Posted on 10/19/2004 4:01:06 PM PDT by martin_fierro
Lovelorn Aussie woman posts her desires on a billboard
Tue Oct 19, 1:21 PM ET
SYDNEY (AFP) - A Chinese-Australian woman in the market for a husband decided that an advertisement in the lonely hearts column of a newspaper simply wouldn't do. Nor would posting an item on the internet.
So Helen Zou, a 40-year-old Sydney civil engineer, went public in the most dramatic form. She erected a giant billboard at a major Sydney intersection appealing for love.
The billboard, measuring approximately four metres by five metres, sits near the popular Ritz Theatre in the affluent eastern suburb of Randwick.
In blaring capital letters it reads, "HUSBAND WANTED", before continuing: "Beautiful, intelligent Australian Chinese lady seeks to have dream family with a fabulous partner to enjoy a lifetime with."
Zou asks for a man "ideally in good health (non-smoker or drinker)", aged up to 45, "unencumbered and of caucasian appearance (with a) good sense of humour (and a) solid financial background with warm and caring nature".
She also says she would prefer a "businessman or professional background" before asking for "serious replies only" at helen2003Aoptusnet.com.au.
Zou resorted to the billboard after earlier attempts to find a partner failed. She had previously been involved in a five-year, transnational relationship with a man.
According to experts, Zou's predicament is not unusual for many young Sydney women -- even if her solution is.
In 2001, the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that 23 percent of Australian households were single-person and that a quarter of women of child-bearing age were likely to remain childless. And the trend has only continued.
Social observers have also blamed a relative abundance of young single women in Sydney for the failure of young men to commit to long-term relationships.
But Zou insists her unorthodox search for a mate is not so strange. "I'm surprised a lot of people think this is special or unusual," she told Sydney's Daily Telegraph.
"It's Australia. There's a lot of freedom here. If you can put up a sign advertising Coca Cola, why not write one about a husband?"
Under Zou's contract with the Australian Posters company, her billboard will stay up for another month -- or until her ideal man arrives.
No comments from either.....
Aren't you in the Bay area, do they advertise on the BillBoards up there?
BTTT!
George W. Bush will be reelected by a margin of at least ten per cent
George W. Bush will be reelected by a margin of at least ten per cent
Don't worry, for guys it's what's inside -- in your soul and ... pocketbook ;) -- that counts.
I personally like to keep total anonymity on the web, at least to the extent possible.
Everyone has to do whatever they feel comfortable with, there are no right or wrong answers to how much people reveal about themselves.
I am Los Angeles.
I haven't seen billboards for dating or marriage around here. But probably it's because of the number of single people in general, it's hardly necessary.
I remember reading about some guy putting up a billboard in some other part of the US, I forgot where, I don't know if he was successful in finding "the love of his life".
*LOL* I forgot I was still waving at civ.
It's been weeks ... no wonder I don't get much sleep.
This song is about you, isn't it?
Yeah, it is... or maybe it's about Al Gore... Thinking about that song gives me a catsup flashback... which is a political connection... hey, believe it or not, we're actually on topic as well... ;'D
She's inviting a lawsuit for False Advertising.
Total anonymity is a good idea, or rather, not posting details, like hints about where one works, or where one hangs out. Especially on FR, since DUmmies lurk, and who knows what those psychos might try.
"So Ronery"
I live in liberal Austin and work around movie people and musicians. My actual compassionately conservative person is out there in the real world (right! Austin, the real world? *LOL*) mingling and being Republican in a sea of hostility. I survive that, and feel safer posting personal info here on Free Republic than I do hanging out and taking photos late at night on 6th Street. This internet is not that scary. I'm more afraid of letting phobias stifle my creative lifestyle, personal connections or political opinions than I am of stalkers or kooks.
That's because most Chinese men are hung like mice....
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