely significantly lower, however, organizing a group of 50 people each time is not that difficult. Therefore, they can hold multiple such events per week in Singapore, and be able to impact lots of people and potentially create couples, though percentage wise of success is low. They are volume based.
So do I think that young adults in Singapore need the help of a dating agency to find love and get into a relationship? I think it is definitely something that they should look into if they are well past the age of academic graduation, are single, have a busy work life, and yet want to find someone suitable to start a family soon.
There are also alternatives in Singapore such as local escort agencies or even rent a platonic friend agencies nowadays in Singapore. However, those would be for pure rental reasons, and definitely something with a short term dating mindset.