A recent Straits Times survey of 1,000 unmarried people explained why the dating scene is so bleak: it’s hard to meet new people, dating can be expensive and there are unrealistic expectations of love and relationships.

In this episode, Natasha chats with:

• Liu Zhiqun, co-founder of Kopi Date, a dating platform that curates one-on-one coffee dates, and

• Dr Kenneth Tan, an assistant professor of psychology at Singapore Management University, who studies relationships from end-to-end - that is from singlehood to why relationships end.

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:53 Has dating become harder?

5:29 21 years old, no dating experience

10:10 The ‘perfect partner’ problem

11:33 Has social media warped our idea of romance

14:21 Dating 101: teaching rejection in schools?

18:29 Why people don’t bring their best self on dates

21:46 “Why do I have to work for love as well?”

27:15 Is school the best place to look for love?

31:20 Fear of being alone leads to settling

32:34 Red flags, icks: are they just excuses?

36:25 Old-school gender rules in a modern dating world

41:52 Can the Government fix our love lives?

Host: Natasha Ann Zachariah (natashaz@sph.com.sg)

Read Natasha’s articles: https://str.sg/iSXm

Follow The Usual Place podcast on IG: https://str.sg/8KNT

Follow Natasha on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/v6DN

Filmed by: Studio+65

Edited by: Eden Soh & Natasha Liew

Executive producer: Danson Cheong

Producers: Natasha Ann Zachariah and Elizabeth Law

Follow The Usual Place Podcast and get notified for new episode drops every Thursday:

Channel: https://str.sg/5nfm

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/9ijX

Spotify: https://str.sg/cd2P

YouTube: https://str.sg/theusualplacepodcast

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

---

Follow more ST podcast channels:

All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7

Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

---

Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:

The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB

Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX

--

#tup #tuptrf