YOU'RE at the gym doing your usual workout when a friendly woman with a beaming smile struts up to you.

You notice that like yourself, she wears the same 'singles identification badge' on her shirt.

Instantly, both of you hit it off as you realise you're both looking for love.

That, would be the perfect scenario in Mr Evan Diacopolous' world - one which sees his Yes I Am Single (YIS) badge saving the day for lonely, lovelorn singletons.

In April, the 35-year old Australian IT worker started a new dating service called Yes I Am Single.

For A$22.95 ($25), singles can buy a blue-coloured identification badge that has the YIS official website yis.com.au printed on it.

With this little badge, they gain membership to forums, hobby groups and social events to meet people with similar interests.

Non-Australian residents can also buy the badge for A$24.95.

In an e-mail interview with The New Paper, MrDiacopolous said he came up with the idea after several of his friends became disgruntled with online dating channels.

'Many started to turn away from online dating sites as they were disappointed that the person they eventually met in real life, following a series of expensive e-mails, didn't quite live up to expectations,' said the bachelor.

'People tend to lie a little when posting their profiles online.'

Mr Diacopolous explained that the YIS badge works like a 'conversation starter' for singles in everyday situations.

There are no restrictions as to where and when a person should wear their badge - it could be when they are in a group at coffee lounges, at the supermarket, or 10 minutes a day while on the train to work, he added.

'I think that it is everyone's dream to meet their future partner the old-fashioned way, in regular, non-contrived settings,' he said. 'The badge is merely a prompt, a tool to help them achieve this.'

Though the take-up rate for his badge has been slow, Mr Diacopolous readily admitted that he currently has 'just under 100 members in Australia and 20 international members'. He is confident that the numbers will pick up, both in his country, as well as overseas, when he 'starts ramping up publicity and marketing'.

Following some media coverage, Mr Diacopolous said he has had 'subsequent enquiries from people in countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Zambia, New Zealand and China'.

'Through the power of the Internet, this could be an internationally-recognised identifier for single people,' he added.

And even in reserved and passive Singapore, it will work, he declared.

'I understand that Singaporeans might be shy about wearing the badge, but it was precisely developed to lend shy people out there a helping hand, to give them the confidence to talk to other singles,' he explained.

'They can wear their badges while they are walking around Chinatown or Little India.'

Not for Singaporeans?

But if Mr Diacopolous plans to promote his singles badge in Singapore, he may have his work cut out for him. Dating agencies and singles we spoke to did not think his concept would take off here.

Ms Ada Wong (left), 31, co-founder of dating agency The Dating Loft, said that would 'take a huge stretch of the imagination'.

'It's simply too bold, like an outright declaration of one's singlehood,' she said.

'From my experience of working with Singaporean singles, many of them are very concerned with issues of privacy and they're definitely not ready to announce to the whole world their status.'

Ms Sue Yeo (below right), 34, founder and managing director of lifestyle dating service Drinks At Eight, shared the sentiment.

'Wearing the badge might attract unnecessary attention,' she said.

'Some singles might become easy targets for jokers, people who wear the badge for fun and are not serious about forming committed relationships.

'Singaporeans would prefer a more formal and professional dating procedure, I'm sure they would want the agency to screen its members first, before they are being introduced to the other party.'

Ms Violet Lim (below left), 28, co-founder of dating agency Lunch Actually, felt that it is important to have enough publicity generated about the concept.

'Take a badge like the one from YIS, which just says yis.com.au on it. Singles might have no idea what it stands for, and it would defeat the whole purpose of one wearing it in the first place,' she said.

Singles The New Paper on Sunday spoke to could not embrace the concept either.

Events executive Karen Kwok, 27, felt that wearing the badge was 'definitely a no-no' for her, as 'it might make people think I am desperate'.

Mr Tam Cheong Yan, 31, a freelance writer, felt that many people still feel 'the social stigma of being labelled as single'.

He does not deny being one of them himself.

'There are too many inhibitions in us,' he said.

Loud

Sports administrator Lu Qi Loong, 35, agreed that the act of wearing a badge is 'kind of loud, in the Singapore context'.

He added sarcastically: 'There's no point in having the badge actually because people who sign up with the dating service are naturally singletons, unless there is an alternative badge that says 'Player'.'

But this is not to say that the concept of using badges would never work when it comes to dating, Ms Lim said.

'Badges might work in a more contained environment,' she noted.

'For example, dating agencies sometimes organise 'traffic-light parties' where singles wear a green badge, those that are attached wear an amber badge, and the married ones wear a red badge.'

'In this setting, singles who are looking for love can seek out fellow singles who are wearing a green badge.

'They wouldn't feel embarrassed or singled out, as that is part of the party's overall theme.'

This article was first published in The New Paper.