on SDU

SDU - Officially known as the Social Development Unit, unofficially the subject of many sniggers for being the acronym of people who're Single, Desperate and Ugly, has finally come to an end (I'm referring to the organisation here, the people would always exist... oops)

I should first clarify that I'm not against an SDU-type matchmaking service. In fact, methinks its a great way to make more friends, expand your social circle and networks, and well, ultimately get hitched at the end of it all. What I cannot escape from however, is wondering why people would pay huge sums of money to private match-making agencies serving the same purpose, but not to SDU, and why this image of SDU being an organisation catering to Singles who are Desperate and Ugly has continued to persist today even though I think its far from the reality.

I believe its all a problem of the name. What in the world would you expect people to think of with such a name like the SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT UNIT. How boring, how ministry-like. What image can such a name possibly conjure, other than a stereotype "boring" and "typical civil servant" kind of person? Despite all the funding and gahmen efforts to promote it, maybe SDU was doomed to fail from its very onset?