There's good news on the state of the Singapore family.Maybe now the government will axe the "Romancing Singapore: The Return" project.
There were fewer divorces while more Singaporeans got married last year.
The Department of Statistics says a total of 22,189 marriages were registered, an increase of about one per cent compared to 2003.
But the figure still pales in comparison to the 23,000 in the 1980s, and 24,800 in the early 1990s.
There were also more inter-ethnic marriages, especially among Muslims.
In 1994, inter-ethnic marriages made up 6.8% of non-Muslim marriages and 18% of Muslim marriages.
Last year, the proportion increased to 10% for non-Muslim and 25% for Muslim marriages.
But Singaporeans are getting married even later.
Two decades ago, men used to get hitched when they were about 28.5 years old and women, at 25.4 years old.
10 years ago, this increased to 30.6 for men, and 27.1 for women.
But last year, the mean age of Singapore grooms was 32.4 years and that of the brides was 28.6.
But greater age did not seem to help marriages.
There were fewer divorces - 6,388 last year compared to 6,561 in 2003.
Of these, men aged 35 to 44 years and women aged 25 to 34 years formed the biggest group.
Also vulnerable were younger couples aged 20 to 24.
This group had the highest divorce rate and saw the biggest increase than any other age groups over the last 10 years.
For non-Muslims, living apart for three years or longer was the most common reason for divorce last year.
Unreasonable behaviour was the next most common reason.
For Muslims, personality difference was cited as the main reason in 30% of the divorces.
Fidelity is believed to have broken up 19% of Muslim marriages. - CNA/ir
Channelnewsasia.com
Not one of their brighter ideas, really.
Divorce is running at 28% of marriages. Almost 1 in 3 marriages in Singapore end in divorce.
ReplyDeleteYay for Family Values (TM).
ReplyDeleteMany of the divorces are related to HDB flat applicants. Young couples apply for an HDB flat with the requirement that if you are you young and you want to buy an HDB flat, you need to get married, at least on paper. People split up once the flat is bought... Great Singapore tradition... the pursuit of materialism :)
ReplyDeletestupid rules/laws call for smart measures ^_^
ReplyDeleteBut now there is a new option for two unrelated people to use their CPF to buy flats.
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that "unrelated people" can buy an HDB flat. ;-) Though I hope it doesn't lead to acrimonious breakups when they suddenly don't get along, otherwise details, even sordid ones, will likely get into the tabloids, the Chinese papers, and maybe even the ST :) Anyone has an opinion to the view that those kinds of "unrelated people" tie-ups usually lead to bitter hatreds (more so than with related people) when they do not last? :)
ReplyDeleteMaybe more men are marrying foreign wives? Therefore it increases the count?
ReplyDeleteAnon, if two unrelated people sharing flat have problems, I don't believe it is that much different from when the two are married. It is their personal matter, isn't it? Why is the singaporean society obsessed with making everything smooth and under control?
ReplyDeletepleinelune, two separate issues here. First, on "two unrelated people" sharing a flat, I can only refer to anecdotes: these might well be the exception rather than the norm, but they become newsworthy exceptions (there have been a number of such episodes in Malaysia in recent years and they were splashed across the papers). Second issue, if Singapore society insisted on everything smooth and under control then the govt would not even contemplate this new policy, let alone put it into practice. I believe in letting people handle their own issues, but at the same time they should be aware that sometimes the private becomes the public when such issues get out of "control". If people are fully conscious with that and happy with that, good and well, but they should not play the victim if things spin out of control and become public. cheers!
ReplyDeleteI think that applies to every situation. Only that in this specific situation, it would become newsworthy (our local media being starved for news as it is) as it is a new issue.
ReplyDelete