On this very special Valentine's Day, Love Clinic spoke to our very own Marketing Director and Star Matchmaker, Mr Chelestiar Kong, 25, who’s also currently a final year medical student, for his views on dating and relationships.
 

Mr Chelestier Kong, 25 Marketing Director and Star Matchmaker, Love Clinic Medical Student, NUS

1. Tell us more about yourself. 25 year old medical student. Hobbies include singing KTV, going out with friends, playing chess and reading (both medical and non-medical.) 2. What are your greatest passions in life? One of my greatest passions in life is to help people who are in need. (That is why I chose to take up medicine in the first place!). Nothing beats the satisfaction of hearing a grateful “thank you” or seeing the smile on someone’s face after you’ve made a positive impact on his/her life. The same thing goes for dishing out love advice to help singles and couples improve their love life, like what I’m doing now at Love Clinic. 3. Your philosophy in life? My philosophy in life is to bring happiness to the people around me (e.g family, friends) and to help those in need. 4. Do you believe in love at first sight? I believe in that phenomenon, but as to whether it will last is entirely another matter. It is something like buying a car. You may like this new Lexus model the first time you see it. But without doing the appropriate maintenance after buying the car, you will soon realize that your interest in the car has faded. Hence, love at first sight does happen, but most importantly, one must know how to maintain this love at its peak! 5. Share with us your top strategy on how to approach a girl who is a stranger. This will depend on where you meet the girl. If you see the girl alone in the pub, I think it’ll be all right if you walk over to introduce yourself and buy her a drink. If you see her at the bus stop, asking her for bus numbers will be a good conversation starter. The general rule is not to appear too aggressive else you’ll scare her away! 6. Some people have all the love luck. How can a person be more lucky in love? If you have entered casinos before, you will realize that most gamblers like to stick to fellow gamblers who are very lucky. They will also tend to aggregate at those tables where there are a lot of people so as to boost each other’s luck. This strategy applies to love luck as well! For singles, you can consider mixing around more with friends who are attached. Seeing them being happy with their partners will certainly motivate you to find a partner yourself! In addition, go to places with more people. The more people you meet, the higher your chances of being lucky in love! For those friends who believe in Feng Shui, we have an excellent report on “How To Activate Your Love Luck in 2006”. Try it! It really works! 7. Is it possible for a person who is neither good looking nor rich to find true love? This question is similar to asking whether it is possible for an average student to score a distinction in an exam. Although the student may not be the smartest around, but through hard work and the correct application of exam techniques, he will still be able to score an A! This holds true for love as well. As long as you apply the correct dating strategies, be sincere and focused on your goal, true love is just a step away. 8. How long would you wait for a girl you love before moving on to the next one? In the meantime, she may be attached to another guy or single. The answer is: it depends. There are many kinds of girls a guy will meet in his lifetime. Some, you will know that it is just a crush which may die down after a few months. The others, you simply want to spend your entire life with them and know that without them, your life will never be complete. For the former, I will advise you not to wait for them. Move on after she expresses no interest in you. For the latter, you can continue to be her close friend. One day, she will be touched by your sincerity. 9. What's your golden advice for singles? My golden advice for singles is: “Believe in yourself”. 10. What's your golden advice for couples? My golden advice for couples is: “Believe in both yourself and your partner”. 11. In your mind, is there such a thing as a high maintenance girlfriend? To what extent do you think a guy should spend on dates and is it justifiable? Some women feel loved only if their boyfriends shower them with expensive gifts. Others will feel loved only if their boyfriends bring them to posh restaurants for dates. In my opinion, there is indeed such a thing as a high maintenance girlfriend. (But there are of course ways to convert her into a medium maintenance one!) How much a guy should spend on a date is entirely up to his financial capability. As to whether it is justifiable, well, I guess it is all right to pamper your girlfriend once in a while by buying her something expensive. But do not do this too often. If not, your relationship will be based on the foundation of materialism! 12. I know that as a medical student, time is very precious to you. How do you allocate time for dating? And what do you think is the optimum number of times to meet per week. In life, we must always strike a balance. Life is not solely about studies and career. It is also about spending time with your family, your loved ones, engaging in hobbies as well as setting aside time for personal development! Therefore, always allocate a reasonable amount of time to spend with your partner! Depending on how busy each party is, I think the optimum number of meeting times per week is about once or twice. But do remember that even if you are not seeing your partner face to face, you will need to contact him/her regularly via phone calls and smses! 13. You're touted as one of the top matchmakers in Singapore. What's your secret of success? The secret of a top estate sales agent is simply to match what the buyer is looking for to what the seller has to offer. Create an opportunity for them to meet and during the meeting, facilitate the conversation between both parties. Same goes for matchmaking! 14. I've known a close friend of the opposite sex for several years and I like her. Can you share some tips on "how to cross the line between friendship and love"? This is a question which many single guys want to find out. From our research, we have come up with a very effective method on crossing this line. For more information, please refer to my article on “How To Tell Someone You Like Them”. 15. I admire you for your expertise in dating. I'm quite hopeless at it. How can I learn from you? Sad to say, I will not be able to share all my research and experiences in dating in just one single paragraph. Therefore, a good way to find out more would be to subscribe to our weekly “Love Letters”, check our website www.Love-Clinic.com regularly for updates, and get a copy of our book “Love Clinic – How To Lose Your Bachelor’s Degree” (available for order online and also at all leading bookstores in Singapore). 16. Your website is full of good romantic ideas and you've got a popular newsletter to go with it too. What are people saying about Love-Clinic.com so far? We received quite a lot of positive feedback on our work. For example, one of our readers even dropped us an email telling us to send him our romantic ideas so that he can maintain a loving relationship with his wife! Here I will like to take the opportunity to thank our friends and readers who have supported Love Clinic along the way. With your continued support, I assure you that we will come up with more dating tips and romantic strategies to making love work.