MATCHMADE MARRIAGES
Parliament of Singapore · 19 October 2009
Official Report, 19 October 2009, Vol 86, Issue 12 · Open in the reader (summaries, search, filters)
MATCHMADE MARRIAGES
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(Resilience): **
47.
Assoc. Prof. Paulin Tay Straughan asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) in the last five years, what is the number of locally registered marriages between Singaporean grooms and foreign brides as a result of matchmaking services; (b) what is the incidence of divorce for these marriages; and (c) what is the resilience of such marriages given that there is often a cultural and language barrier involved in such marital unions.
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Last year, there were 24,596 marriages of which a third (8,136) were between Singapore citizens (SC) and non-citizens in 2008. Of these, 6,360 marriages in 2008 were between Singaporean grooms and non-citizen brides. This was an increase from 5,414 in 2004. We are however unable to ascertain how many of such marriages were match-made.
In 2008, there were 746 Singaporean men who divorced their foreign spouses. Divorces between SC grooms and non-SC brides represented 11% of all divorces (2). The divorce rate of transnational marriages involving citizen grooms and non-citizen brides is not significantly different from other marriages. Looking at cohort data, 4% of marriages
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contracted in 2004 between a SC groom and a non-SC bride ended five years later, compared to 6% of all marriages contracted in 2004. For the 1994 marriage cohort, 3% for marriages between a SC groom and a non-SC bride ended in divorce after five years, while the figure for all marriages contracted in 1994 was 4%.
We recognise that cultural differences and linguistic barriers are a challenge in any marriage. My Ministry has worked with partners, including the Marriage Central, to provide marriage preparation and enrichment programmes to all couples. We are also looking into formulating programmes tailored for Singaporean-Foreigner marriages. Marriage counsellors and educators conducting such programmes could be equipped with the skills to address cross-cultural issues.
(2) Computed by Department of Statistics, 2009.
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Source: Singapore Parliament Official Report (Hansard) for 19 October 2009. Republished on SGParliament.