How Singapore’s Formula One fling with sugar daddies turned sour

While fans focused on the race last week, others were revelling in a world where there’s a fine line between romance and remittance … and tourism officials weren’t happy about it

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Darren Chan, the Sugarbook founder, and his girlfriend Charmaine at The Fast Lane party. Chan was inspired to create Sugarbook as his friends often teased Charmaine, who is 10 years younger than him. Photo: Resty Woro Yuniar

Published: 9:15am, 22 Sep 2018Updated: 5:50pm, 26 Sep 2018

Singapore hosted an array of concerts, after-parties and events for race aficionados and revellers alike during the Formula One weekend last week. But one controversial gathering almost stole the show from the annual sporting event.

A sugar daddy convention, dubbed “The Fast Lane” and supported by Malaysian “sugar dating” app Sugarbook, was held during the five-day F1-themed Sky Grande Prix promotional event at the Grand Hyatt hotel.

The party brought together sugar baby and sugar daddy wannabes from the city state and from as far afield as the Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong and even New York.

But the bash inevitably irked officials in Singapore, where the Sugarbook app remains contentious. Sugar dating is a type of relationship in which older, wealthy men or women – the sugar daddy or mummy – spend an extravagant amount on a lover, girlfriend or boyfriend, known as the sugar baby, in exchange for companionship that typically includes sex.

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The Singapore Tourism Board, trying to distance itself from the controversial website, stopped marketing the party after having initially included it in its F1 promotion campaign, not knowing Sugarbook was a sponsor of Sky Grande Prix.