Special rate on Chinese brides

2007-02-20 09:26

Singapore - A Singapore marriage agency is offering a Lunar New Year special on brides from China's Fujian province, the agency told AFP on Monday.

The discounts through Mr Cupid International Matchmakers Pte Ltd are only "for this 15 days of celebration for the New Year," ending on March 4, said the firm's Singapore managing director, Martin Wong.

Under the Lunar New Year deal, a prospective groom pays a S$2 000 (R9 252) deposit that gets him a trip to China where he meets with potential brides, Wong said.

If the man finds his match, he must sign an agreement that he intends to marry the woman, and then gets a rebate of S$1 999.

"In other words, what he actually paid is just one dollar" for the matchmaking trip, Wong said.

The balance of S$6 000 in fees can be paid over 10 to 15 months in interest-free instalments, compared to a normal price of up to S$9 000 (R41 825) in total, Wong said.

As an added bonus, Wong said Mr Cupid is offering a further S$1 000 rebate to couples that have a child in the first year of marriage, or S$500 within two years - in line with the Singapore government's encouragement of couples to procreate.

Two customers, including one on Monday morning, have already signed up for the New Year special, Wong said.

"I've been putting off marriage for many years, and my mother has been nagging at me to settle down," one of the prospective grooms, identified as Mr Tan, was quoted as saying in Monday's The New Paper.

Tan, a civil servant in his late 40s, said that with Mr Cupid's interest-free instalment offer, "I might as well take advantage of it."

Around 4 000 arranged marriages since firm's founding

Mr Cupid was founded in Vietnam 15 years ago, has an office in Fujian and opened in Singapore five years ago, Wong said.

He said the agency already has a strong demand for Vietnamese and Cambodian brides, and the Lunar New Year promotion aims to boost demand for Fujian women.

Mr Cupid, one of numerous marriage agencies in the city-state, says it has arranged close to 4 000 marriages since the firm's founding.

- AFP