A total of 485 singles set a new speed-dating world record when
they turned up at a dinner and dance at the Marina Bay Sands
Saturday night.
Organised by the marriage-promoting Social Development
Network (SDN), the Masquerade Ball broke the world record
for having the most number of singles participating in
a speed-dating activity
in one place.
It was supposed to
officially break the Guinness World
Record but as the official from Guinness could not make it
simply stands as a world record.
The previous
record stood at 435 singles and was set by a private organization
in South Africa on Valentine’s Day 2011.
In the Singapore
event Saturday, singles were randomly placed on tables of ten and
treated to dinner. A healthy mix of young and old singles
socialised and made merry.
After the dinner,
the speed-dating activity began and participants would take a
minute or two to quickly chat up the person next to them before
moving on to the next.
The ballroom came
alive with people gesturing, showing each other pictures on their
phones and exchanging name cards. When the bell sounded, the
momentary chaos would start again as the men shifted their places
to talk to the next woman in line.
“I saw the event
through my email and newsletter and I brought my friends along”,
said Anne, a 25-year-old HR executive. “For me, I just want to meet
some new friends.”
“They are very
spontaneous, friendly and very easy going, it’s very nice to meet
new friends”, said another participant, 26-year-old Alvin, who is
from the air force.
The long queue of
people to meet, however, did get to be a bit taxing. 43-year-old
Joanne Tey who works in the shipping industry, said, “ I was
starting to feel tired after a few rounds and when I look at
people’s faces, they look tired too.”
But in the end the
event achieved its aim of getting singles to
mingle. “I made a lot of friends still,” said Tey.
The ball in Marina
Bay Sands Saturday capped the end to five weeks of festivities by
the government-backed SND to encourage singles to socialise.
The dating fest
saw over 1,000 singles signing up for various activities.
Prior to this,
Singapore held a record for 60 singles speed dating in cable cars
in 2009 and 52 singles speed dating on the MRT in 2008.
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Hi, single females and males out
there,
You may want to take part in such an
event/