It was like a college mixer, a classroom full of young men and women seeking a recipe for romance.
They had assembled for the first class of "Love Relations for Life: A Journey of Romance, Love and Sexuality."
There was giggling and banter among the students, but that was all part of the course as their teacher, Suki Tong, led them into the basics of dating, falling in love and staying together.
The course, in its second year at two polytechnic institutes, is the latest of many, mostly futile, campaigns by Singapore's government to get its citizens to mate and multiply. Its popularity last year has led to talk of its expansion through the higher education system.
"We want to tell students, 'Don't wait until you have built up your career,' " said Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, the minister of state for community development, youth and sports, at a news conference in March. "Sometimes, it is too late, especially for girls."
The courses are an extension of government matchmaking programs that try to address the twin challenges embodied in a falling birthrate: too few people are having babies, and too few of those who are belong to what Singapore considers the genetically desirable educated elite. More...
See also: Catherine Lim: Singapore materially rich, spiritually poor...
And this: OMG! Singapore to give Lessons in Love!!
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