Boyfriend for hire

That's what some Singapore women do during the Chinese New Year period to avoid the inevitable question: When are you going to settle down?

One of these women is a regional sales director who wanted to be known only as Miss Ng.

She requested that we do not use her full name as she does not want to risk her relatives uncovering the truth.

The petite 44-year-old, who described herself as "average-looking", told The New Paper: "I can afford it.It's easier to hire a man than to tackle the nosyparkers."

It is also an easier way of managing her aged parents' constant fussing over their only daughter.

"I think it's natural for parents to worry over their children's marital status, and my parents happen to belong to the traditional type who think that a woman's job is to marry and have kids," she said with a wry smile.

"So being successful in your career and being self-sufficient mean nothing to them, unfortunately."

Just a few hours before our interview on Tuesday, Miss Ng had met her new "boyfriend" for a short debrief.

She booked him for the first three days of the Chinese New Year and paid the male social escort agency $2,500 for each session of four hours of dating and $300 for the introduction session, making a total of $7,800.

"I've got myself a new boyfriend this year and I needed to share 'notes' on basic details such as how we met and how long we have been dating," said Miss Ng, who is hiring her second boyfriend in four years.

Her experience in hiring a boyfriend taught her that it is important to establish rapport with the escort.The male social escort she had booked for the previous three years has quit.

She said: "I miss him so much this year. We had actually hit it off quite well. I think my parents, especially my mum, liked that 'boyfriend' of mine, even though he is four years younger."

But it had been a rocky start initially, Miss Ng recalled with a chuckle, that nearly "had my game exposed".

"I had told my parents that he was a colleague from a particular department, but he slipped up and mentioned another one instead," said Miss Ng.

"We also forgot to discuss his family background, so I said he has a younger sister, but he said he has an elder sister."

"In English, sister means just that, but in Chinese, 'jie jie' (older sister) and 'mei mei' (younger sister) are different."

EXCUSE

They got away by using the English-Chinese translation as an excuse for the misunderstanding, saying they had just started dating.

Miss Ng said she first hit on the idea of hiring an escort from "reading some online reports on boyfriends for hire" in 2010.

"It's very popular in China and when I called a few escort agencies here, I found that they offered such services - not only for the Chinese New Year, but also other occasions such as Christmas and Valentine's Day."

She is hoping her "boyfriend" this year will get her parents off her back.

"Fingers crossed," she said cheekily.

"Or the money I have paid in advance to hire him for the first three days of Chinese New Year will go down the drain."

Miss Ng is not the only one here who resorts to hiring a boyfriend for the festive season.

Social escort agency owners told The New Paper that they have been seeing a spike in the numbers - 20 to 25 per cent - for this period over the past few years.

"We started doing business with women seeking alternative companionship to fill the void during Christmas and Valentine's Day," said Mr Ernest Ting of MS Promotions.

"But in recent years, there has been an increase in bookings for Chinese New Year."

But getting the women to share their experience was not as easy - it took us quite a while before Miss Ng or Miss Ingrid Ho was convinced to do so.

They agreed to share their stories on condition that we do not reveal their identities.

Miss Ho, who is in her 40s, declined to give her occupation and is fine with us using her English name as her family members and relatives know her by her dialect name.

We had asked the escort agency to contact her on our behalf and she was willing to be interviewed over the phone.

Miss Ho is hiring a boyfriend for the first time and will be taking him home today.

She is paying $2,200 for the fourhour session that includes visiting both her paternal and maternal grandparents' homes.

She said: "I think this is a white lie that hurts no one.

"I can go ahead and play my role as a filial daughter and granddaughter, my fake boyfriend keeping the constant kaypohs at bay.

"It's a win-win situation. Who knows, if it works out well, I'd consider doing it again next year."

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