Singapore Woman Offers $2,000 Bounty in Unique Quest for Love

In a city known for its pragmatic approach to life, one woman has taken an unconventional route to find love, offering a $2,000 bounty to anyone who can introduce her to a compatible life partner. Ms Bella Dai, a 29-year-old wellness entrepreneur, has turned heads with her innovative campaign, sparking wider conversations about the challenges of modern dating in career-driven societies like Singapore.

Ms Dai, who shared her dating criteria and the financial incentive on her Instagram account (@bellzdai) in February, insists the bounty is less about the money and more about creating a memorable impression among her social circle. “I wanted people to know that I am available and looking,” she told The Straits Times. Her approach, inspired by marketing principles, reflects a growing disillusionment with traditional dating apps and a return to personal networks for meaningful connections.

A Creative Approach to Romance

Born in Chengdu, China, and a Singapore permanent resident since moving to the city-state at 15, Ms Dai is no stranger to blending creativity with pragmatism. A former industrial designer with a degree from Nanyang Technological University, she now runs a wellness company. Her longest relationship lasted four years, ending in 2020, and she has since struggled with the unpredictability of dating apps—a sentiment shared by many of her peers.

“If I was a product, how would I market myself?” Ms Dai mused, explaining the logic behind her campaign. Her dating criteria are specific: a straight man aged 25 to 42, based in Singapore, with a mastery of his craft, an interest in wellness and fitness, courage in facing tough conversations, and openness to spiritual self-development. The bounty, payable only if a referral leads to a committed relationship of at least six months, is designed to incentivise serious matchmaking by friends.

Since launching her campaign, Ms Dai has received five referrals, two of which she considers serious. She has already gone on three dates with one prospect. The $2,000 figure, she says, was chosen to be striking enough to leave an impression without being so exorbitant as to attract fortune-seekers.

Beyond Dating Apps: A Return to Trust

Ms Dai’s bounty is part of a broader trend of disillusionment with online dating platforms. A 2024 YouGov survey in Singapore found that many Tinder users are “social daters” seeking friendships rather than committed relationships, often leading to mismatched expectations. For Ms Dai, who is deeply embedded in the wellness and spirituality community, finding someone with aligned values through apps is particularly challenging. “It does take someone with an open mind to hang out with me,” she noted.

Her solution—relying on friends to vet potential matches—offers a layer of trust absent in anonymous online interactions. “That’s what’s great about meeting through friends. You don’t have to worry about being ghosted,” she said, highlighting a common frustration with digital dating. By leveraging her social network, Ms Dai believes she can bypass much of the guesswork and disappointment associated with modern romance.

Not Alone in the Bounty Trend

Ms Dai is not the first to gamify the search for love with a financial reward. In 2024, The New York Times reported on Anatoliy Zaslavskiy, a US tech worker offering a staggering US$100,000 (S$134,000) bounty—paid over four years—to whoever introduces him to his future partner. Mr Zaslavskiy embraced the online ridicule his quest attracted, viewing it as part of the campaign’s appeal. As of December 2024, his bounty remained unclaimed.

While Ms Dai arrived at her idea independently, inspired by the costs of professional matchmaking services, her approach raises similar questions about the intersection of money and romance. Is love something that can—or should—be incentivised with cash? For Ms Dai, the bounty is less a transaction and more a conversation starter, a way to signal her seriousness in a society where personal lives often take a backseat to professional ambitions.

Cultural Context in Career-Driven Singapore

In Singapore, where career and financial stability often dominate life priorities, personal relationships can feel like an afterthought. “In our personal lives, we sort of expect things to happen magically,” Ms Dai observed. Her public campaign challenges this passive approach, encouraging others to be proactive in their search for love, even if not as openly as she has done. “It doesn’t have to be so public,” she advised. “The key thing is to put ourselves in front of people we can trust.”

Her story resonates in a cultural landscape where traditional matchmaking through family and friends has largely been replaced by digital platforms, yet dissatisfaction with the latter grows. Ms Dai’s blend of old-school networking with a modern marketing twist offers a potential middle ground—one that prioritises trust and compatibility over algorithmic matches.

A Personal Quest with Wider Implications

Ms Bella Dai’s $2,000 bounty may not be a blueprint for everyone, but it underscores a universal desire for meaningful connection in an increasingly disconnected world. Her willingness to apply business strategies to her personal life reflects both creativity and determination, qualities that may well attract the kind of partner she seeks.

As dating culture continues to evolve, stories like Ms Dai’s highlight the need for alternatives to the often impersonal realm of online platforms. Whether her bounty leads to lasting love remains to be seen, but it has already succeeded in one respect: making her search memorable, not just to her friends, but to a wider audience grappling with the same age-old question—how do we find the one?