In an old English-style mansion in downtown Kuala Lumpur, 54 single people tired of looking for love take part in five-minute speed dates in the hope of being struck by Cupid's arrow in time for Valentine's Day.

The atmosphere is intense at the 1919 Bistro and Wine Bar, broken only by occasional quiet laughter, as 30 women and 24 men seek to make a love connection over a three-hour session.

The process is simple: men and women sit at tables across from each other with five minutes to talk before rotating seats until they meet all the participants on one-on-one mini-dates.

They then mark a "yes" or "no" on a scorecard, and will be notified through e-mail the next day on the number of exact matches.

Chong Mei Ling, an attractive 34-year-old sales executive, says she is ready for a new relationship after breaking up with her boyfriend a few years ago but has little time to meet people owing to long working hours.

"I think it's time to take action rather than to rely on fate. Things will not happen if I just sit at home. I want new friends, and perhaps find my soulmate," she says.

Growing number

Chong represents a growing number of single urban professionals in the Malaysian capital who are caught in the rat race and find little time and few options to mingle with other singles.

Speed-date host Lennard Gui said the service was launched in December to give singles like Chong a fun, safe and comfortable option to make new friends without the worries or embarrassment that blind dates or Internet dates can create.

Initial response to the weekly Thursday sessions was poor because it was perceived as a matchmaking event and an act of desperation, but he said interest built up quickly after it was featured in a local daily last month.

The Valentine edition with 54 singles was the biggest so far and there are still some 200 people on the waiting list, he said.

Speed-daters pay a fee of RM35 (US$9.21) each. Most so far have been Chinese aged between 25 and 35.

"We are still battling the phobia that you are an expired product if you are here but there are clearly many lonely people in KL," Gui said.

"Most singles are not single by choice. Many of our participants are attractive and intelligent but KL has turned them into workaholics and there is no proper place for them to meet other singles."

Women speed-daters are generally more confident and Gui said a number of men in Kuala Lumpur felt intimidated by the opposite sex, mainly due to low self-esteem.

During Thursday's Valentine speed-dating, two male speed-daters left half-way through the session and told Gui they were simply "not cut out for this."

But other men are busy making contacts.

Contracts manager Kiew Ny, 38, said he hopes to find that someone special soon as age was catching up. He marked yes for almost all the girls he met, except for those from different races and religions.

"I like to keep an open-door policy. You never know how it may turn out," he quipped.

There is hope

June M., 31, attended the session for the second time after four matches in the first round came to nothing. But she said she was disappointed because most of the men this time lack humour and courtesy.

"One of them told me I was overweight and needed to exercise. What a jerk! The rest of them are mostly boring," she said, adding she would join in future sessions only if she was still "dateless and bored."

Gui said the Valentine crowd were more serious than those in earlier sessions probably due to the pressure of finding a date for the season.

There is still hope for those unlucky in love.

Consult the bistro's in-house love doctor on Friday nights to change your fortune or get a glimpse into your love future from the tarot card expert.

For those still hankering over the past, the bistro has a "love hangover" night on Sunday where people can bring their former love to dinner at half price and maybe swap them with someone else's ex. - AFP