Cholavarma Mogan, 28, and Sharumathi Kavirajan, 26 have been in a long-distance relationship for over a year now. - Sharumathi Kavirajan
When he “met” Priscilla Mark on Facebook back in 2012, Alexander Nicholas felt an almost instant attraction.
“I found her appearance familiar and very appealing,” says Alex, as he is known.
But, he really wanted to meet her in person to make sure that he wasn’t being catfished.
“Certainly, there were concerns for us both. Priscilla made sure not to meet me alone the first time in case I turned out to be a creep! I also initiated an in-person meetup just to ensure she wasn’t a catfish,” he shares.
Meeting up in person wasn’t so easy as they lived about 60km away from each other. They settled on meeting at Sunway Pyramid mall as it was a convenient midpoint for both. That first meeting lasted only about 10 mins before Priscilla, 30, left with a friend to go shopping. Though brief, they both left with positive impressions of each other and continued to chat online until their second outing at an Avenged Sevenfold concert in KL not long after.
The couple did their pre-wedding photoshoot at their favourite chilli pan mee shop in Ampang, KL. - Alexander Nicholas
Throughout their college years the two met weekly but they didn’t go out on “official dates” even though they both liked each other as school was their priority.
“Priscilla then wrote me a letter in which she conveyed her feelings. It was on Aug 2 and she proposed that date as the anniversary of our relationship’s beginning,” Alex, 31, shares.
The couple dated for 10 years before they decided to get married in 2022. They did their pre-wedding photoshoot at their favourite chilli pan mee shop in Ampang, KL.
“The owner of the shop was incredibly supportive and helped us find a suitable time (for the shoot) when the shop was less crowded,” says Priscilla adding that they wanted to do the shoot there as the place was meaningful to their love story.
“Our first lunch date was at a chilli pan mee stall and since then we’ve been exploring various pan mee places. This one became our favourite,” she says.
Though meeting online seemed natural for both, they didn’t share the story of how they met with their families.
“Our families still don’t know that we met on Facebook. We told them we met at a concert, and the topic never really came up” he says. “We are just a generation that enjoyed meeting, ‘poking’, and chatting with people on Facebook.”
‘X’ marks the spot
When he posted his profile on @TwtJodohMY, Muhammad Nasiruddin Zafri received quite a bit of ribbing from some family members who thought the move showed him up as “desperate”.
Good thing that he didn’t let these comments dissuade him from seeking love online: He eventually found his now wife on @TwtJodohMY.
@TwtJodohMY is a platform on X (formerly Twitter) where people can not only put up their profiles (information and photos of themselves) but also information on what they want in a partner.
Muhammad Nasiruddin, 31, posted his profile on 30 March, 2023. Exactly a month later he had his first online interaction with Mimi Ruhidah, 32, after she sent him a message upon seeing his post.
But Mimi wasn’t the only one shooting her shot.
“I posted on X, searching for my so-called Jodoh (match) and she, and many others, DM-ed me,” says Nasiruddin.
But something about Mimi stood out. Not long after they connected online, they went for an actual date ... offline.
When he posted his profile on @TwtJodohMY, Muhammad Nasiruddin received quite a bit of ribbing from some family members who thought the move showed him up as “desperate”. - Muhammad Nasiruddin Zafri
The experience, says the smitten young man, was “amazing” and Mimi was “wonderful from the get-go”.
“The relationship progressed as we both knew what we wanted and were serious about the relationship,” he says. “Even though I had dated other girls from the platform before Mimi, I fell in love once I got to know her,” he said.
It isn’t hard to see why Muhammad Nasiruddin thinks everyone should leverage on the Internet to extend the search for love: He found his!
Location, location, location
It started out as a joke: Edrina Sharlisa, 30, decided to post her profile on @TwtJodoh on X just for laughs. She wasn’t really banking on finding a match ... let alone a husband.
But fate had other plans and she met her life partner, Muhammad Izwan, 36, through the platform that’s fast gaining popularity for those seeking love.
“Naturally, he DMed me first. He didn’t waste any time in telling me all about himself – his background, his age, job, and place of employment,” shares Edrina, 30. Of all the men that DMed me, he was the only one who stayed near me. So, I guess, his location stood out the most for me,” says Edrina, adding that he was also “the most interesting guy” she’d texted on X.
Following their first interaction on July 30 last year, the couple exchanged numbers and proceeded to follow each other on Instagram.
When she found out that Izwan owns a pet store called Catty Claw in Jitra, Kedah, Edrina decided to show up at the store. Unfortunately, he wasn’t there at the time.
But, she was persistent and the second time proved to be the charm! She went looking for him after work one day and the pair met and adjourned for dinner.
“Dinner was simple ... just the way I like it. Everything went well on the first date. After getting to know one another, we agreed on the qualities we look for in a partner. Even on our first date, we talked about important topics like marriage,” she recalls.
Both Edrina and her husband, Izwan experienced similar reactions from their families: their loved ones didn’t really believe it when the couple shared about how they met. - Edrina Sharlisa
Both Edrina and her husband, Izwan experienced similar reactions from their families: their loved ones didn’t really believe it when the couple shared about how they met. Edrina’s siblings and cousins were surprised, as it never crossed their minds that online matches actually could work.
Insta attraction
Everything has worked out well for Cholavarma Mogan, 28, and Sharumathi Kavirajan, 26, after Sharumathi took a leap of faith and slid into Cholavarma’s DM’s in May 2022.
“A notification popped from my phone – ‘Hello! I know we are total strangers. Hope you are cool with my random move to follow you on IG. I am Sharu btw, it’s nice to meet you’ – while I was on the phone talking with a friend about relationships in general,” says Cholavarma.
Sharu says that she’d seen his profile being suggested (for her) but never thought of making a move until one day when she had ‘a strong urge’ to do so. After chatting for about a week, the pair decided to go on a date. Their first date was “cute and simple and a good experience” for both of them.
“We even spent time together prior to the date, to create a Spotify playlist for the day,” they share.
The couple have been in a long distance relationship for over a year now and often admit that its hard to meet due to their busy work schedules. Though it’s a new – and difficult, at times – experience for them, the pair are willing to put in the effort to stay connected.
Not playing around
Both Hazel Rikon Jon, 26 and her boyfriend Anthony Lie, 24, were on each other’s friends list on Valorant (video game platform); but they actually had no idea who the other was as they both went by nicknames. Anthony, who is a Singaporean, thought that Hazel was his friend from the army and so, he decided to message her.
“He DM’d me to ask why I did not invite him to play on Valorant. I thought, ‘Huh. Who are you?’, as I really couldn’t place him ... I didn’t know who he was,” she says.
'We clicked right away and enjoyed spending time together just like we did online,' says Hazel.
Despite that confusing first interaction, they continued to chat. They found that they “clicked” and so, they moved their conversation to Discord (a chat app commonly used by gamers).
The two gamers gradually caught feelings for each other and eventually confessed their feelings and planned to meet for a first date.
“Our first date was great, we clicked right away and enjoyed spending time together just like we did online. We knew we would be in a long-distance relationship and didn’t want to ‘play games’, so we got together right away,” shares Hazel.
Both their families were skeptical about their relationship in the beginning but have come around now.
“The beauty of meeting someone online is that you get to know them (personality) before (seeing) them physically. So you can tell how you actually vibe with someone even before you meet them,” she concludes.
