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More non-Malay men chose to marry foreign women in this country with Indonesians topping the list of brides, while the trend of local women marrying foreign men is on the decline.
Deputy Home Affairs Minister Datuk Tan Chai Ho said 33,995 marriages between local men and foreign women were registered from 2001 to June this year.
Marriages between local men and Indonesian women had risen to 2,036 in 2005 from 1,386 in 2001, followed by Chinese women to 1,711 from 351, Vietnamese women to 1,185 from 28 and Thai women to 931 from 681, he said.
Replying to Dr Mohamed Hayati Othman (PAS-Pendang) in the Dewan Rakyat on the number of Malaysians marrying foreigners over the past five years, Tan said marriages between local women with foreign men had dropped 33.8 per cent to 11,112 over the same period.
"British men are Malaysian women's top picks with 169 marriages registered in 2005 compared to 149 in 2001, followed by Indian men with 86 marriages in 2005 from 71 in 2001," he said.
Marriages between local women and Singaporean men had dropped to 191 from 994.
The statistics do not include Muslim marriages which are under the jurisdiction of the states' Islamic religious departments.
Replying to Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah) who questioned the intention of the foreigners to marry Malaysians, Tan said love was not something that could be clearly measured.
Speaking to reporters later, he dismissed a suggestion that the influx of foreigners into the country was a factor in more local men marrying foreign women.
"Probably the reason is the cost of marriage," he said, adding that the ministry would take firm action if the marriages were not transparent.
Tan also disclosed that the trend of divorce among non-Malay couples was increasingly worrying with 24,190 divorces being registered from 2001 to May this year.
Of the total, 18 per cent involved couples aged between 18 and 29 years, he said.
Among the main reasons were incompatibility, financial problem, sex problem, physical abuse, mental illness, presence of third party, irresponsibility, change of religion, health and drug addiction.
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