Str.Times/Sgpore : Vietnam women prefer foreigners

[bich dao <daotb@yahoo.com>]

AUG 17 1999 

             Vietnam women prefer foreigners 

             More women from Ho Chi Minh City
             are marrying foreign 'Mr Right', despite
             a sharp rise in divorces for
             cross-cultural marriages

             HO CHI MINH CITY -- More and more
             Vietnamese women from Ho Chi Minh
             City are choosing to marry foreigners,
             despite the findings of a recent survey that
             many of them become disillusioned shortly
             after their marriage. 

             In the past two years, there has been a
             sharp increase in divorces for
             cross-cultural marriages, particularly those
             involving Taiwanese men. 

             A majority of the city's women who
             married foreigners in the past decade
             married Taiwanese men. 

             The survey, conducted by the HCM City
             Women's Association (HWA), showed that
             many local women found marriage to a
             foreigner too big a challenge. 

             It also cited cultural differences and
             economic problems as main reasons for
             unsuccessful cross-cultural marriages. 

             The number of mixed marriages between
             1996 and last year doubled, compared to
             the period from 1993 to 1995. 

             Vietnamese citizens have married
             foreigners from more than 30 countries,
             including members of overseas
             Vietnamese communities in the US,
             Canada, Australia and France. 

             Women who enjoyed good marriages to
             Taiwanese husbands had high educational
             backgrounds which helped them overcome
             language barriers. 

             But other women were not as lucky. One
             woman discovered after getting married
             and moving to China that her husband was
             already married. 

             But it was too late and she was forced to
             live in the family with him and his wife
             and children, working as a maid until she
             could escape and return to Vietnam. 

             Marriages with foreign partners became
             more popular in the 90s, when Vietnam
             opened the door to the rest of the world. 

             A number of cross-cultural unions were
             reportedly marriages of convenience. 

             Many women who were married this way
             could not speak the language of their new
             husband, nor were they informed of the
             marriage until they were told to wear
             bridal gowns. 

             Some young women even felt that it would
             be easier to take their own lives than to
             continue living with a foreign husband. --
             Vietnam News/ Asia News Network 

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