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span class="caption" style="width: 398px;">Love: Dating services interview clients in order to facilitate the quest for true love. JP/Ika KrismantariCupid doesn’t use the Internet.

The quest for true love has spurred people to do anything they can to find their soul mate.

But when that journey seems to have led nowhere, some love seekers are seeking out a third person – in this case matchmakers – in the hopes of immediately finding Mr. or Ms. right.

So where do they find these so-called cupids?

Single people nowadays need not worry too much because matchmaking services can be found in a click, thanks to technology and the Internet.

Desperate singles can register on dating websites, pay registration fees, submit their profiles and they can receive responses in an instant from a list of candidates that may fulfill their dreams of true love.

Data from datingservice.com shows that singles in Indonesia have 10 official online dating sites, in a country that has a sex ratio of 105 men for every 100 women.

But there is actually much more than just 10 sites and people can easily find other matchmaking websites through the help of the Google god.

Despite the trend, online romance may not work for everyone. Internet love is difficult for some because the relationship is based on a system prone to scams, with people able to lie to potential partners in order to make a good impression. No wonder things can go awry for many love seekers, leaving them let down, fooled and brokenhearted.

Fortunately, this is not the end of the world for bachelors and bachelorettes. Some matchmakers have come up the idea of pairing couples using more conventional methods. That means no Internet getting in the way of matchmaking.

The Indonesian Dating Service (IDS) is one Indonesian matchmaking agency that doesn’t believe in using technology in the search for true love.

IDS matches people directly, introducing its members to potential sweethearts face to face. It also manages routine gatherings and meetings where members can hang out and get to know each other.

“We want face-to-face [encounters] so people know the real character of their love candidates. If you do it online, you are not really sure because your partners can lie,” IDS managing director Romanus Hendra told The Jakarta Post.

Established in June of 2010, the dating service claims to apply a different method in its work, introducing a reliable recruitment system in which people must pass several psychological tests and interviews before becoming members.

IDS founder Srie Mandaline Hendra said the method was aimed at facilitating the matchmaking process. By understanding each members’ personality, IDS staff, which includes psychologists, know which members are meant to be.

Such recruitment methods, Srie explained, were also needed to ensure the quality of the members.

“They must come with good and serious intentions to find partners,” Srie said, adding that the office would do background checks if they noticed anything suspicious.

“We send people to follow dubious potential members,” she told the Post at her spacious office in Pluit, North Jakarta.

Offering high quality services, IDS is brave enough to charge hefty prices to its members ranging between Rp 3 million (US$336) to Rp 8 million for a membership between three months and two years.

Believing that a high price goes along with high service, people, who mostly come from the upper classes of society, have been applying to IDS.

Srie said IDS also had rich parents asking for assistance to find suitable matches for their children, who were still relatively young.

Targeting a specific market, IDS now has at least 300 members, with 60 percent of them still at 20 years of age.

That includes Cempaka (not her real name), who has been a member of IDS since last year.

The 28-year-old said she joined IDS because she felt comfortable with the service.

“[IDS] is safer and much more reliable compared to other matchmaking agencies,” said the businesswoman, who has gone on dates with four different guys with the help of IDS but has yet to find the one.

“With other [matchmakers] there is fear because you don’t know for sure their family background or what his profession is and IDS ensures that,” Cempaka said.

A female member that would go only by the initial Y said she agrees with Cempaka.

The 31-year-old said she had joined other matchmaking agencies, mostly online, but only ended up with disappointment.

“I am busy and I don’t want to waste my time with something that is not serious,” said the woman, who met her husband, Yanuar, through IDS.

Another lucky single is Richard, 45, who met his other half, Wanda, after IDS set them up.

Richard said a good thing about IDS is they ensure members get the right match.

The senior finance manager and Wanda, a successful 42-year-old businesswoman, have been dating for three months.

Searching: Methods for people to meet one another have changed with technology, but some are still trying to introduce people the old-fashioned way – through matchmaking agencies. JP/Ika KrismantariBesides IDS, Indonesia has other conventional matchmaking agencies, with Yasco (Yayasan Scorpio) being the oldest and most famous.

Established in 1974, Yasco, once the biggest matchmaking agency in Southeast Asia, has helped almost 10,000 people find partners. With a registration fee of Rp 300,000 and a monthly payment of Rp 20,000, the agency caters to anybody wanting a serious relationship, ranging from drivers to legislators.

Yasco holds routine meetings to gather its more than 15,000 members, with the latest held in May to celebrate Yasco’s 37th anniversary.

Apart from the gathering, Yasco also publishes a bulletin that provides information on all their new members for Rp 50,000. When old members see new members that attract their attention, the former can contact the latter based on information available in the bulletin.

Yasco staff member Diah Isnaeni said the office still got a lot of new members even amid the rising online dating trend.

Yet, the most interesting part of these conventional matchmaking agencies is the unavoidable use of the Internet in some of their operations.

They seem unable to deny the existence of online technology, with almost everybody on the Internet.

IDS is using Facebook to get new members despite its strong belief in face-to-face encounters in building relationships.

Yasco even has an account on blogspot to provide updates to its members.

It seems that these cupids believe that the Internet may be effective for spreading information, but not for finding true love.