Why the Government should play matchmaker alongside dating apps

Spaces where mature adults can form relationships are shrinking. Can the Government provide some?

- Ben Chester Cheong

At rush hour, the MRT is packed with professionals rushing between work and home, phones in hand. Amid busy lives, those who still hope to build families often struggle with a simple question: Where can they realistically meet someone new?

The time may be right to consider a bold new step: government-supported matchmaking initiatives to help singles who wish to form lasting relationships.

Singapore has always been pragmatic in addressing emerging social challenges. When market solutions couldn’t fully meet parents’ demands for affordable, high-quality early childhood education, the Government stepped in decisively.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) now operates 53 kindergartens with plans to expand to 57 in 2025.

The lesson is clear: when markets cannot fully meet a fundamental social need, government support can plug the gap. In the same spirit, it may be worth considering how government initiatives could help mature singles build meaningful connections, alongside community and private efforts.

Statistics paint a stark picture. In the Government’s 2021 Marriage and Parenthood Survey, 50 per cent of single respondents aged 21 to 45 were not currently dating then, and, of these, 38 per cent had never dated before.

The top reasons cited were having a limited social circle (58 per cent), not having many opportunities to meet potential partners (57 per cent), and a preference to leave dating to chance (48 per cent). Other reasons included focusing on work or studies, or finding it difficult to form romantic relationships.

Many of these people are not society’s failures, but rather its successes: professionals who devoted their 20s and early 30s to building careers, individuals who remained deeply embedded in family structures reflecting Asian values, or those who found themselves in small professional circles with limited social opportunities.