Singapore Subsidiez

I went to a family dinner on Sunday night, and was told that I should go to Singapore. There is a mandate from the government via the Social Development Unit to have more Singaporeans marry and have kids. Apparently the previous mandate of getting everyone to become a professional and pursuing careers is to the detriment of the family life, and therefore the population of Singapore suffers.

So I was informed by some family friends that if I had three kids, I would be earning a tidy sum of SG$35,000...that's nearly my annual income! :) I was also told of Speed Dating, singles activities and function....anything to get people together. There is now a lunch service that matches you up with other "busy professionals". I especially love the bit in the FAQ section, where it tells you that the "founder of Lunch Actually has been certified by the Matchmaking Institute in New York , an institute started by one of the most established modern-day matchmakers in US." There's an intitute for this stuff??

Of course, this got the entrepreneurial side of me thinking that Jook would be great over there. Jook Singles would promote family oriented fun, where the aim is make every event a reunion of your old friends that you haven't seen in ages! We would promote via viral marketing ie email, and hopefully I'll get some money from LKY for this service :)

What this whole social experimentation has shown is that you cannot forgo everything for one focus. Whilst we all have great career aspirations, it is finding that right person that really is the key to a happy and balanced life. The other thing that strikes me is that all these services keep emphasising the fact that you are so busy you have no time for dating. Don't they realise that if you do find someone you really like, you will make time for them, no matter what?

Damn! seven cheap calls already:

a friend of mine has started up http://www.feverlunches.com
check if out if you're interested in meeting some "busy professionals" over lunch... registration is free and you could win $250!
ding! (link) - 06 September '04 - 06:51

Hah, I liked how the website says that the media are getting the fever, and one of the articles they display is their own ad :)
JookBoy (link) - 06 September '04 - 06:59

y'all might end up romancing each other through those lunching sites, remember, the asian social scene is sydney is reduced to a maximum of 3 degrees of separation.
ue - 06 September '04 - 08:02

I think it's closer to 2 degrees of separation ue.

I used to say that all exes and their exes should be transported to some remote island, kinda like convicts. Have figured out that is not feasible now since there'll be nobody else left to play with!

Does lunch today count as a fever lunch? We're busy professionals!
beckster (link) - 06 September '04 - 10:23

Sick of getting rejected because well, you're ugly? Quit playing those silly relationship games and come to SINGAPORE - the desperate and dateless capital of the WORLD. Not only will you get laid, we'll pay you for it! Visit -----> http://www.singaporehos.com.sg
Dre - 06 September '04 - 12:22

Jookboy, if you can singlehandedly raise the population of Singapore with that entrepreneurial spirit of yours, i'm sure you can expect a big fat "Hong Bao" from the Lee family. Or maybe they'll give you a lifetime free subscription to Optus.

But hey, it's not only Singapore who's passing such a "mandate". If i'm not wrong, some minister of yours went something like "One for the husband, one for the wife and one for the country!"
dsd (link) - 06 September '04 - 19:13

Haha, I'm down for Optus

You make a good point dsd. I was also told that Australia was letting in a lot more Chinese immigrants than before. Unshackled from that one child policy, our kiddie population will explode!
JookBoy (link) - 07 September '04 - 19:16