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What should have been the honeymoon period of her marriage was instead eclipsed by homesickness.
Ms Khuong Thi Van, who moved to Singapore after marrying a Singaporean three years ago, missed her parents, who run a vegetable wholesale business, and her two younger brothers back in Vietnam.
The 24-year-old Vietnamese, who goes by the name Anna Ng, also missed Vietnamese food and had no friends here.
The high school graduate who speaks English said: “I felt very lonely during my first year here. I cried a lot and felt very lost.”
But her “buddy”, whom she met while attending a marriage support programme for transnational couples like her, was a lifeline.
The Vietnamese woman introduced her to other Vietnamese wives and showed her around. Mrs Ng also made more friends through the church she attends.
Mrs Ng met her 25-year-old husband Ng Bon Han, a sales engineer, through friends. During their year-long courtship, he often visited her in Vietnam.
“I feel I can relate to him,” said Mrs Ng, who is not working. “And he cares a lot about me.”
Their first year of married life was the hardest as they had to adjust to being man and wife.
For example, she initially wanted to have children immediately, as couples in Vietnam usually do, but he wanted to save up first.
They now plan to have children in five or 10 years’ time, as they believe it is costly to raise children here.
She said: “Even though we love each other, we still have differences. So we communicated a lot more to understand each other. Now our marriage is very stable.”
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/i-felt-so-alone-in-singapore