Men For Hire!

Need a date to impress your friends? Much like how you can buy a dress from online fashion stores, you can rent a boyfriend via two agencies with slick websites and 48-hour “delivery services”. Hoe I Yune investigates and does some shopping herself.

- Hoe I Yune

Picture this: You’re single. You never have a plus-one for weddings. You’re going to get flak this Christmas from relatives who ask why you haven’t found anyone yet. Also, not that it matters, but it’s been ages since a man told you how hot you are.

At least two companies in Singapore have a solution for all the problems above: Men for hire.

Launched in 2014 and 2016 respectively, Rent-a-Gent (http://www.rent-a-gent.pink/)and Pally Asia (http://www.pally.asia/) are like Asos, but for attentive male companionship. You can rent men to give you the boyfriend experience, or even to pose as a fake date at family gatherings.

Unlike social escort agencies, most of which are shrouded in secrecy, with sleazy reputations, both Rent-a-Gent and Pally Asia are modern outfits helmed by university graduates in their 20s and 30s, with prior work experience in the finance, law and human resources industries.

Oh, and sexual services are not on the table. “We don’t cross [that] line,” insists Pally Asia co-founder Low Xu Yang, an investment consultant.

On their websites, you can browse packages and submit requests for a customised experience. Like Amazon’s express shipping option, Rent-aGent finds you a match within 24 hours. On average, it serves four to five clients a week.

All The Single Ladies

This new-age service fills an age-old void: a need for companionship.

“I counsel numerous women who would be considered attractive, intelligent, grounded, loving and capable, but who find it impossible to find [a man with the same qualities],” observes Glenn Graves, psychotherapist at Counseling Perspective. As a result, they no longer “put serious effort into dating”, choosing instead to date casually via dating apps such as Tinder.