We've all seen that kind of email or spam advertisement telling you that "there are single people near you." Sometimes they manage to bypass spam filters and appear directly in our inboxes. Most people would probably just delete them, but some Singaporean civil servants might think twice: this could very well be a dating service, and moreover, one provided by the government.

The Singapore Government Technology Agency ( GovTech ) has launched a pilot project called FirstDate , which provides single public servants aged 21 to 35 with a potential match. After receiving the match, users have 72 hours to decide whether to establish contact. Moreover, in order to maximize the effectiveness of the matching, this project utilizes Nobel Prize-winning matching theory algorithms.

This pilot project website states, "Sliding fatigue, stop here." This experiment addresses a common frustration in dating apps: whether choosing more options actually makes it easier to find the right person, or whether it instead makes the selection process more difficult. For this reason, they adopted the Gale-Shapley algorithm. This algorithm is part of "matching theory," which led to Lloyd Shapley and Alvin Roth winning the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2012. This algorithm can generate stable matches, meaning that there will not be a situation where both participants prefer each other more than their current partners.

Professor of Psychology at Singapore Management University who studies partner preferences, Norman Li, stated: "Limiting the range of choices resets the dating environment to a state that is more suitable for the human brain to process." He told Fortune that people can become overwhelmed by the perceived abundance of options, which makes it more difficult to find a partner or make commitments.

Launched against the backdrop of declining birth rates

At the time of this pilot program's launch, Singapore is facing an increase in the average marriage age and a decline in the fertility rate. According to data from the Singapore Statistics Agency, by 2025, the total fertility rate for Singaporean residents will have dropped to 0.87 children per woman, which is lower than the 0.97 in 2024. The median age for first marriage has risen to 31.1 years for men and 29.6 years for women, compared to 30.3 years and 28.2 years respectively 10 years ago.

FirstDate The website describes its purpose as supporting the dating journey for single individuals, but it does not explicitly list increasing the birth rate as a goal. Users will only receive one potential match at a time, along with a matching score, a profile, and a personal message.

According to the website, the idea was conceived by an employee of GovTech during the institution's annual hackathon. The service they developed emphasizes a high degree of compatibility and gives users more time to consider each introduction. The concept was made public in April, and at that time, GovTech conducted surveys among single individuals with an early version of the service. According to the Strait Times, one of the design proposals even suggested that the government should subsidize the first date meal.

Users are required to fill out a questionnaire that covers common topics during a first date, including interests, habits, preferences, and values. Subsequently, FirstDate will apply the Gale-Shapley algorithm for stabilizing marriages, which is a mathematical matching method based on the preferences of the participants.

Both parties will receive a text message notification informing them of the matching results. From that point on, each party can only see the other's profile information, and contact details will only be shared if both agree. A subsequent survey will also ask about the progress, including whether the participants exchanged contact information or met in person.

GovTech told Fortune that FirstDate is a limited pilot program, and there is no additional information to share beyond what has already been made public. Registration will close on October 5th.

Li believes that authentication could be an advantage for government-operated services. "The government can provide a higher level of security, including authentication, which helps to ensure that users are more genuine and indeed single," he said.

A 29-year-old Defense Department employee, Elizabeth, told BBC that she is interested in trying FirstDate because the possibility of being deceived is "much lower".

She said to BBC, "We're both civil servants looking for a partner, right?"

Who can get a match?

However, getting people involved may still be a challenge. Li states: "Some people might worry that the government is interfering in their private lives."

The report by __BJW_KEEP_00001 states that some Singaporeans have called the pilot program a "dystopia," while others believe it excludes everyone not working in the government sector. Users of __BJW_KEEP_00002 also joined the discussion, with some joking about the age threshold, saying they were too old to qualify. In the r/__BJW_KEEP_00003 discussion, user __BJW_KEEP_00004 wrote: "Haha, age 21 to 35. So it's true, even the government abandons you if you're over 35?"

This is not the first time Singapore has done this. In January 1984, the government established the Social Development Board ( Social Development Unit ) to facilitate connections between university graduates working in the public sector. According to a record from the National Library of Singapore, this initiative reflected the concerns of then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew: a decrease in the number of children born to educated women could potentially reduce the country's future talent pool.

Moreover, this is not unique to Singapore. In 2024, the government of Tokyo, Japan, also launched its own dating app. According to Global Dating Insights, by June 2026, 265 couples had married through this service.

Li believes that FirstDate has potential, but also points out that merely facilitating matches cannot overcome all the obstacles in a relationship. "A new dating platform can improve the efficiency of finding a partner and create new possibilities, especially for users who are serious about seeking a relationship," he said.

He pointed out that economic pressures, uncertain employment and economic prospects, long-term stress, social isolation, and a lack of family support can all make dating, marriage, and childbearing more complicated.

This service itself also acknowledges that there are limitations to matching people solely through questionnaires.

Its website states: "Of course, a paper contract alone cannot guarantee a chemical reaction, nor can it ensure that what begins will develop into a relationship in the end. What happens next depends on you."