Men not in the mood for love
Hit by downturn, S'pore men put off marriage plans to Vietnam brides
By Hedy Khoo
October 14, 2008
HE was all set to marry a Vietnamese woman who was here looking for a husband.
Click to see larger image
WHERE ARE THE MEN?: Hopeful Vietnam brides waiting outside a matchmaking agency at Golden Mile Tower.
He had proposed. And agreed to pay the deposit for the match-making package, which included marriage arrangements, last month.
Then came the stock market crash. A lot of his assets went down the drain - and so did his mood for matrimony.
Just one day before he was to hand the money over, he lost half his savings.
So he pulled the plug on his plans to get hitched.
He felt he was too broke to make a long-term commitment to the woman he had chosen from a host of prospective Vietnamese brides.
Said Mr Mark Lin, 46, who owns Vietnamese Brides International, a match-making agency: 'He called me and said he had no cash on hand to pay and cancelled the marriage plans.'
He is not alone in feeling this way. Singapore men's interest in matchmade brides from Vietnam seems to have fallen along with market sentiment in the global financial crisis.
Singapore men are now more concerned with tightening the belt than tying the knot, say matchmakers.
Match-making agencies which specialise in Vietnamese brides are reporting disastrous results.
'Business is very bad now. I made only one successful match last month,' said Mr Lin.
In good years, between 2003 and 2006, he enjoyed gross earnings of up to $70,000 a month.
'I have five Vietnamese women at my agency now on social visit passes to look for Singaporean husbands - but very few men coming to meet them.'
Another match-making agency which specialises in Vietnamese brides stopped flying in Vietnamese women to meet potential grooms earlier this year.
'The men are under stress now,' said Mr Janson Ong, 45, owner of Life Partner Matchmaker. 'How to be in the mood for love?
'It's very difficult for the girls when they cannot get a husband here and have to go back to Vietnam.
'I, too, feel pressured looking at their disappointed faces.'
Earlier, Mr Ong paid for the flight, food and accommodation for the Vietnamese women who signed up with his agency to come here in search of husbands.
Up to the middle of last year, he would bring in four to eight prospective brides every month to meet interested men.
Now, he offers only tour packages to prospective grooms to fly to Vietnam to meet the women there.
Each package costs $388, but should the man find a match and decide to get hitched, Mr Ong charges $10,000 to make the necessary arrangements for the marriage.
His business has slumped this year, with only one client every two months. In 2005, he used to have up to eight clients getting married every month.
'In 2006, every day we had at least three prospective clients visiting our office to meet the girls. Now, even phone enquiries, we get only one every two weeks,' he said.
Delay wedding plans
'We felt the pinch from August last year,' he said.
'Some of the men who were initially interested in getting married decided not to because they told me that property prices here had gone up so high, they could not afford a place of their own, and wanted to delay their marriage plans.'
But despite fewer men seeking to marry Vietnamese women, Mr Lin has no plans to stop bringing in Vietnamese women.
'These Vietnamese women who sign up with my agency may be from the countryside, but they are intelligent and educated and are not ignorant of the current economic situation,' said Mr Lin.
'Some still choose to take a chance and hope to find a husband here.
'It's not a difficult choice because they come from very poor backgrounds. Life back home for them is harder than waiting here for a groom.'
Mr Lin pays for their flight, takes care of their accommodation and gives them an allowance for food and transport.
One hopeful prospective bride here on his expense is Miss Bui Thi Tuoi, 21. She had visited earlier in June but failed to find herself a husband.
That did not deter her from trying her luck again. She flew here for a second visit at the end of August and extended her stay.
Said Miss Bui in halting Mandarin: 'I am aware that Singapore has been hit hard by the financial crisis, and it's more difficult to find a husband now, but I still want to try.'
Yet, it's not all gloom and doom for the bride and groom business.
Said Mr Ong: 'This is not an easy business to begin with. But my agency pulled through the period when Sars hit in 2003, and I am sure we can ride out this downturn. The men would still want to marry and settle down eventually. They have only delayed their marriage plans for now.'
Mr Lin added: 'The downturn cannot last forever. Also, not everyone is affected by the financial crisis.
'Some of my clients who are holding Government jobs are still going ahead with their plans to get married. I am confident there is still a demand for Vietnamese brides.'
Hit by downturn, S'pore men put off marriage plans to Vietnam brides
By Hedy Khoo
October 14, 2008
HE was all set to marry a Vietnamese woman who was here looking for a husband.
Click to see larger image
WHERE ARE THE MEN?: Hopeful Vietnam brides waiting outside a matchmaking agency at Golden Mile Tower.
He had proposed. And agreed to pay the deposit for the match-making package, which included marriage arrangements, last month.
Then came the stock market crash. A lot of his assets went down the drain - and so did his mood for matrimony.
Just one day before he was to hand the money over, he lost half his savings.
So he pulled the plug on his plans to get hitched.
He felt he was too broke to make a long-term commitment to the woman he had chosen from a host of prospective Vietnamese brides.
Said Mr Mark Lin, 46, who owns Vietnamese Brides International, a match-making agency: 'He called me and said he had no cash on hand to pay and cancelled the marriage plans.'
He is not alone in feeling this way. Singapore men's interest in matchmade brides from Vietnam seems to have fallen along with market sentiment in the global financial crisis.
Singapore men are now more concerned with tightening the belt than tying the knot, say matchmakers.
Match-making agencies which specialise in Vietnamese brides are reporting disastrous results.
'Business is very bad now. I made only one successful match last month,' said Mr Lin.
In good years, between 2003 and 2006, he enjoyed gross earnings of up to $70,000 a month.
'I have five Vietnamese women at my agency now on social visit passes to look for Singaporean husbands - but very few men coming to meet them.'
Another match-making agency which specialises in Vietnamese brides stopped flying in Vietnamese women to meet potential grooms earlier this year.
'The men are under stress now,' said Mr Janson Ong, 45, owner of Life Partner Matchmaker. 'How to be in the mood for love?
'It's very difficult for the girls when they cannot get a husband here and have to go back to Vietnam.
'I, too, feel pressured looking at their disappointed faces.'
Earlier, Mr Ong paid for the flight, food and accommodation for the Vietnamese women who signed up with his agency to come here in search of husbands.
Up to the middle of last year, he would bring in four to eight prospective brides every month to meet interested men.
Now, he offers only tour packages to prospective grooms to fly to Vietnam to meet the women there.
Each package costs $388, but should the man find a match and decide to get hitched, Mr Ong charges $10,000 to make the necessary arrangements for the marriage.
His business has slumped this year, with only one client every two months. In 2005, he used to have up to eight clients getting married every month.
'In 2006, every day we had at least three prospective clients visiting our office to meet the girls. Now, even phone enquiries, we get only one every two weeks,' he said.
Delay wedding plans
'We felt the pinch from August last year,' he said.
'Some of the men who were initially interested in getting married decided not to because they told me that property prices here had gone up so high, they could not afford a place of their own, and wanted to delay their marriage plans.'
But despite fewer men seeking to marry Vietnamese women, Mr Lin has no plans to stop bringing in Vietnamese women.
'These Vietnamese women who sign up with my agency may be from the countryside, but they are intelligent and educated and are not ignorant of the current economic situation,' said Mr Lin.
'Some still choose to take a chance and hope to find a husband here.
'It's not a difficult choice because they come from very poor backgrounds. Life back home for them is harder than waiting here for a groom.'
Mr Lin pays for their flight, takes care of their accommodation and gives them an allowance for food and transport.
One hopeful prospective bride here on his expense is Miss Bui Thi Tuoi, 21. She had visited earlier in June but failed to find herself a husband.
That did not deter her from trying her luck again. She flew here for a second visit at the end of August and extended her stay.
Said Miss Bui in halting Mandarin: 'I am aware that Singapore has been hit hard by the financial crisis, and it's more difficult to find a husband now, but I still want to try.'
Yet, it's not all gloom and doom for the bride and groom business.
Said Mr Ong: 'This is not an easy business to begin with. But my agency pulled through the period when Sars hit in 2003, and I am sure we can ride out this downturn. The men would still want to marry and settle down eventually. They have only delayed their marriage plans for now.'
Mr Lin added: 'The downturn cannot last forever. Also, not everyone is affected by the financial crisis.
'Some of my clients who are holding Government jobs are still going ahead with their plans to get married. I am confident there is still a demand for Vietnamese brides.'
