Americans Search for Love in Singapore — For All the Wrong Reasons

In Season 2 of the matchmaking reality show Match Me Abroad, participants Harold and Sarah thought they could find The One here

- John Lui

For some baffling reason, two Americans have picked Singapore as the place in which they look for The One in the matchmaking reality show Match Me Abroad (2023 to present).

Someone has somehow convinced the series' producers that the city-state is a world capital of romance. This, without a doubt, is the greatest marketing coup of all time.

Season 2 hopeful Harold Davis, 43, comes from New Mexico. The nuclear energy engineer is an anime fan and, tragically, everything about him feeds into the stereotype of the white guy who takes refuge in the idea that, over here, his American average converts to an Asian awesome.

"Singaporean women are beautiful and sexy. A lot of women over there love anime. It would be cool if we nerded out on the same things," he says in an episode of Match Me Abroad 2, which is showing on TLC (Singtel TV Channel 254) on Fridays at 9pm.

He is not hiding the fact that he is looking for a "waifu," but his honesty is endearing. The autism that makes him socially awkward has also made him sweetly vulnerable.

Harold is not doing well on his dates. He tries so hard, which is heartbreaking. It is like seeing a little boy try out for the team only to be sent back by the coach.

He and his first Singapore date, a teachers' trainer named Zi Hui (nicknamed Cheezy), go to a cat cafe, where they sketch and have drinks afterwards. Their conversation flows like molasses. He covers up the silence with overlong descriptions of his life, which makes it worse.

In a bid to achieve a breakthrough, like a desperate general gambling it all on a frontal attack, he asks to hold her hand. She agrees, reluctantly.