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The government is hoping to grow a vibrant private sector dating industry. The Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports has started a $600,000 fund which will see the private industry replacing national matchmaking agencies - the Social Development Unit (or SDU) and Social Development Service (or SDS).
In a population of 3.5 million, there are 620,000 singles aged 20 and over in Singapore.
A recent survey commissioned by SDU, which involved over 1000 singles aged between 25 and 44 years old, shows these singles spent $374m this year on activities like clubbing, and travelling.
They are also happy to splurge on dating opportunities, spending $29m, of which $11m went to wining and dining their dates, $3m to traditional matchmaking, another $3m to computer matchmaking and close to $2m on speed dating.
$2.3m was spent on putting personal ads in publications.
Other results from the survey - 90 percent of the single respondents stated that they would certainly get married one day, and 72 percent of all singles would like to have more opportunities to meet new friends of the opposite gender.
The key point is the dating industry is a lucrative one and the government wants to help businesses tap on this growing market. It has set aside $600,000 under a Partner Connection Fund. Interested parties can apply for grants of up to $50,000 for their matchmaking business.
In dispersing the funds, MCYS is looking for dating businesses which involve only local resident singles. They must also have sound business plans, creative ideas and show results.
Up to 80 percent of business costs can be funded and the aim is to grow a dating industry that is comparable to those found in Japan and UK for example.
"We do have consumer complaints that the money they paid for is not worth the value and it hadn't materialise in any match, and some of the events and programmes were really not well carried out. Because of all these feedback and also the need to look at the industry as a whole, we felt a registry had to be put in place, eventually, to harmonise some of the standards," said Claire Chiang, Co-Chair, Partner Connection Fund Evaluation, Community Development, Youth and Sports Ministry.
The SDU will put in place an accreditation framework for the dating industry by the middle of next year.
Two national registries will be set up by SDU - a Registry of Dating Practitioners, and a Registry of Dating Agencies. The Registry of Dating Practitioners will provide the agencies with a ready pool of accredited and trained professionals, and allow singles to check on the status of the dating practitioners who are attending to them. The Registry of Dating Agencies will carry the list of accredited agencies.
Accredited agencies must introduce "genuine" singles and ensure that their members' database is kept confidential.
These are two major problems currently cited by singles who used some commercial matchmaking agencies.
In addition, dating practitioners can apply for professional training and competency certification, which will be offered under the Workforce Development Agency's Workforce Skills Qualifications framework.
Accredited agencies will benefit by being featured in SDU's publicity efforts to promote the local dating industry, and by being highlighted in the Registry of Dating Agencies.
As the private sector dating industry grows, SDU and SDS will ease out of providing direct dating services.
"SDU specifically will be doing more of forging partnerships with the private sector. We want to share our domain expertise with the industry as an accreditation body. We will also look at some of the measures that have been outlined," said Anna Goh-Boon, Deputy Director of Social Development Unit.
SDS will, instead, work at the grassroots level to strengthen family life, through its 84 family life champions who are volunteers at various Residents' Committees.
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