Singapore’s government has decided that finding love is a public service. Earlier this month, GovTech announced a pilot programme called FirstDate, which will match government workers to potential partners using a Nobel prize-winning algorithm. The programme is a return to form for a country that tried this once before, with a Social Development Network that faded away years ago.
The twist is that the algorithm has almost nothing to do with marriage. It is the Gale-Shapley Stable Marriage Algorithm, a tool originally designed to match medical school residents to hospital residencies. That is not romantic. But the Singaporean approach is: the questionnaire asks about everything from your dream first date to your room’s current state of mess.
The Questions, In Full
GovTech’s questionnaire runs across eight categories, from interests and passions to communication and relationship style. It is a mix of close-ended options and open-ended spill-the-beans moments. Here is a taste of what you will be asked:
- What are you into these days? Pick up to five from a list that includes gaming, film, volunteering, and cafe-hopping.
- Which restaurant do you keep going back to, and why?
- How often do you find an excuse to leave the country?
- Team sunrise, or team “it’s 2am and I’m still up”?
- Gym rat, occasional jogger, or exercise is a myth to you?
- What’s a country that’s ruined all other countries for you?
- How do you like to be loved? Pick up to three from the five love languages.
- What’s the youngest age you’d consider dating?
- What’s the oldest age you’d consider dating?
The questionnaire also asks whether you have ever used a dating app before, how many first dates you’ve been on in the past year, and when you last went on one. It ends with a request to write a short note about yourself in a few sentences.
Singpass And The Matching Rules
FirstDate uses Singpass, Singapore’s national digital identity system, to verify users. Matches happen in cycles, meaning you get only one match per round. Contact details are shared only when both users agree to the match.
| Stage | Detail |
|---|---|
| Verification | Singpass |
| Matching | Gale-Shapley Algorithm |
| Rounds | One match per cycle |
| Contact | Shared only with mutual agreement |
The Gale-Shapley algorithm proved that a stable match always exists when there are equal participants of each type. That is the mathematical foundation. Whether it translates to chemistry is another matter.
The History Behind The Algorithm
The Gale-Shapley algorithm got its name decades after it started being used. Since the 1950s, a similar system has matched medical school residents with hospital residencies in the United States. Doctors and hospitals provide ranked lists of preferences, and the algorithm turns those lists into stable matches.
The key feature is stability. Once all the matching is done, no pair would rather be matched with one another over their current partners. It proved that such a stable match always exists when there are equal participants of each type.
For a government programme, stability is a reasonable goal. For a dating app, it is a strange one. The algorithm is not designed to measure attraction or compatibility, only to prevent pairs from wanting to switch partners.
Why Singapore Chose This Path
The timing is notable. Three years after the Social Development Network ended, a new government-run matchmaker is back on the cards. The programme was announced earlier this month, with government workers as the first batch of daters.
The writer first reported on GovTech testing the idea all the way back in April for The Straits Times. The latest announcement confirms that the programme has moved from a test to a pilot. The questions are a reminder that the government sees romance as a problem worth solving, even if the solution is not obvious.
The Limits Of The Algorithm
The algorithm’s strength is also its weakness. It proves that a stable match always exists, not that it guarantees a happy one. There is no question about mutual attraction, only about avoiding regret. The questionnaire tries to fill that gap with its open-ended questions, but the core logic remains unchanged.
The food questions are particularly curious. An earlier prototype of GovTech’s dating service proposed free meals for first dates, which is what the writer assumes all the food-related questions are for. The questions about restaurants and cuisines could be about preferences, or they could be about the logistics of arranging a first meeting. Either way, they are not about love.
What This Means For Daters
The programme is a pilot, which means it is experimental. Government workers are the first batch, but the template exists for expansion. The questions are detailed and occasionally absurd, but they are also strangely intimate. A government asking about your room’s current state of mess is a bold move.
The algorithm itself is not romantic. It is a tool for matching residents to hospitals, not for matching lovers. But the Singaporean approach is to treat romance as a public good, even if the method is unorthodox.
The questions are a mix of the practical and the whimsical. They ask about your room, your travel habits, your love languages, and your religion. They are also, at times, oddly specific. The youngest and oldest age you would consider dating is a question that most dating apps avoid.
The programme is a return to form for a country that has tried this before. The Social Development Network faded away years ago, and now FirstDate is back. The questions are detailed and the algorithm is Nobel-winning, and the target audience is government workers.
The pilot is a small step, but it raises a larger question. Is romance a public good, or is it a private affair? Singapore is betting on the former, at least for now. The questions are public, the algorithm is Nobel-winning, and the daters are government workers. That combination is unusual, and it is likely to be studied closely.
See the video the story is built around at singapore-samizdat.com.
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