Since its inception in August 2002, Singapore Cupid has
brought together numerous Singaporean men and women who were dedicated to
finding their true soulmates. Their love stories are uplifting and
inspirational. Come with us now as these former Singapore Cupid members share their
online dating
experiences with you!
Maurice
and Cecilia is the very first couple we know that found true love waiting
for them on Singapore Cupid. We have been corresponding with them
for the past few months to see how they have been doing. We decided
to interview them in the 8th month of their relationship.
Maurice, 24, works as a Civil Servant while Cecilia, 25, is in the Customer Service business.
| Anne: How
did you learn about Singapore Cupid? |
| Cecilia: I learnt
about it via ICQ. |
| Maurice: I think it was from a Singapore
website where it had links of Singapore Top 100 sites. Just so happens, a
website for Singaporeans! Must be interesting and curiosity got the
better of me! Did not think that Singaporeans would dare to put their
photos! |
| |
| Anne: What was your
intention when creating profiles? Did you do it specifically to
find dates and love or just to try the website out for fun? |
| Cecilia: I intended to make new
friends only. Not really thinking about getting a new date but just to
get more exposure to new more people from other trade of life.
|
| Maurice: My intention was to make more
friends of the opposite sex! Maybe can go party together and eat
supper or eat durians together with me! Guess it was both.
|
| |
| Anne: When
did you post your profiles on Singapore Cupid?
|
| Cecilia: I couldn't remember the
actual date should be in the month of Sept 02.
|
| Maurice: When did I post? Not
too sure too. Maybe one or two months before I met Cecilia [in Oct
02]. |
| |
| Anne: What titles and descriptions did you use for the profiles?
|
| Cecilia: My title was Cecilia and
profile description was "I can read your mind...beware!"
|
| Maurice: Think mine was :
Welcome into my world...Maurice World. Description: Sports and fun
loving guy! |
| |
| Anne: Maurice, how long were you on the website before upgrading
to Deluxe membership? What
made you decide to upgrade? Did
you do it to specifically contact Cecilia J
|
| Maurice: Think I was a normal member
for one to two weeks only then decided that deluxe member would be
easier to make friends and besides the price was ok. Think when I
upgraded to Deluxe member then I knew her.
|
| |
| Anne: How long were you members
before learning about each other?
|
| Cecilia: About 1 month.
|
| Maurice: 1 to 2 months.
|
| |
| Anne: We understand that Maurice contacted Cecilia first.
Maurice what attracted you to Cecilia's profile? Cecilia, what did you like about Maurice's profile? Did you both
have pictures posted? |
| Cecilia: Yup we both have pictures. Well... the think that caught my eye most was maurice's horoscope. he is a Taurus and i know i will get along very well with him. expected to the extend to being couples! also he is outgoing and goes partying too.
|
| Maurice: Yup, I contacted her first.
What caught me first was her tagline: I can read your
mind...beware!" I was like "wow" this girl got
attitude! I was like so skeptical of it. But I tell you...it's true!
she can read one's mind! like a book! :) Then later check up
her photos. I remembered then there were two photos. One was her in a
cable train, she had this look that appealed to me. |
| |
| Anne: Cecilia,
was there something in Maurice's email that really made you want to
respond? |
| Cecilia: There was nothing except that
he is a Taurus and I believe that I can get along very well with Taurus
guys and was thinking of finding new love.
|
| Maurice: Think in my first
email to her, I wrote: " Hi Cecilia, you got an interesting profile.
I would like to know you more. Please reply! kluv maurice." |
| |
| Anne: Can you please send us the original emails to each
other?
|
| Cecilia: The email was kept by u
dear. |
| Maurice: Think got the
email. Must find! [ Below is the first reply from Cecilia to me and my
reply back]. |
| |
From: "Cecilia"
To: "Maurice"
Sent: Thursday, October 17, 2002 2:39 PM
Subject: Harlow
Hi...so where do u club? well for me i frequent chinablack,
mdm wong,
newsroom, devils bar...new hang out place will be lush.
Desired Match
Looking for girls who wanna go clubbing, driving, chit chat,
do sports
2gather or coffee or watever!
Above is ur desired match...
hmmmm...i do go clubbing but have cut down a bit...
i dun drive...
i chat..
sports...sometimes....
coffee is perfectly fine....
On top of that...going for movies...swimming...tanning...
i think that's all i can tell at the moment...wat else can
we share about?
tell me more...
waiting for ur reply...
Cecilia |
|
| |
|
From: "Maurice"
To: "Cecilia"
Sent: Thursday, October 17, 2002 9:12 PM
Subject: Re: Harlow
hi!
frequent..........nw really getting less and lesser!!
used to go ridleys...
lately jus once or twice a month
been to devils bar, music grd and mdm wong lor.......
hw s lush like?
wat music u into?
wat sports u do?
ya we should chat on fone if u'r free lor!!!
got icq?
u go where tann?east coast?
i run ther every alternate day
where do u stay?
well for me.........real sporty person lor...like soccer,gym,
running, iron
man and some more lor..
me working w govt...office hrs...........so far so gd................
hhmm...ask me questions!!!
oh ya u seen my pics loew?
send me ur pics if any lor!
kluv maurice |
|
| |
| Anne: Did
reading each others profile and email, help you learn about each
other before you made the first call?
|
|
|
| Maurice: Yes, definitely! It is
really a great feature of S'pore Cupid. It's like a character
profiling. Getting to know what you getting onto before you meet
"it"! A great tool for preparation for that
very first date! |
| |
| Anne: Who called whom first? How long did you correspond
before deciding to speak? Did you ever chat online? Who
suggested speaking on the phone first? |
| Cecilia: Maurice call me first but i
initiated. we correspond with about 5 emails (correct?) before talking
over the phone. We never had the chance to chat online.
|
| Maurice: Think about 4 to 5
emails. Yeah, no chance to chat online. Busy people we are! It was
Cecilia who suggested. This is another interesting point. Usually
girls would not give the hand phone in the very first reply! |
| |
| Anne: Were
you nervous when you first called to say hi?
What did you speak about on the first conversation?
Was it a long talk? How
often did you talk after that?
|
| Cecilia: not nervous... suppose to be a
friendly chat. we talked about generally stuff like.... "which
school u attended"..."where u stay"... "what kind of
guy/gal u like" etc.... we talked daily after that.
|
| Maurice: Nope. It was really a
friendly chat and yet at the same time, fact finding time. Probing and
getting to know each other more. In fact the profile helped me in
setting the tone. i.e: I would mention you wrote in your profile you
like beach house for ideal place. Then explore on that topic. Yeah, we
were like talking everyday! |
| |
|
|
| |
| Anne: Did
you feel different relating with each other as compared to the other
people you dated before (if any)?
|
| Cecilia: I find it
very comfortable to talk to him... very relax and cheery person to
talk to. we can talk about anything under the sun. |
| Maurice: Yeah, very
different. We had no problems relating to each other. our conversation
just flow. She was just as chatty as i'm!
|
| |
| Anne: Who
suggested hanging up the phone first? J
|
| Cecilia: Maurice suggested first
because he needs to do some things and I was asking him to hang on allthe
time as I was working at the same time. J
|
| Maurice: That
first call, was made to her workplace! |
| |
| Anne: How
much later did you meet in person? Maurice,
you had mentioned you took Cecilia to a party and you clicked right away.
Can you please provide more intimate insight into your initial
feelings about meeting Cecilia? Cecilia
can you please do the same? How
different was the actual meeting than email correspondence and phone
conversations? Did each of
you meet the others expectations?
|
Cecilia:
We met 1 week after corresponding. The
initial meet up was a bit of "coincidence" because Maurice was
supposed to be out with 2 other gals and I was with a group of
friends. Just happened that we went to the same place to party.
The intended meet up was
supposed to be the following day. Well that day Maurice's friends
left the place early and so he was able to join me and my friends.
I thought he was better
looking than the pictures in the profile because maybe it was unclear. The
impression was the same as in the email and phone calls. We clicked the
same.
I think he met my
expectations... we were both chatty.
|
Maurice:
Well as explained, I was actually with 2 other friends! Then Cecilia was
with her friends.
Initial feelings, I was
so at ease with her and chatting away with her! Oblivious to the world
around us! I also remembered that I was drinking cranberry juice then!
Real meeting to email
and phone: Not much change in transition. Feeling as normal in fact like
old friends.
She looked
exactly the same as the photos she posted. So it must be meeting my
expectations!
|
| |
| Anne: Did
you date a lot before meeting each other?
|
| Cecilia:
Yes I did have a few boyfriends previously but none was met
from the net.
|
| Maurice: Yes, occasionally.
:) Some from net, some not.
|
| |
| Anne:
How long were you single before you finding each other?
|
| Cecilia: A
couple of months. Say 3 months. My target was to stay single for 6
months before getting into another relationship actually. But when the
right one comes... we cannot avoid!
|
| Maurice: Think around 3
months too. Guess we were too right for each other!
|
| |
| Anne: Do
you think you might have met by chance without Singapore Cupids help J
|
| Cecilia:Probably not.
|
| Maurice: Rather hard!
Don't think our roads would have crossed.
|
| |
| Anne:
How
has finding each other changed your lives?
Are you sharing new activities together?
How often do you meet each other?
What are some of the most romantic things youve done together?
What has been your most memorable day together?
|
Cecilia:
My life changed! It was a complete change from a party gal to
a simple family gal.
New activities : washing
car... finding nice new food... getting health conscious together...
Actually every now and
then when he make surprise appearance at my workplace to fetch me back
after work is really very very sweet of him!
My birthday! I think Maurice
was so simply sweet on my birthday... we went to the beach... with the
cake and birthday present...
|
Maurice: She has
totally changed my life 360 degrees! Changed my perception of life,
general views of things, taught me to be wiser. Wow, it seems that
she has enlightened me!
Sharing of new
activities: Yeah you bet! Durians eating! Supporting me at soccer
matches, washing car together, lazing around together on a Saturday
morning.
We meet everyday!!!
We cannot don't see each other for more than 24hours!
Most romantic: Must
be her cooking for me! She always cook for me to eat. I tell you,
it's really a fact that to truly win a man's heart is through the
stomach of the man!
Most memorable:
Probably her birthday. Really cracked my brain trying to plan an
almost perfect day for her!
|
| |
| Anne: Do
you have any interesting experiences to share with us, while you were a
member on Singapore Cupid? |
| Cecilia:
Interesting experience... not so... but have met a few friends
from there already though.... there was 1 guy whom I met just before
meeting Maurice... he failed the test though... maybe because he is not
too outgoing and a bit on the shy side. I was the one who was trying to
make the date alive... but he was just not fun to be with. |
| Maurice:
Met a few friends. Nothing much interesting though. Became
friends. |
| |
| Anne: If
there is was one thing you would like to share with other members on our
site who are still searching for their love, what would it be?
|
| Cecilia: Keep searching
because at the end of the road you will definitely see light... you
never know where and who will come into your life.
|
| Maurice: Be sincere and
probably have to be a bit more "thick skin" than usual.
|
| |
| Anne: Do
you think it is difficult to find true love in Singapore?
If so, why? |
| Cecilia:
Yes it is... you never know whether the person is
truthful or faithful... Singapore guys are so difficult to please and
when you find a good one... never let go!
|
| Maurice: Nope. But
rather we do not have the time to search or it is already there but no
time to explore possibilities.
|
| |
| Anne:
Is
there anything youd like us to know?
Please let us know what we can do to be more effective in helping
other Singles find love in Singapore. |
| Cecilia & Maurice:
Arrange outings (more interactive type; buffet dinner, friendly telematches), conduct talks, provide advise (ie: aunty agony) and arrange
for sport classes (ie: have golf classes).
|
| |
|
|
|
