Most foreign spouses and their children have adjusted to living in Singapore as a result of various support programmes put in place by the government.

This was the statement made by the Minister of State for Social and Family Development (MSF) Sam Tan in Parliament on Jan. 15, in response to questions on the support and integration of foreign spouses in Singapore.

Multiple programmes put in place by MSF

Tan highlighted that the Ministry of Social and Family Development(MSF) recognised that marriages between Singapore Citizens and Non-Resident spouses could face unique challenges such as cross-cultural differences.

As such, MSF has put in place programmes, such as the Marriage Preparation Programme (MPP) and Marriage Support Programme (MSP) in 2014,  and the Friendship Programme in 2015, to help address such issues.

With regard to the MPP and MSP, Tan gave the following definitions:

"The MPP focuses on key marital issues such as roles and expectations, communications, and conflict management, while the MSP follows up on the MPP post-marriage by helping Non-Resident spouses adapt to life in Singapore."

Tan added that both programmes were highly successful, with the MPP seeing over 98 percent of its participants stating that it had prepared them for marriage and that they could apply what they had learnt.

While in the case of the MSP, over 97 percent of the participants stated that the programme has helped Non-Resident spouses adjust to living in Singapore.

As for the Friendship Programme, Tan stated that it involved a trained volunteer being matched with a Non-Resident Spouse to help him or her integrate into Singapore.

In the case of this programme, Tan stated that over 85 percent of Non-Resident spouses who participated in this programme reported that it had helped them to adjust to life in Singapore.

Community bonding facilitated by People's Association

Tan also highlighted how the People's Association (PA) had helped to facilitate community bonding by organising informal chit-chat sessions to bring transnational families, other new immigrant families and their neighbours together.

In total, Tan cited that the PA had organised up to 243 Resident's Committee and Neighbourhood Committee chit-chat sessions which reached out to about 15,600 residents.

Around 14,000 foreign spouses are gainfully employed each year

Tan further pointed out how the past three years saw an average of 14,000 Non-Resident spouses, holding Long Term Visit Passes, employed in Singapore each year with a letter of consent issued by the Ministry of Manpower.

Such a figure included Non-Resident spouses married to either Singaporeans or Permanent Residents.

Children from such families are integrating well

On the topic of integrating children from such families, Tan said:

"Most children from transnational families attend our local schools just like other Singaporean children, and interact with students of different backgrounds in their classes and extra-curriculum activities. Through the Character and Citizenship Education curriculum in schools, children also learn about our society’s norms and values."

Tan added that immersion in the local school environment was the best way to ensure that such children could do as well local children.

What's more, support has also been put in place for such children and their parents should their families end up in divorce.

Tan said that the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) would continue to facilitate the stay of Non-Resident spouses in Singapore as long as they had custody of their children.

These divorced Non-Resident spouses would also be able to:

"...seek support from community agencies for a range of financial assistance and social services, and approach Social Service Offices (SSOs) for an assessment of their needs. SSOs and our Family Service Centres can also provide help and socio-emotional support, if needed."

With regard to the divorce rate, Tan said that transnational marriages were as resilient as local marriages, with the divorce rate for the former being comparable to that of the latter before the fifth and tenth year anniversaries.

Top image from Chris Page Flickr