When I Was Young

By Melanie Yip, 938 LIVE | Posted: 23 June 2009 2135 hrs

SINGAPORE: More singles in Singapore are leaving it to fate to help find their other half, according to a recent survey conducted by local dating agency Lunch Actually.

While singles in Singapore cited more traditional methods of relying on peers or having family and relatives keep a lookout for that special someone, more have decided not to rush into things, and leaving it to chance.

In a survey conducted by the agency in 2005, only eight per cent said they left it to fate to decide who they will meet. This group has grown since.

Now, 14 per cent of singles surveyed said they do not mind leaving it to fate to find that someone who shares the same values and interests.

Lunch Actually's co-founder, Violet Lim, attributes this mindset change to media influence.

She said: "(This is due to) the movies that we watch, the books that we read. So we feel that it is only right that we meet someone by chance, as opposed to taking a more proactive approach to meeting someone.

"And because so many people are hoping to meet someone by chance, the probability of that happening is very low. So as a result, why many are still single is because they have not met anyone that they want to be involved with."

The same survey also found that single men and women in Singapore have different dating expectations. For example, almost 60 per cent of women say they are open to dating younger men. Half of the male respondents say they are not against dating older women.

In terms of assessing their partners on educational qualification, about 40 per cent of female respondents say they will not date men with lower educational levels, while more than 70 per cent of men say they are fine dating women with higher qualifications.

Men are also more receptive to dating women who earn more than them.

Three-quarters of the women polled say they will not date men who are shorter than them.

- 938 LIVE/yb

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.