Now brides for free

Brides for your viewing pleasure. See them paraded 'live' in the shop.

Now brides for free.

It's time the matchmaking industry sees some form of governance, says Ms Braema Mathi (right), past president of Aware and co-ordinator of the foreign brides sub-committee.

The sub-committee released a foreign brides report last November last year. It looked at how matchmaking agencies marketed foreign women to local grooms, assessed the safeguards in place to protect the women and gave suggestions on how improvements could be made.

She told The New Paper: 'Aware has called for the governance of the industry before.

'Incidents and marketing ploys like these prove that the authorities have to seriously look into how marriage agencies are conducting themselves.'

She questioned the criteria (eg: age, income level) agencies use to assess the suitability of potential grooms. When the assessment markers are not clear, these women can be exploited.

She added: 'Such a phenomenon (of free brides) should have no place in modern-day Singapore.

'We have to come down hard on these agencies and protect the women, whether they are from China, Vietnam or any other country. Local or foreign women should have the same protection from the system.'

A solution, she suggested, would be to start a mandatory counselling programme for Singapore grooms who marry foreign brides through agencies.

This will help the men and women get used to the different cultures and practices.

Many matchmaking agencies claim to have a 100 per cent success rate - their brides do not run away, or get dumped by their spouses. But there are no official statistics to back these claims.

Three matchmaking agencies told The New Paper that they were all for the idea of a regulatory body to oversee the industry.

Mr Janson Ong, owner of Life Partner Matchmaker, felt that it was 'inconceivable' to think that an agency can simply see to the first part of the matchmaking process and then leave the rest to the couple.

Mr Ong, who has been in the business for 11 years, said: 'This is dangerous because there is no way anyone can ensure that the man will not run away after having fun with the woman.

'Registering for a solemnisation date takes between 21 days and three months to be processed.

'The man can always say, after having sex with the woman, that he has changed his mind and not go through with the marriage.

'Who can the woman turn to when this happens?'

Another agency owner, who declined to be named, echoed similar sentiments.

Giving away free brides, or offering a $1 downpayment, was bad news to the industry as a whole, he felt.

The owner said: 'How can you give away a person? It makes the woman look cheap and lowers her value as a human being.

'This makes me feel very uncomfortable and it's time something is done to regulate these agencies.'