Stop acting like getting a BTO is a valid reason to propose. Half of you are marrying a financial plan, not a soulmate.

Throwaway account because the “BTO AIas Romance” brigade is going to downvote me into oblivion.

Go to any local gathering or scroll through r/Singapore, and the timeline for a relationship is always identical. Meet in uni/dating app -> date for 2 years -> “Eh, want to apply for BTO or not?” -> pay the application fee -> wait 3 to 5 years -> get keys -> get married because die die must fulfill the HDB eligibility criteria.

Let’s call a spade a spade: in Singapore, the Housing Development Board has replaced Cupid. We have romanticized a bureaucratic housing policy into a marriage proposal. “Will you buy a 4-room flat with me?” is supposedly the peak of Singaporean romance, but honestly? It’s depressing.

We are literally incentivizing people to tie themselves to a million-dollar, multi-decade liability with someone they might not even like in five years. Do you know how many couples I see who realize they are fundamentally incompatible during year three of waiting for their flat to build? But instead of breaking up, they push through because forfeiting the downpayment and handling the administrative paperwork is too painful. So they get married anyway, moving into a beautiful new flat built on a foundation of pure financial convenience.

We talk so much about the high cost of living and stress in Singapore, but we don’t talk about how we lock ourselves into marriages because of asset progression. You’re not picking a life partner; you’re picking a co-investor for a 5-year Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) flip strategy.

If your relationship requires a 4-to-5-year government construction timeline to stay together, or if the main driving force to get legally hitched is to avoid losing your 5% downpayment, you are marrying for the wrong reasons. A marriage should be based on emotional compatibility, shared values, and wanting to build a life together—regardless of whether you live in a resale flat, a rental, or a condo.

If the HDB system didn’t exist and we had to rent like the rest of the major cities in the world, half of these BTO engagements would dissolve within six months. Change my mind.