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December 15, 2002
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Singapore men heading for Vietnam in search of brides
(Channel NewsAsia) - Local matchmaking agencies say more
Singapore men are heading to Vietnam in search of a bride.
What is fascinating is that this important decision is
made within a day, and the engagement party in Vietnam is as grand as the
wedding celebration back in Singapore.
It is no Star Search. Neither is it some beauty pageant.
The Vietnamese girls, aged 18 to 22, hope to attract a foreign husband.
One Vietnamese girl, who has found her Singapore suitor, said: "Village men are
not bad, but foreign men are better. Because they are more doting on their
wives, that's why village girls like to get married out of the country."
Another Vietnamese girl, who hopes to marry abroad, said: "I have many friends
who are happily married to foreigners. So I hope I have the chance to marry
abroad too."
The girls enter a matchmaking karaoke room in small groups.
There, if a man sets his eyes on anyone of them, he would invite her to stay on
to find out more about her family background.
Matchmaking agencies say the suitors are mostly in their forties, and beauty is
their top criteria.
Mr Michael Cheang, a Singapore man in Vietnam looking for a bride, said: "I
brought my mum, my aunties. They help me pick, and reaffirm my choice. So it's
not exactly a rushed decision."
Mr Kwok, another Singapore man in Vietnam looking for a bride, said: "It's not
rash. I pick who I like, I make the decision and there's no regrets."
Three hours of selection, plus another three to four hours of interaction over a
meal... and many have found their lifelong partner.
To show his sincerity, the groom will host an engagement party that's as grand
if not grander than the wedding celebration back in Singapore.
In a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, performers are roped in to celebrate the
couple's engagement.
And it is usually a lunch party so that the brides' relatives can make it home
to their remote villages the same day.
Although the entire process from their first meeting to engagement lasts no more
than three days, one couple is confident of their future together as man and
wife, even if they have to first learn to communicate with one another.
Mr Kwok, a Singapore man engaged to a Vietnamese bride, said: "We'll take our
time to get to know one another better."
He said he was 80 percent confident of their marriage.
"I'm sure of myself, and I have confidence in her," he said.
Ms Lai, Vietnamese fiancee of Mr Kwok, said: "I observe him a lot and I think
this is a good man. Our marriage will be a success."
Back in Singapore, the couple will have to register their marriage before going
through the customary wedding ceremony.
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