Singapore’s Government Technology Agency, or GovTech, has launched an official dating website called FirstDate, with the pilot going live on Sept. 29 for single public officers in Singapore aged 21 to 35. Registration closes on Oct. 5 at 11:59 p.m.
Eligible users must be single, widowed or divorced, and they are required to log in through Singapore’s national digital identity system, Singpass.
One match per round
FirstDate does not use the familiar swipe-based profile system. After filling out a questionnaire, each participant is shown only one match in each round, together with a compatibility score, a short profile and a message. The official tagline says: 「The swiping stops here」.
According to the site’s FAQ, the project started as an idea proposed by GovTech staff during Singapore’s annual {build} hackathon. It is currently being tested internally across the public sector as a pilot program.
Participants are asked to provide their name, date of birth, gender, marital status, email address, mobile number, Telegram account and employing agency. The questionnaire covers personality, values, religion, lifestyle habits and communication style. It also asks about preferred age range and deal-breakers.
72 hours to accept
FirstDate uses the Gale-Shapley Stable Marriage algorithm for matching. The method was introduced in 1962 by David Gale and Lloyd Shapley. In 2012, Lloyd Shapley shared the Nobel Prize in Economics with Alvin Roth.
The news release says the word “stable” means there is no pair of people who would both prefer each other over the partners they were assigned. In the context of FirstDate, that means there should not be two people who would rather be matched with each other while being assigned to different partners.
The report notes that the same method has been used in student school placement and hospital assignment for new doctors. Dating app Hinge, described in the report as Singapore’s most popular dating app, also uses a modified version of the algorithm.
Under the terms of use, the system does not guarantee a match in every round. GovTech will decide how many rounds the cycle runs and how long each round lasts, and those details have not been disclosed.
Once a match is made, both sides receive a text message and have 72 hours to decide whether to accept. During that period, each side can only see basic details, including salutation, employing agency, religion, interests, dietary restrictions and communication style. The terms use Singapore’s Ministry of Education as an example of an employing agency. Phone numbers, email addresses and Telegram accounts are shared only if both sides accept.
Launch comes as fertility rate hits a new low
The pilot arrives as Singapore’s fertility rate falls to a record low. Singapore’s Population in Brief 2026, released in September, showed the resident total fertility rate at 0.87 in 2025, compared with 0.97 in 2024 and 1.24 in 2015.
The report explains that the total fertility rate estimates how many children a woman would have on average between the ages of 15 and 49. A reading of 0.87 means fewer than one child per woman on average.
The same population brief also said the share of single Singapore citizens generally increased from 2015 to 2025, with the sharpest rises seen in the 25 to 29 and 30 to 34 age groups. FirstDate’s target range of 21 to 35 covers both groups.
Free date meals are not guaranteed
The FAQ also addresses whether successful matches will receive a free date meal. The answer is not necessarily. The report says an April questionnaire mentioned free date meals, but the current terms now refer to a “date mission.” If two people complete the activity and upload a photo together, they may qualify for a third-party voucher, with the amount to be decided by GovTech.