S’pore Man Criticized for Bringing Own Soft Drinks & Wanting To Go Dutch On First Date

Some people believe that when you’re going on your very first date with someone else, the guy should be the one paying for the date. Others believe that whoever asked the other out should be the one to pay while some may feel that people should go on dutch.

When we go on a first date, we’re usually going to present the best versions of ourselves, so your actions will determine how the other party sees you. And I’m not saying that that is right, but I’m not saying that it is wrong either. As humans, it is quite natural of us to be on our best behaviour so as to appeal to the person we are interested in.

But first dates should be all about getting to know each other better, and I guess if the person doesn’t check off certain things on your checklist, perhaps it shows that there might be some incompatibility there. After all, people have differing opinions.

Sadly, one 37-year-old man by the name of Wang Zhiwei was called “lonely” and “stingy” after he brought soft drinks to a blind date and refused to treat his date to a meal at a restaurant.

What Happened

According to Wang, he engaged the services of a matchmaking agency that was listed to be operating somewhere in Eunos. He was matched with another lady who was around his age on 11 December and they were supposed to meet at a restaurant.

In order to schedule a date with the lady, he paid $50 to the matchmaking agency on 29 December.

He claimed that the lady was very patronising in the sense that she didn’t seem to be that interested in the blind date but rather, more interested in getting a free meal out of the date.

When he arrived at the venue that they were scheduled to meet, he realised that it was a restaurant that charged at least $30 for a meal, which was definitely more than what he was expecting.

According to Lianhe Wanbao, he said “I thought we were just going to have a chat, and only meet after we each had our dinners. The lady didn’t even introduce herself when she arrived. She flipped the menu and insisted that I foot the bill. Each meal cost over $30. It’s too expensive. Fast food would have been more filling.”

When asked about the lady’s side of the story, a Miss Chen from the matchmaking agency responded.

Apparently, Wang could not stop staring at her. Other than refusing to pay for her share of the meal, he wouldn’t pay for a $15 cocktail, and instead took out two bottles of soft drinks.

Wang claimed that he told her that he would rather find a place to chill and talk over the drinks he brought with him, but she scolded him for a lack of poise and left.

He later told the Chinese paper that even though he does agree that he is stingy, he maintains his position that people should go dutch on first dates.

Shady Business

Wang further added that he thinks that the matchmaking agency and his blind date could be in cahoots to scam people – one earns a matchmaking fee while the other gets a free meal.

One thing that would probably raise eyebrows would be the fact that the agency is no longer in business and Wang believes that it might be an unlicensed agency.

Even though the agency is listed to be located somewhere in Eunos, Wang noted that there was no physical store. Despite finding out about this, he still went ahead to enlist its services because it was cheap.

Perhaps he can try online dating platforms like Tinder instead? I mean, that’s free.

Chen later told him that while the matchmaking agency has been closed for three years, she still continued the business from home because she had too many members’ contact details. The agency has apparently been running for 20 years before it closed down.

She clarified with the paper and said, “I introduced him to my previous members. I did not expect him to be so stingy and can’t even treat a lady to a $15 drink.”

Even though this is no longer a legitimate business, she claimed that she was just trying to help Wang out with matching him to a lady.

There is always two sides to a story and now with all the he says and she says, it’s hard to determine the truth to the story.

So what is your take on this? Do you think that the guy is expected to pay on the first date? Or do you think that both parties should go dutch?