How a chance encounter in Vietnam led to marriage after failed dating app attempts

Ryan Joshua Mahindapala's search for love on dating apps proved fruitless, leading him to question conventional checklists. His perspective shifted dramatically after a chance encounter in Vietnam.

While volunteering as a technical official for the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi in May 2022, Mahindapala, then 30, was part of a delegation welcomed by local volunteers. Among them was Anh Hoang, who introduced herself as the liaison officer. Though they didn't speak much at the airport due to the busy atmosphere, a subsequent conversation at the hotel restaurant sparked something unexpected.

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I could not have imagined a less likely match – at least, not by the conventional checklists we Singaporeans tend to carry around in our heads.

Their interaction in the buffet line was ordinary, yet Mahindapala found himself remembering it. Over the course of the games, their conversations grew. By the time he returned to Singapore, he was keen to stay in touch, exchanging contacts with Hoang. What followed were months of late-night video calls and messages across a one-hour time difference, slowly revealing a connection that defied his preconceived notions of an ideal partner.

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We said hello. We talked about the games, about Hanoi, about nothing in particular. It was ordinary. Unremarkable. The kind of exchange you forget about by the time you reach your table.Except that I didn't forget.