Love comes at a price, though -- a date on the Singapore Flyer costs 140 US dollars, which includes a gourmet dinner at a spa resort. All 24 slots have been booked, said Chow.

Violet Lim, co-founder of dating agency Lunch Actually, agreed Singapore's fast-paced lifestyle has made it hard for couples to connect.

"We play the role of an introducer," she said. "A lot of people who join us, they are not exactly people who can't find dates on their own. I would say it's more due to their schedules."

A subsidiary of Lunch Actually, Eteract.com, received funding from the government's Partner Connection Fund for its online dating platform.

The platform allows singles to get acquainted by chatting and even playing games in cyberspace, said Lim, adding the identities of participants have been verified.

The number of babies born per woman in Singapore fell to an historic low of 1.24 in 2004 and 2005, far below the rate of 2.1 needed for the population to replenish itself, the government has said.

This shortage prompted authorities to offer cash incentives for couples having more than two children, encourage foreigners to adopt citizenship, and ease up on previously taboo subjects like sex.

"We have managed to reverse the decline in births, but only barely," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a message on the eve of Lunar New Year earlier this month.

"Last year we only had 37,000 resident births, just 2,000 more than in 2004."

Lee said that ultimately the issue is not just about financial incentives but other factors including "social attitudes".

Singapore had a population of 4,588,600 last year but about one million of those were non-resident foreigners, official statistics show.

Perhaps among those numbers lies the partner Joyce Tia is seeking.

Tia, a group financial controller in her thirties, will join a dinner date organised by Ideas and Concepts dating agency on the eve of Valentine's Day.

"I am looking for a long-term relationship so having the dating agency to provide me the background of the person is good," said Tia.