The knot

Abstract

Marriages between citizens and foreigners make up almost a third of knots tied every year. The government in January said that these international marriages are successful, and that foreign spouses are adapting well to Singapore society.

However, transnational couples experience numerous challenges such as a lack of access to public housing. Foreign spouses also pay higher medical bills and school fees for their non-citizen children. Their immigration status is often uncertain as it is tough to secure citizenship or permanent residency, putting them at risk of being sent home. Couples also grapple with softer issues like cultural barriers, racism and rejection by the in-laws.

In our stories, we find out why citizen-foreigner couples struggle to make ends meet and keep their romance alive. We speak to foreign spouses who fall through the cracks, Singaporean women who face dirty looks for marrying Caucasian men, owners of traditional matchmaking agencies and social workers.

Singapore is not the only nation to have a high proportion of international marriages. As many countries grow increasingly cosmopolitan, they have become hotspots for cross-cultural romance.

These include Hong Kong, which has seen a growing number of marriages between local residents and people from mainland China since the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China. Similar to Singapore, these form about a third of marriages per year.

Unlike other countries, Singapore and Hong Kong have high barriers for foreign spouses who wish to make these places their new homes. Our stories, which cater to readers of the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, suggest lessons that the Chinese territory can learn from our island nation as it navigates its new social landscape.