The Standard:
Man, it's not easy to find love these days
Getting married is becoming more a matter of luck than love, according to the findings of a survey.
With the latest statistics showing there are 600,000 more women than men in Hong Kong, meeting the right person can be tricky.
From August to October, matchmaking and Speed Dating agency HK Romance Dating interviewed 276 single men and 244 single women, most of whom were under 40, as to whether or not the gender imbalance affected their choice of partners.
More than 60 percent of the women agreed that the shortage of men would limit their choices while 65 percent of the males said the abundance of women did not make their choices easier.
More than half the women feared they would have to remain single because they had high standards with 33 percent saying most men they met "did not meet their criteria."
Men were less picky with just 22 percent saying the women were not up to standard. One in six men, or 17 percent, said they were too busy for love.
The majority - 64 percent of males and 70 percent of females - agreed that marriage was important, with one-third of the men saying they hoped to be married by age 34 and 46 percent of the women by age 31.
More importantly, not everyone places financial status above love, with one-third of both men and women saying savings of around HK$400,000 would be enough to start a family.
Romance Dating was founded three years ago and has more than 1,000 registered members.
The dating services, which was awarded the "Most Valuable Dating Company Award," hosts speed-dating events for singles every week. Members are told to be realistic when choosing partners.
Founder Anita Wong Wai-ping said 30 percent of the members prefer their partners to be from a particular Chinese zodiac sign or horoscope.
Wong said that instead of fantasizing on how perfect the partner should be, single people should focus on picking up new hobbies, building self-confidence and breaking bad habits.
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