Many countries around the world are currently grappling with aging populations, declining birth rates (due to shifting societal norms), high living costs, and pessimism about the future. Singapore, which has a low birthrate of 0.87 children per woman, has even launched a pilot matchmaking service with the hopes of pairing people who might eventually start a family.
The new app by Singapore’s technology agency GovTech is called FirstDate, and it’s intended for government workers in Singapore aged between 21 and 35. It uses the Nobel Prize-winning framework called the Gale-Shaplet Stable Marriage Algorithm to create pairings based on compatibility scores. Each user is invited to answer a questionnaire about their interests, habits, values and preferences, and will be matched with one person at a time based on their answers. Those looking for love will have three days to accept an invitation to chat with their match, and from there they can plan a date.
Singapore is no stranger to dating apps, but the makers behind FirstDate hope that by removing the ability to swipe through endless options, users will be able to focus on getting to know one person at a time.
“The team shared an interest in exploring some of the challenges people can face when meeting someone new,” FirstDate shares in the website’s FAQs. “They wondered whether a different approach that places greater emphasis on compatibility through values and preferences, and offers fewer matches at a time, could give users more space to consider each introduction and decide whether they would like to take the next step.”
FirstDate isn’t Singapore’s first government-backed matchmaking initiative. In 1984, the government launched the Social Development Unit to encourage marriage among university-educated singles through social events and mixers. More recently, in August, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong unveiled a package of measures aimed at supporting families, including nearly 70,000 Singapore dollars ($55,000) in financial benefits for each child from birth through age 17.
Still, the government’s approach to encouraging marriage and parenthood has faced plenty of criticism. Many people online argue that a new dating app won’t address the deeper reasons why people are choosing not to date or have children. Some people have also expressed concerns about government involvement in personal decisions. And GovTech has told local media that no decision has been made on whether to expand the service beyond employees at government agencies.
One person on Instagram commented, “Whether I date or not is none of my government’s business.” And another wrote, “Having kids is expensive, time consuming, stressful, and etc. People aren’t going to have kids just because the government needs kids so society can grow.”Another person on Reddit raised concerns over the app’s inclusivity saying, “Hope after this pilot, they will make one islandwide for any locals for any age group, that would be really inclusive.”
You can learn more out more about the app on the FirstDate website.
Source: Singapore Launches National Dating App
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