LONELY hearts in Malaysia – or to a larger extent, married guys who seek ‘no string attached’ (NSA) fun outside the marriage institutions – seem to be in for a treat with the proliferation of free online links where potential sugar daddies and sugar babies can hook up.
Dubbed a “soft porn” strategy in contrast to social escort services which proliferated clandestinely on social media, these websites are seemingly popular among female students of private tertiary institutions as income sources to fund their studies.
For the uninitiated, a sugar relationship is an arrangement where consenting adults agree to certain terms that would mutually benefit both parties. The terms often include companionship, mentorship and financial support.
In fact, Malaysia has been acclaimed to be one of the largest membership bases for dating site Sugarbook* which is touted as Asia’s largest sugar daddy dating platform with over three million members worldwide.
Founded in 2017 and boasting a catchy tagline – “Where Romance Meets Finance: Build and Negotiate Your Terms of Relationships” – Sugarbook even outlined four criteria for Malaysian men to become sugar daddies:
Fully loaded: While having a refined background and a stable financial resource is the main aspect of a sugar daddy, he should also possess a degree of poise that can be acknowledged from afar.
A true gentleman: The sugar daddy is a mature man who is trustable and capable of honouring his words and actions in a mutually beneficial relationship with his sugar baby.
Connections: A sugar daddy should provide his sugar baby with endless opportunities with the connections he has in his circle of influential partners.
Honest & transparent: It is important for both parties to be clear about their expectations and requirements.
Statistics by Sugarbook reveal that it has over 400,000 active members consisting of 220,000 sugar babies, 180,000 sugar daddies and 6,000 sugar mummies in Malaysia as of February 10 last year.
Notwithstanding this, the world’s largest sugar dating site, SeekingArrangement, has recorded 42,500 sugar daddies in just Malaysia alone during the same period.
The number places Malaysia in the top three list for the highest number of sugar daddies in Asia after India (338,000) and Indonesia (60,250). SeekingArrangement has also revealed that Asia is basically “a hotbed for sugar dating, especially among the urban demographics.”
“A platform like SeekingArrangement helps connect young and empowered women with wealthier, more affluent men who not only bolster their financial woes but also act as a mentor or gateway in catapulting a promising future for these sugar babies,” opined Brandon Wade who is CEO of the American website.
In a statement published by Malay Mail, Sugarbook revealed that the platform saw a shocking 40% spike in sign-ups among college students the previous month.
The dating firm attributed the high demand to the economic downturn in Malaysia and the financial burden among college students. According to the data, the average age of sugar daddies in Malaysia is at 35 with an average monthly income of RM12,500.
On the other side of the divide, the sugar babies who are 23 years old on average often seek a monthly allowance of RM2,500 from their affluent “daddies”.
The database also showed that most of the sugar babies come from well-known private and public universities in the Klang Valley. It also listed top careers of sugar daddies which include entrepreneurs, engineers, lawyers, doctors and investors.
Meanwhile, SugarB.my which claims to be the #1 sugar baby dating site in Malaysia today has this to message for potential sugar daddies:
“Get the most luxurious girlfriend experience money can buy. Local genuine Malaysian students, models and office ladies are looking for a mature and wealthy sugar daddy with no strings attached. Thousands of available matches in all cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Sarawak and more.”
However, this is a caveat that the candidate ought to be “a wealthy businessman, high roller or work a prestigious career with sizeable monthly income to spend”. – March 11, 2022
* It is worth mentioning that Sugarbook founder and CEO Darren Chan was arrested by the police and charged in court on Feb 18, 2021 soon after the dating platform attracted the attention of the public and the authorities after it named 10 Malaysian public and private universities as having the most students who chose to become sugar babies and sought sugar daddies to finance their lifestyles.
