Even as dating apps bloom, some singles still say yes to matchmakers
Dating apps may have become an increasingly attractive platform for singles, but the idea of joining a dating agency and enlisting a professional matchmaker to help find that special someone still strikes a chord with some in Singapore.
By Tang See Kit, Channel NewsAsia Posted 15 Feb 2017 20:22 Updated 15 Feb 2017 20:45
SINGAPORE: It was about four years ago when Mr John Gan* first thought about settling down after seeing his close friends get hitched and start their own families.
But as thoughts of leaving the singles club emerged, the 33-year-old nurse realised that a dwindling social circle stood in his way. Having spent “little time and effort on dating in the past”, the Singaporean decided it was time to change things.
Taking on a proactive approach to make new friends, Mr Gan signed up with dating agencies and also gave free dating apps a go. But the endless swiping of profiles and little opportunities for real-life interaction on the latter proved to be an underwhelming experience and Mr Gan opted to “go aggressive” on speed-dating events organised by local matchmaking agencies.
“I was quite nervous before my first speed-dating event so I went to research what these events are like and read the book ‘Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus’ to prepare myself,” he recalled. “After going a few more times, I slowly got the hang of it. It can be tiring and disappointing if you don’t meet someone … but if you don’t try, you will never succeed.”
Mr Gan is not alone. While dating apps have become an increasingly attractive platform to seek love and friendship, there are still plenty of singles in Singapore who prefer joining a dating agency or enlisting the help of a professional matchmaker.
According to a spokesperson from the Social Development Network (SDN), there has been “continued need and demand for offline dating platforms” even as the growing variety of dating apps and online platforms provide a convenient avenue for tech-savvy and busy singles to connect.
Last year, the number of events organised by the 13 dating agencies accredited by SDN rose 23 per cent to 642, compared with 524 events in 2015. Correspondingly, the event participation rate in 2016 increased by 21 per cent to 15,393 participants from a year ago.
According to local agencies that Channel NewsAsia spoke to, this demand indicates that while mobile-based apps such as Tinder have gaained a tremendous following among the younger generation, they have had limited success in courting singles above 30 years old who tend to prefer offline dating.
DATING OFFLINE
At GaiGai – the matchmaking arm of homegrown dating app Paktor that offers both event-based and one-on-one private dates – the mean age of a member is between 30 and 31 years old, said co-founder Alex Tam. The average Paktor user is 25 years old and below.
In fact, the offline arm was set up two years ago to meet user demands that Paktor – despite its rising popularity – was struggling to meet.
“We noticed there were some Paktor users who have not been very successful. There are those who can’t seem to find a match or convert matches into dates, and there are some who are too busy to swipe through profiles… so we thought maybe we could curate this process for these groups of people and turn it into actual dates,” said Mr Tam. GaiGai, which means “going out” in Cantonese, now has a member base of 12,000 people, making it one of the biggest dating agencies locally.
(L to R) Ms Anisa Hassan, managing director of It's Just Lunch Asia,; Mr Alex Tam, co-founder of GaiGai; Ms Michelle Goh, founder of CompleteMe. (Photo: Tang See Kit)
Ms Michelle Goh, founder of events-based agency CompleteMe, described older singles as being more ready to commit and settle down. Hence dating events, which allow for face-to-face interaction, have been viewed as a better way for singles to find like-minded individuals.
“Given that they have to put in the effort to find an event to attend, register, make payment and then dress up for the occasion, these are people who tend to be genuinely looking for someone, rather than having a ‘see see, look look’ attitude,” said Ms Goh, who added that the number of active participants for CompleteMe’s 150 events annually has “increased steadily to almost 3,000” in 2016.
Over at It’s Just Lunch Asia, it is the guarantee of privacy and a human touch in its matchmaking process that have ensured sustained brisk business. According to managing director Anisa Hassan, the agency now has an active member base of 5,000 people and attracts an average of 800 new customers a year.
Apart from singles, the agency also has divorced or widowed clients who are willing to take a second chance at love but remain hesitant about putting themselves out there. “There are more people who are divorced and are stepping forward. They are the ones who want a real person whom they can build a relationship with and are wary of going online,” Ms Hassan said.
The agency, first launched in Singapore 13 years ago and which matchmakes professionals over a meal, also has a concierge-like service which involves Ms Hassan “headhunting” beyond the company’s database for the perfect match. For this elite service, the women pay S$5,000 for five dates while the men have to fork out S$10,000 for 10 dates.
“This started in 2014 when some of my male clients approached me to help them date more exclusively. These are managing directors or CEOs who wanted me to go out and be their ears and eyes on the ground… now this is a human-intensive process that dating apps cannot do. While apps are there to disrupt, dating still requires the personal touch. We may be low-tech but we are high-touch.”
A profiling session at dating agency It's Just Lunch. (Photo: Tang See Kit)
STAYING ATTRACTIVE
Some dating agencies have also taken on what it calls an "activity-based approach" to event ideas – a move aimed at wooing singles who remain intimidated by formal dates with strangers and fun-loving twenty-somethings.
“Every time we conduct an event, our main objective is to make it a casual platform for people to meet,” Mr Tam from GaiGai said. While it has held large-group matchmaking events, the agency prides itself on “out-of-the-box” date ideas such as baking or terrarium workshops, hawker food trails where participants follow a designated route on cars provided by Uber and weekend getaways.
“We want to shift away from formal speed-dating events – something that the younger folks don’t seem to like. Instead of coming in with the idea of finding a life partner, come to make friends,” Mr Tam added.
CompleteMe, which has made its name in organising speed-dating events for the past seven years, has also introduced board gaming, karaoke and most recently, volunteering sessions to its mix. Such activities can serve as a much-needed distraction and help participants to “be less stressed out about having to impress one another”, Ms Goh said. Thus far, interest in these activity-based events has been strong, with participants mostly in their 20s and early 30s.
Ms Eileen Syn* has gone for several activity-based events, with the most recent being a singles trip to Malaysia, over the past two years and deem them as more enjoyable than speed-dating events. The 30-year-old who works in compliance, first went on speed-dating when she was 21 years old and remembered the sit-down event as being “awkward”.
“I was definitely hesitant at first because you don’t know what to expect but I thought I should be open-minded and just try. At least for these events, you get to meet people who most likely have the same interests or hobbies as you and if you don’t manage to meet anyone, you can still have fun,” she told Channel NewsAsia.
GaiGai's recent event at the S.E.A Aquarium attracted nearly 200 singles. (Photo: GaiGai)
WOOING TECHNOLOGY: YAY OR NAY
But even so, Ms Syn admits to feeling “jaded” from the dating events and has recently signed up with mobile-based app Coffee Meets Bagel where she has had a few dates with “more like-minded individuals”.
And with online dating platforms here to stay as an alternative, some dating agencies have sought to deal with the challenge of disruption head-on by rolling out their own apps. In the case of Lunch Actually, it has launched LunchClick and e-dating platform eSynchrony.
“When we first started the business, we knew that it wasn't going to be just lunch dating… Our vision from day one was very clear. We wanted to be the most effective dating service (and this) might mean different things for different people. And we also realised that it might change,” co-founder Violet Lim told 938Live’s “On The Record”.
“In the last 12 years, the Internet became a lot more pervasive and smartphones did too. We knew we had to move with the times, and we were, and still are very okay to create products or services that might even compete with our own existing products … Businesses are being disrupted every single day. If you still want to be around, you need to constantly innovate and you have to constantly disrupt yourself,” she added.
But while some new ventures have taken off, others have been less of a success.
In 2015, homegrown matchmaking agency Society W launched its own dating app called Blindfold. The app, accredited by SDN, offers a free daily match curated based on a proprietary algorithm. Profile pictures on the app are also blurred to ensure anonymity.
While the free app managed to chalk up five-digit downloads within a year, Ms Tse decided to call it quits last September, citing high costs as one of the key reasons.
“The app was weighing on our cost benefit and it was taking up too much of my time away from my core business of matchmaking,” said the Singaporean who founded Society W in 2011. “We did get quite good traction but there was the realisation that apps require a lot of marketing dollars to take off. If I’m not going to go down the route of massive fundraising then I should just focus on where my strength lies, which is matchmaking.”
But Ms Tse does not regret her venture into the app business, which was a “six-digit” investment. Describing it as a “learning opportunity”, she noted that while dating apps are also in the business of love, a matchmaking agency that ventures into online dating may not necessarily be having the best of both worlds.
“For an app to do well, you would want people to keep coming back but if you are interested in true matchmaking, you want people to pair up and not come back. So I don’t think the idea of doing matchmaking and building an app at the same time don’t really gel together,” she explained.
For Mr Gan, speed-dating is now a thing of the past after he met the girl of his dreams at an event organised by CompleteMe two years ago. The woman is now his fiancée and the couple has plans to register their marriage later this year.
Looking back on his quest for romance, he said: “If I have to choose, I still prefer a dating agency over an app because you can attend events and you get to see your date in person … I may have liked my (relationship) to be natural like everyone else’s, but there’s nothing wrong with either method.
“I’ve been telling my colleagues who are single to give it a try. It’s all about individual preferences and if you can’t get fish in this pond, you go to another.”
*The names of some dating agency members have been changed or abbreviated as they spoke to Channel NewsAsia on condition of anonymity.
- CNA/sk
- wong chee tat :)
Showing posts with label LOVE 50%. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LOVE 50%. Show all posts
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Friday, June 17, 2016
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Scams exploiting infocomm tech on the rise in Singapore: Police
Scams exploiting infocomm tech on the rise in Singapore: Police
From January to April this year, authorities received at least 190 reports of internet love scams involving approximately S$7.5 million, almost matching the 198 cases involving S$8.8 million for the whole of 2014.
By Loke Kok Fai
Posted 15 Jun 2016 00:20 Updated 15 Jun 2016 23:30
SINGAPORE: The 19-year-old man entered a 7-Eleven store along Yishun Avenue 5 around 2am, wanting to buy an iTunes gift card.
But when Rosida Arshad saw that he was already holding a gift card worth about S$100 in his hands, the quick-thinking sales assistant decided to caution him that the card was non-refundable and non-exchangeable.
She also showed him an information card given by the police that explained a common scam - an attractive lady on social networking app WeChat approaches and convinces victims to buy and transfer online credit from gift cards, for the promise of a date or sexual services which never materialise.
"Once he saw it, he said: 'I've been scammed'," said 47-year-old Madam Rosida.
FRAUDSTERS USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO PROFILE VICTIMS: POLICE
Police said that the number of such scams, which exploit infocomm technologies, has surged in Singapore since the start of the year and are involving increasingly large sums of money.
Police Superintendent Chew Jingwei, who heads the Commercial Affairs Department's Syndicated Fraud Branch, said fraudsters have been able to exploit the cloak of anonymity afforded by the internet and the increasing popularity of social media platforms in Singapore to reach across borders "within seconds".
"Today's internet users share quite a bit of their social lives and personal information on social media platforms, so it's easy for fraudsters in certain scams to target who exactly they want as victims by doing a bit of profiling on the internet," said Supt Chew. "For example in credit-for-sex scams, we see that the victims are all men who are looking for female friends on Chinese-based social media platforms."
While he said the police will continue to intensify public education efforts to increase awareness of such scams, they appear to face an uphill task.
Despite police community engagement efforts in the Yishun North neighbourhood since September 2015, Madam Rosida said more are falling victim to scams. She told Channel NewsAsia that what used to be a single customer demanding a refund for purchasing gift cards every two or three weeks has slowly grown to one or two customers every one or two weeks.
"I show them the poster and tell them ‘no refund or exchanges’. I ask them to read - I don't know whether they read it or not, but they just look at the poster and insist on buying," she said.
These customers often return after half an hour trying to insist on refunds or exchanges. When they are rejected, Madam Rosida often spots them pacing outside the shop and talking on the phone.
"Then I know that this guy has been scammed," she said.
Police said 200 cases of credit-for-sex scams have been reported from January to April this year, involving at least S$422,200 in total. These figures surpass the 66 cases involving S$118,000 reported for the whole of 2014.
In the same time period this year, authorities received at least 190 reports of internet love scams involving approximately S$7.5 million, almost matching the 198 cases involving S$8.8 million for the whole of 2014.
Most victims of such scams are women aged between 30 and 59, and holding professional jobs. They are approached on social media platforms such as Facebook, Meetup.com and Skout, and form relationships with online "lovers", who then feign financial difficulties and ask for money.
Internet love scams such as these cheated victims of the greatest amount of money in the first four months of this year out of the scams involving infocomm technologies, followed by scams involving fraudsters impersonating authorities from China or Singapore who tell victims that parcels containing illegal items have been shipped in their name.
Using convincing methods such as spoofed local phone numbers and addresses for the appearance of greater authenticity, the impersonators trick victims into transferring funds into foreign bank accounts or into disclosing personal information to "settle the case". To date, more than 50 such scams have been reported, involving around S$4 million.
Impersonation scams and internet love scams account for the top 10 largest single cheating cases in the first four months of the year, with an impersonation scam claiming the highest amount lost by a victim in a single case this year - S$2.3 million.
- CNA/mz
- wong chee tat :)
From January to April this year, authorities received at least 190 reports of internet love scams involving approximately S$7.5 million, almost matching the 198 cases involving S$8.8 million for the whole of 2014.
By Loke Kok Fai
Posted 15 Jun 2016 00:20 Updated 15 Jun 2016 23:30
SINGAPORE: The 19-year-old man entered a 7-Eleven store along Yishun Avenue 5 around 2am, wanting to buy an iTunes gift card.
But when Rosida Arshad saw that he was already holding a gift card worth about S$100 in his hands, the quick-thinking sales assistant decided to caution him that the card was non-refundable and non-exchangeable.
She also showed him an information card given by the police that explained a common scam - an attractive lady on social networking app WeChat approaches and convinces victims to buy and transfer online credit from gift cards, for the promise of a date or sexual services which never materialise.
"Once he saw it, he said: 'I've been scammed'," said 47-year-old Madam Rosida.
FRAUDSTERS USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO PROFILE VICTIMS: POLICE
Police said that the number of such scams, which exploit infocomm technologies, has surged in Singapore since the start of the year and are involving increasingly large sums of money.
Police Superintendent Chew Jingwei, who heads the Commercial Affairs Department's Syndicated Fraud Branch, said fraudsters have been able to exploit the cloak of anonymity afforded by the internet and the increasing popularity of social media platforms in Singapore to reach across borders "within seconds".
"Today's internet users share quite a bit of their social lives and personal information on social media platforms, so it's easy for fraudsters in certain scams to target who exactly they want as victims by doing a bit of profiling on the internet," said Supt Chew. "For example in credit-for-sex scams, we see that the victims are all men who are looking for female friends on Chinese-based social media platforms."
While he said the police will continue to intensify public education efforts to increase awareness of such scams, they appear to face an uphill task.
Despite police community engagement efforts in the Yishun North neighbourhood since September 2015, Madam Rosida said more are falling victim to scams. She told Channel NewsAsia that what used to be a single customer demanding a refund for purchasing gift cards every two or three weeks has slowly grown to one or two customers every one or two weeks.
"I show them the poster and tell them ‘no refund or exchanges’. I ask them to read - I don't know whether they read it or not, but they just look at the poster and insist on buying," she said.
These customers often return after half an hour trying to insist on refunds or exchanges. When they are rejected, Madam Rosida often spots them pacing outside the shop and talking on the phone.
"Then I know that this guy has been scammed," she said.
Police said 200 cases of credit-for-sex scams have been reported from January to April this year, involving at least S$422,200 in total. These figures surpass the 66 cases involving S$118,000 reported for the whole of 2014.
In the same time period this year, authorities received at least 190 reports of internet love scams involving approximately S$7.5 million, almost matching the 198 cases involving S$8.8 million for the whole of 2014.
Most victims of such scams are women aged between 30 and 59, and holding professional jobs. They are approached on social media platforms such as Facebook, Meetup.com and Skout, and form relationships with online "lovers", who then feign financial difficulties and ask for money.
Internet love scams such as these cheated victims of the greatest amount of money in the first four months of this year out of the scams involving infocomm technologies, followed by scams involving fraudsters impersonating authorities from China or Singapore who tell victims that parcels containing illegal items have been shipped in their name.
Using convincing methods such as spoofed local phone numbers and addresses for the appearance of greater authenticity, the impersonators trick victims into transferring funds into foreign bank accounts or into disclosing personal information to "settle the case". To date, more than 50 such scams have been reported, involving around S$4 million.
Impersonation scams and internet love scams account for the top 10 largest single cheating cases in the first four months of the year, with an impersonation scam claiming the highest amount lost by a victim in a single case this year - S$2.3 million.
- CNA/mz
- wong chee tat :)
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
杨莉明:单身男应对相亲抱持开放心态
杨莉明:单身男应对相亲抱持开放心态
2016年03月16日 1743
|
杨莉明说道，新加坡人害羞不好意思向人求助找伴侣，和韩国人不太一样，他们更能接受相亲。（图/新华社）
杨莉明说道，新加坡人害羞不好意思向人求助找伴侣，和韩国人不太一样，他们更能接受相亲。（图/新华社）
婚姻不会从天而降，总理公署高级政务部长杨莉明呼吁新加坡单身男女积极地拓展社交圈子，并向韩国年轻人看齐，对相亲抱持开放心态。
协助管理人口及人才署的杨莉明今天结束对韩国的考察后，于个人面簿分享自己的观察。
已续程前往丹麦的杨莉明，在韩国访问的三天里，除了会见韩国保健福祉部长郑镇烨和雇佣劳动部长李基权，也参访当地的托儿所与红娘公司。
杨莉明在面簿写道，新加坡年轻人和韩国年轻人一样，越来越迟婚。不过韩国年轻人是因就业前景不佳，缺乏稳定收入，被迫延迟成家，新加坡人则是因乐于接受工作挑战，选择太多，以致忙着事业，错过了寻找伴侣的良机。
2014年，新加坡男性首次结婚的年龄中位数从2005年的29.7岁推延至30.2岁，女性从26.8岁推迟至28.2岁，而韩国2014年数据则显示，当地男女分别在32.4岁和29.8岁才结婚，结婚年龄较十年前迟约两年。
不过杨莉明说：“新加坡人害羞，不好意思向人求助找伴侣，加剧了问题。这点和韩国人不太一样，他们更能接受相亲，并愿意找专人帮忙。虽不愿意公开承认相亲，但若被问起，他们也不会否认。”
杨莉明鼓励新加坡人正面看待相亲。她说：“单身人士需积极地让缘分发挥魔力，这不会是偶然的。”
“韩国江南式（Gangnam style）的相亲方式虽是刻意安排的，但依然可以相当活泼轻松，而且很多时候获得家人、朋友和专业人士的帮助。早点开始积极结交新朋友，不要排斥找人帮忙，以及轻松以对似乎都是一场成功、愉悦约会的必要元素。这样的约会方式或许能帮到更多新加坡单身人士？”（联合早报记者：黄慧敏 首尔报道）
（联合早报网编辑：赖彦志 )
- wong chee tat :)
2016年03月16日 1743
|
杨莉明说道，新加坡人害羞不好意思向人求助找伴侣，和韩国人不太一样，他们更能接受相亲。（图/新华社）
杨莉明说道，新加坡人害羞不好意思向人求助找伴侣，和韩国人不太一样，他们更能接受相亲。（图/新华社）
婚姻不会从天而降，总理公署高级政务部长杨莉明呼吁新加坡单身男女积极地拓展社交圈子，并向韩国年轻人看齐，对相亲抱持开放心态。
协助管理人口及人才署的杨莉明今天结束对韩国的考察后，于个人面簿分享自己的观察。
已续程前往丹麦的杨莉明，在韩国访问的三天里，除了会见韩国保健福祉部长郑镇烨和雇佣劳动部长李基权，也参访当地的托儿所与红娘公司。
杨莉明在面簿写道，新加坡年轻人和韩国年轻人一样，越来越迟婚。不过韩国年轻人是因就业前景不佳，缺乏稳定收入，被迫延迟成家，新加坡人则是因乐于接受工作挑战，选择太多，以致忙着事业，错过了寻找伴侣的良机。
2014年，新加坡男性首次结婚的年龄中位数从2005年的29.7岁推延至30.2岁，女性从26.8岁推迟至28.2岁，而韩国2014年数据则显示，当地男女分别在32.4岁和29.8岁才结婚，结婚年龄较十年前迟约两年。
不过杨莉明说：“新加坡人害羞，不好意思向人求助找伴侣，加剧了问题。这点和韩国人不太一样，他们更能接受相亲，并愿意找专人帮忙。虽不愿意公开承认相亲，但若被问起，他们也不会否认。”
杨莉明鼓励新加坡人正面看待相亲。她说：“单身人士需积极地让缘分发挥魔力，这不会是偶然的。”
“韩国江南式（Gangnam style）的相亲方式虽是刻意安排的，但依然可以相当活泼轻松，而且很多时候获得家人、朋友和专业人士的帮助。早点开始积极结交新朋友，不要排斥找人帮忙，以及轻松以对似乎都是一场成功、愉悦约会的必要元素。这样的约会方式或许能帮到更多新加坡单身人士？”（联合早报记者：黄慧敏 首尔报道）
（联合早报网编辑：赖彦志 )
- wong chee tat :)
Friday, January 1, 2016
Thoughts for 2015
Thoughts for 2015
Before we say bye bye 2015 and welcome to 2016. Let me look back in 2015....
The Year 2015 brought me to the some of the worst situations I had ever encountered and felt stressful, unhappy and was heart broken too.... Things are not going smoothly
To make matters worst, met some backstabbers and they knocked me down all the way. :(
It was definitely NOT good.
Luckily, met some kind souls who helped me a lot when I am really down during that period. Thanks to them!
Welcome to 2016 and hope everything goes fine!
- Pics from Internet
- wong chee tat :)
Before we say bye bye 2015 and welcome to 2016. Let me look back in 2015....
To make matters worst, met some backstabbers and they knocked me down all the way. :(
It was definitely NOT good.
Luckily, met some kind souls who helped me a lot when I am really down during that period. Thanks to them!
Welcome to 2016 and hope everything goes fine!
- Pics from Internet
- wong chee tat :)
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
老鼠不再愛大米
你离开之后我要自己走
放开手不回头
窗外的云不停留
雨季快来到梦被吹着走
我的爱你不懂
爱情就像个黑洞
痛过之后要学会照顾自己
过去的忘记了
不再为你费心机
昏暗的路灯显得很孤寂
不要紧没关系
我要好好活下去
该忘记的忘记都当成回忆
说好了不哭泣
滑落泪水慢慢滴
有那么一天我已经失忆
就象老鼠忘了自己
曾经爱大米
- wong chee tat :)
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
More getting married, fewer getting divorced in Singapore
More getting married, fewer getting divorced in Singapore
However, many are choosing to marry later, with 30-34 years old now the peak age group for marriages, according to the annual Department of Statistics report on statistics on marriages and divorces. One in five marriages is now inter-ethnic.
POSTED: 29 Jul 2015 10:54 UPDATED: 29 Jul 2015 15:04
SINGAPORE: The number of marriages in Singapore rose 8.2 per cent last year compared to 2013, while the number of divorces and annulments fell 2.9 per cent, according to Department of Statistics (Singstat) data released on Wednesday (Jul 29).
However, many are choosing to marry later, according to the annual report on statistics on marriages and divorces. One in five marriages conducted is now inter-ethnic.
Singstat said a total of 28,407 marriages were registered in 2014, comprising 22,863 civil marriages and 5,544 Muslim marriages. This was up from the 26,254 total marriages registered the previous year.
Still, many are choosing to marry later, with marriage rates among those below 30 years old lower in 2014 compared to a decade ago, while the opposite trend was observed for those aged 30 years and above.
The peak age group for females marrying has shifted from 25-29 years old in 2004 to 30-34 years old in 2014, according to the data. For males, the peak age group remained unchanged at 30-34 years old.
The median age for marrying rose from 29.4 years old in 2004 to 30.2 years old for grooms in 2014, and from 26.7 years old to 28.2 years old for brides.
Inter-ethnic marriages have become more common, making up 20.4 per cent of marriages last year, up from 13.1 per cent in 2004.
More men are also marrying women with equal or higher educational qualifications. The proportion of university-educated grooms marrying brides with the same qualification rose from 71.9 per cent in 2004 to 80.9 per cent in 2014 for civil marriages, and from 48.9 per cent to 57 per cent for Muslim marriages.
FEWER DIVORCES, ANNULMENTS
A total of 7,307 marriages were dissolved last year, either through divorces or annulments – down 2.9 per cent from the 7,525 dissolutions in the previous year.
The decline was mainly due to a drop in the number of civil marital dissolutions from 5,863 in 2013 to 5,618 in 2014. The number of Muslim divorces remained comparable during the same period at 1,662 and 1,689, respectively.
The median age at divorce rose in the last 10 years, with males getting divorced at the median age of 42.6 and females at 38.4 last year, up from 39 years and 35.3 years, respectively, in 2004.
The median marriage duration for divorces in 2014 was 10.4 years, up from 9.2 years in 2004. Among civil divorces, couples who were married for 5 to 9 years consistently accounted for the largest group (30.5 per cent) in 2014, followed by those who were married for 20 years or longer (21.2 per cent).
Among civil divorces in 2014, the top two main reasons for divorce were “unreasonable behaviour” (51.9 per cent) and “having lived apart or separated for three years or more” (44.8 per cent). Female plaintiffs constituted the majority (62.9 per cent) of civil divorces last year.
Among Muslim divorces, “infidelity or extra-marital affair” (21.9 per cent) was the top reason given for divorce in 2014. This was followed by “financial problems” (15.7 per cent) and “desertion” (11.8 per cent).
In 2014, there were 446 annulments, up from the 392 annulments in 2013 (13.8 per cent increase). The median duration of marriages that were annulled in 2014 was 1.9 years, a marginal increase from 1.8 years in 2011 to 2013.
- CNA/cy
- wong chee tat :)
However, many are choosing to marry later, with 30-34 years old now the peak age group for marriages, according to the annual Department of Statistics report on statistics on marriages and divorces. One in five marriages is now inter-ethnic.
POSTED: 29 Jul 2015 10:54 UPDATED: 29 Jul 2015 15:04
SINGAPORE: The number of marriages in Singapore rose 8.2 per cent last year compared to 2013, while the number of divorces and annulments fell 2.9 per cent, according to Department of Statistics (Singstat) data released on Wednesday (Jul 29).
However, many are choosing to marry later, according to the annual report on statistics on marriages and divorces. One in five marriages conducted is now inter-ethnic.
Singstat said a total of 28,407 marriages were registered in 2014, comprising 22,863 civil marriages and 5,544 Muslim marriages. This was up from the 26,254 total marriages registered the previous year.
Still, many are choosing to marry later, with marriage rates among those below 30 years old lower in 2014 compared to a decade ago, while the opposite trend was observed for those aged 30 years and above.
The peak age group for females marrying has shifted from 25-29 years old in 2004 to 30-34 years old in 2014, according to the data. For males, the peak age group remained unchanged at 30-34 years old.
The median age for marrying rose from 29.4 years old in 2004 to 30.2 years old for grooms in 2014, and from 26.7 years old to 28.2 years old for brides.
Inter-ethnic marriages have become more common, making up 20.4 per cent of marriages last year, up from 13.1 per cent in 2004.
More men are also marrying women with equal or higher educational qualifications. The proportion of university-educated grooms marrying brides with the same qualification rose from 71.9 per cent in 2004 to 80.9 per cent in 2014 for civil marriages, and from 48.9 per cent to 57 per cent for Muslim marriages.
FEWER DIVORCES, ANNULMENTS
A total of 7,307 marriages were dissolved last year, either through divorces or annulments – down 2.9 per cent from the 7,525 dissolutions in the previous year.
The decline was mainly due to a drop in the number of civil marital dissolutions from 5,863 in 2013 to 5,618 in 2014. The number of Muslim divorces remained comparable during the same period at 1,662 and 1,689, respectively.
The median age at divorce rose in the last 10 years, with males getting divorced at the median age of 42.6 and females at 38.4 last year, up from 39 years and 35.3 years, respectively, in 2004.
The median marriage duration for divorces in 2014 was 10.4 years, up from 9.2 years in 2004. Among civil divorces, couples who were married for 5 to 9 years consistently accounted for the largest group (30.5 per cent) in 2014, followed by those who were married for 20 years or longer (21.2 per cent).
Among civil divorces in 2014, the top two main reasons for divorce were “unreasonable behaviour” (51.9 per cent) and “having lived apart or separated for three years or more” (44.8 per cent). Female plaintiffs constituted the majority (62.9 per cent) of civil divorces last year.
Among Muslim divorces, “infidelity or extra-marital affair” (21.9 per cent) was the top reason given for divorce in 2014. This was followed by “financial problems” (15.7 per cent) and “desertion” (11.8 per cent).
In 2014, there were 446 annulments, up from the 392 annulments in 2013 (13.8 per cent increase). The median duration of marriages that were annulled in 2014 was 1.9 years, a marginal increase from 1.8 years in 2011 to 2013.
- CNA/cy
- wong chee tat :)
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Men dare not date her
Men dare not date her
Ng Ping Ping, 37, says part of the reason she is single is because she is tall, especially in heels, and guys have told her they feel scared to approach her.
The number of singles, aged 35 and older, has spiked in the past 10 years. Life asks singles such as Ms Ng Ping Ping, 37, about their dating lives
By Venessa Lee
Ms Ng Ping Ping, 37, says that among other things, men are most intimidated by her height.
At 1.71m tall, the Asia-Pacific sales manager for a haircare range is usually in five-inch heels.
"Heels make me feel more well-dressed. It's a bit of a power thing for me," she says, adding that she feels she has a palpable presence when she walks into a meeting or makes a presentation in heels.
"I'm quite an alpha female: I'm confident, assertive," she says. "Very seldom does anyone come up to talk to me when my friends and I go out for drinks."
Her guy friends have told her they would be afraid to approach her.
"A male friend told me, 'I feel sorry for people like you. You're good- looking, with a good career. Our egos are too big to approach someone like you, we don't want to be rejected,'" she says.
A male friend told me, 'I feel sorry for people like you. You're good-looking, with a good career. Our egos are too big to approach someone like you, we don't want to be rejected.'''
MS NG PING PING, 37, who has been single for about three years
Although she has been single for about three years, being "old school", she does not actively look for dates and prefers to be introduced to friends of friends who can verify if anyone has a bad track record in relationships.
She finds it hard to meet men through work as most of her career has been in retail, especially in women-dominated fashion retail.
Although she does not "need a guy to pay for me because I can pay for myself", she would like him to share similar interests.
"He should be able to enjoy the kind of lifestyle I lead and make me laugh," she says.
"I eat well, drink well and travel well."
She appreciates fine tipples such as 18-year-old Glenfiddich whisky, and enjoys staying at "good resorts" where she is particular about how comfortable the bed and sheets are.
Because she "doesn't want to be running after kids at 50", she is glad to play with her four-year-old nephew for half an hour each time, before returning him to her elder sister, 40, who works in the conventions and exhibitions industry.
Her last relationship of seven years with an Australian oil and gas executive, who was based in Kuala Lumpur like she was in recent years, ended because "our characters were too strong".
She is looking for mutual strength and support in a relationship, where she and her partner can "take turns to be alpha".
- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/men-dare-not-date-her#sthash.fQQFE9CI.dpuf
- wong chee tat :)
Ng Ping Ping, 37, says part of the reason she is single is because she is tall, especially in heels, and guys have told her they feel scared to approach her.
The number of singles, aged 35 and older, has spiked in the past 10 years. Life asks singles such as Ms Ng Ping Ping, 37, about their dating lives
By Venessa Lee
Ms Ng Ping Ping, 37, says that among other things, men are most intimidated by her height.
At 1.71m tall, the Asia-Pacific sales manager for a haircare range is usually in five-inch heels.
"Heels make me feel more well-dressed. It's a bit of a power thing for me," she says, adding that she feels she has a palpable presence when she walks into a meeting or makes a presentation in heels.
"I'm quite an alpha female: I'm confident, assertive," she says. "Very seldom does anyone come up to talk to me when my friends and I go out for drinks."
Her guy friends have told her they would be afraid to approach her.
"A male friend told me, 'I feel sorry for people like you. You're good- looking, with a good career. Our egos are too big to approach someone like you, we don't want to be rejected,'" she says.
A male friend told me, 'I feel sorry for people like you. You're good-looking, with a good career. Our egos are too big to approach someone like you, we don't want to be rejected.'''
MS NG PING PING, 37, who has been single for about three years
Although she has been single for about three years, being "old school", she does not actively look for dates and prefers to be introduced to friends of friends who can verify if anyone has a bad track record in relationships.
She finds it hard to meet men through work as most of her career has been in retail, especially in women-dominated fashion retail.
Although she does not "need a guy to pay for me because I can pay for myself", she would like him to share similar interests.
"He should be able to enjoy the kind of lifestyle I lead and make me laugh," she says.
"I eat well, drink well and travel well."
She appreciates fine tipples such as 18-year-old Glenfiddich whisky, and enjoys staying at "good resorts" where she is particular about how comfortable the bed and sheets are.
Because she "doesn't want to be running after kids at 50", she is glad to play with her four-year-old nephew for half an hour each time, before returning him to her elder sister, 40, who works in the conventions and exhibitions industry.
Her last relationship of seven years with an Australian oil and gas executive, who was based in Kuala Lumpur like she was in recent years, ended because "our characters were too strong".
She is looking for mutual strength and support in a relationship, where she and her partner can "take turns to be alpha".
- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/men-dare-not-date-her#sthash.fQQFE9CI.dpuf
- wong chee tat :)
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Nearly 14,700 foreign spouses on long-term visit passes in Singapore
Nearly 14,700 foreign spouses on long-term visit passes in Singapore
Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean gave this update, after NCMP Gerald Giam asked in Parliament how many foreign spouses of Singapore citizens have social visit passes, Long Term Visit Passes and an immigration status.
SINGAPORE: As of Dec 31, 2014, there were 14,694 foreign spouses in Singapore on a Long Term Visit Pass (LTVP) or a Long Term Visit Pass-Plus (LTVP+).
Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean gave this update in written parliamentary reply on Thursday (Jan 29) to a query from Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Gerald Giam. Mr Giam had asked about the number of foreign spouses who have social visit passes, LTVP and an immigration status which makes them ineligible to work in Singapore.
Mr Teo, who is also the Home Affairs Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security, said details on the number of foreign spouses who enter Singapore as social visitors is not available. He said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority does not track this statistic.
- CNA/xk
- wong chee tat :)
Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean gave this update, after NCMP Gerald Giam asked in Parliament how many foreign spouses of Singapore citizens have social visit passes, Long Term Visit Passes and an immigration status.
SINGAPORE: As of Dec 31, 2014, there were 14,694 foreign spouses in Singapore on a Long Term Visit Pass (LTVP) or a Long Term Visit Pass-Plus (LTVP+).
Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean gave this update in written parliamentary reply on Thursday (Jan 29) to a query from Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Gerald Giam. Mr Giam had asked about the number of foreign spouses who have social visit passes, LTVP and an immigration status which makes them ineligible to work in Singapore.
Mr Teo, who is also the Home Affairs Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security, said details on the number of foreign spouses who enter Singapore as social visitors is not available. He said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority does not track this statistic.
- CNA/xk
- wong chee tat :)
Saturday, January 10, 2015
China's Lost Generation Finds Itself in Ukraine
The latest viral story in China is the rags-to-riches tale of a young man named Mei Aicai. A working class high-school graduate who scored abysmally on China's college entrance exam, Mei now owns his own business, claims title to three-quarters of an acre of land, lives in a split-level house, and is married to an eighteen-year-old who -- the Chinese internet universally agrees -- looks like a model. One more thing: Mei achieved all his good fortune after leaving China for Ukraine.
For the Chinese public, the moral of Mei's story is clear: for anyone who lacks family connections, elite academic credentials, and a big bank account, it's now easier to achieve upward mobility in Kiev than Shanghai.
It's not hard to imagine what would have happened to Mei, with his modest background and limited education, had he remained in China. Faced with a slowing economy, high housing prices, widening income inequality and a tough job market for college graduates, millions of young Chinese now feel stuck on the lower-middle rungs of their country's ladder of success.
This widespread feeling has coalesced into an identity known asdiaosi. The term is commonly translated into English as “loser” -- although its most literal translation would be a vulgar reference to the male anatomy -- and was originally used to describe young, under-employed internet-obsessed males. But over the past five years, it has escaped its derogatory connotations, transforming into a more pliable identity available to anyone who wants to distance himself from China’s money- and status-obsessed culture.
For some people in China, such distancing is a voluntary pastime. But for Mei's many peers, it's not a choice at all. For them, the diaosi identity is an expression of their straitened economic circumstances. When the Market and Media Research Center at Peking University, China’s top academic institution, recently leased a nationwide online survey of China’s working class, it was no coincidence that it bore the title “The 2013 Diaosi Living Conditions Report.” Sixty two percent of the 213,795 working class people who responded to the Peking University survey identitied as losers.
The men ranged in age from 21–25, women from 26–30 (though the diaosi identity more commonly attaches to males). They average $471 per month in income (by comparison, Beijing’s average monthly income in 2013 was $936). They generally can't afford to own their own homes, in part because 71 percent give money to their parents on a monthly basis (averaging $173, or roughly one-third of their monthly income).
The consequences are rough, especially for men, who are widely expected to own their own homes before marriage. Perhaps the least surprising finding of the Peking University survey is that half of all self-identified diaosi are single, and 72 percent say they are unhappy with their lives.
Enter Mei Aicai. His Ukrainian success story first appeared on Chinese news portals on December 8, and it was almost immediately characterized online as a “diaosi counter-attack.” Mei was praised for avoiding the diaosi fate by taking up residence in a place where his natural talents weren’t suppressed by China’s academic culture (and its obsession with testing), and an expectation that he had proper connections (and the taint of corruption so often associated with them).
In an interview with one news outlet, Mei also suggested that China suffered by comparison with Ukraine not just economically, but culturally. Mei emphasized that Ukrainian women, unlike their Chinese counterparts, marry for love, rather than money. That sexist comment has been echoed for days in online comments by young male diaosi frustrated by China’s materialistic dating culture.
Diaosi aren’t politically organized, and they don’t represent a coherent social movement. But they are representative of the diminished expectations that many young Chinese have as China enters a prolonged period of slower growth and rigid income inequality. If the Chinese government truly hopes to reform its economy, it’ll need to find a way to make sure that they don’t continue to feel like losers in a game rigged against them.
- wong chee tat :)
Monday, December 29, 2014
Chinese Man’s Life with Beautiful Ukrainian Wife Envied
From NetEase:
The attack of the academic failure: Chinese young man marries beautiful 18 year-old Ukrainian girl.
12 years ago, Mei Aicai only scored 320 points on the Gaokao examination [out of 750 points]. With this, he thought his academic career was over, and suddenly found himself at a loss for what to do. At that point, a friend dragged him along to go study abroad in Ukraine, and even though he thought Ukraine was in Africa at the time and couldn’t speak a single word of the language there, Mei Aicai still boarded the flight to this strange new country, never imagining that once he went, he would be there for 12 years…
Anxiety – he only knew one Russian phrase before leaving the country [going abroad]
For Mei Aicai, Ukraine was an unknown country, and initially thought this country was in Africa.
”Before I left the country, I went to Shijiazhuang and learned Russian for a month, but ultimately only learned “hello, I want water”. When I got on the plane, I was really nervous, not knowing what would be waiting for me in an unknown country,” Mei Aicai said.
Upon arriving in Ukraine, Mei Aicai took a preparatory course at the local university, and because he didn’t speak the language, he made a mockery of himself. “When I first arrived, I saw black bread in the store. I thought it was made with chocolate and bought a whole bunch, but when I took a bite, it was both bitter and hard, like a rock. In the end, I had to throw it all away,” Mei Aicai said.
Another time, Mei Aicai went to the hair salon for a haircut and had a lot of trouble describing the hairstyle he wanted to the barber. Eventually, he resorted to buying a pair of scissors and used a mirror to cut his own hair. Russian words are very long, and its grammar is even more complex, with many Ukrainians themselves not even fully understanding it. Mei Aicai couldn’t understand anything during class, as the professor had a deep accent, and to him it all sounded like someone selling lamb skewers.
A lonely life – tomatoes scrambled with egg was a luxury for him
To outsiders, Mei Aicai must have come from a rich household to be able to go abroad, but in reality his parents were average working class people. He chose to go to Ukraine because the cost of a university education was similar to China, and moreover visas were also relatively easy to obtain.
Although his family was not wealthy, Mei Aicai didn’t grow up in hardship either, but when he arrived in Ukraine, the first problem he had to solve was how to feed himself. During the winter in Ukraine, vegetables are very expensive, the price tags all listed prices in kilograms, and no matter what Mei Aicai looked at, he felt he couldn’t afford anything.
“Only after going out in the world did I slowly understand my parents’ hardships. For the first two years, the things I ate the most were potatoes and cabbage, as these two things are the cheapest in Ukraine. Only during Chinese New Year was I willing to buy two tomatoes. At the time, I thought tomato scrambled with egg was a luxurious meal.”
Although it was hard, Mei Aicai quickly became independent, and as someone who had never cooked before at home, he gradually learned how to even cook a few specialties. Mei Aicai said: “The first year abroad, what I felt most was loneliness and helplessness, and everyday I wanted to go [back] home. At that time, I did not have a phone or a computer, so I eagerly waited for the weekends when I could go to the internet cafe to chat with my family”.
Adjusting – playing ping pong opened a new world for him
After graduating from his 1 year preparatory course, Mei Aicai stupidly chose to attend the Karkov Academy of Fine Arts, and he became the only student in the school who didn’t know how to draw.
During the first semester at the academy, he spent most of his time playing video games and skipping class. Mei Aicai felt he didn’t have a goal in life, and wanted to make a change. So, everyday he went to the gymnasium to play ping pong and, as a result, he made many Ukrainian friends, and his Russian also gradually improved.
Most importantly, Mei Aicai also represented the academy and won 3rd place in the Karkov University Student Competition, a first in the academy’s 100 year-old history. After winning the prize, Mei Aicai’s life entered a new era. An athletic teacher regarded him greatly, placed his picture in the school halls, and more and more Ukrainian students and teachers came to him to play ping pong.
Though ping pong, Mei Aicai even found a girlfriend, and began to work hard at his major under her encouragement. Over the next few years, Mei Aicai did well in his core studies, his Russian greatly improved, and he consistently aced his athletics.
Happiness – in both love and career
On the Autohome BBS, Mei Aicai’s threads about his life in Ukraine have reached hundreds of thousands, even millions of views. People all relished in discussing his beautiful wife, and it was through his wife’s support that Mei Aicai started his own business.
When Ukrainian women get married, they take their husband’s name. Mei Aicai’s wife’s name is Mei Dasha and she is still attending high school. According to Ukrainian law, women can marry at the age of 17.
”She may be young but her views are very mature. At school, she is a good student with excellent grades and at home, she is a good wife, keeping our home neat and tidy, doing the laundry and cooking.” Talking about his wife, Mei Aicai has nothing but praise for her.
A happy home life left Mei Aicai with less to worry about, so he had more time to devote to his business. He quit his previous job as an animator and chose to start his own business. Currently, he is running a company engaged in the import/export of equipment and foodstuffs.
According to him, doing business in Ukraine requires little entertainment and socializing, where even taking a client out is unnecessary, so even now Mei Aicai does not drink or smoke, but Ukrainians have high standards when it comes to quality of work.
Because he is in the import/export business, Mei Aicai spends a lot of time each day communicating with people in China, but luckily he can stay at home and simply turn on his computer to work.
”Some people think I am very successful, but I feel my greatest happiness comes from my family. I come home everyday on time to eat with my wife, and afterward we go for a walk. I feel this kind of life is very happy, and next year we are planning to have our first baby,” Mei Aicai said.
Note: The above article was based on posts he made on a forum over the span of several years and does not reflect up-to-date information.
Note: The above article was based on posts he made on a forum over the span of several years and does not reflect up-to-date information.
Comments on NetEase:
跟帖有态度 [妙笔生花]：
I’m going to the Ukrainian Embassy this afternoon to get my visa.
网易广东省深圳市网友：
This kid sure is lucky to get such a girl, and this is what fate is [or the differences in people’s fates]. Had he done well in school, and even if he attended Tsinghua, he probably couldn’t have found an 18 year-old girl to be his wife.
民主不等于同志 [网易天津市网友]：
This can easily give people a false impression, as if all people in Ukraine share this standard of living. Still, I hope this young man will still be this happy at 40 and beyond.
284853535 [网易广东省东莞市网友]：
Already in line in front of the Ukrainian Embassy.
stanger0 [网易山东省济南市网友]：
I’m going to the Somali Embassy this afternoon to get my visa.
网易湖北省网友：
Chinese people’s diligence, hard work, shrewdness are a rarity among most countries in the world. Yet, China’s population density is too great and can mask [these qualities], but if you let Chinese people out in the world, the world will truly see the power of the Chinese people!
molele2 [网易上海市网友]：
I don’t want to be Chinese anymore, I want to be Ukrainian.
qqhbc [网易上海市网友]：
One way to judge whether a man’s ability [worth] is to see whether or not you can marry a foreign woman (European or American). Middle Eastern, African, Southeast Asian don’t count.
171984005 [网易广东省阳江市阳东县网友]：
Ukrainian women sure are enchanting, drool.
网易广东省佛山市网友：
When a man marries a foreigner, it’ll make the news, and seems to even bring a bit of pride. That’s because such cases are extremely rare. When a [Chinese] woman marries a foreigner, there is nothing, because [such cases] are too many.
51244 [网易安徽省淮北市网友]：
I don’t understand. He had no money and he couldn’t speak Russian well, so how did he find a girlfriend? How did he communicate?
网易湖北省武汉市网友：
Ukraine really does have a lot of beautiful women.
This story is also trending on Sina Weibo under the hashtag #学渣逆袭乌克兰女神# (Chinese Academic Failure Conquers Ukrainian Goddess) with over 1.5 million views.
- wong chee tat :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)