The numbers in this are pretty large - 28,000 and 100,000 -
lasvegassun.com
Vietnamese women wed foreigners to help family
By BEN STOCKING, Associated Press WriterSun Aug 10, 1:19 PM ET
More than 100,000 Vietnamese women have married Taiwanese men over the last 10 years and the numbers are rising, said Gow Wei Chiou of the Taiwan representative office in Hanoi. In the same period, roughly 28,000 Korean men married Vietnamese, according to the Vietnam Women's Union.
As more Taiwanese and Korean women move to cities to work, many men in those countries, especially those from rural areas, face increasing difficulty finding wives, said Chiou.
"Taiwanese women want to get married when they are much older, and they are also very opinionated," said Lin Wen-jui, 39, who met his Vietnamese wife through a Taiwanese friend in Ho Chi Minh City. She has since taken a Taiwanese name, learned Mandarin and opened a restaurant.
The overseas marriage trend has been boosted by online matchmaking services such as the Singapore-based Mr. Cupid, which offers a "comprehensive Vietnamese marriage package" and five-day matchmaking tours. "No one ever came on our trip without finding their dream bride," the site boasts.
But although driven underground, the practice continues, abetted by village matchmakers and secluded meetings with suitors.
Half the brides in such marriages are under 21, half the grooms between 40 and 60.
"Sometimes the men ask them to pose naked," Nguyen said "It's inhumane."
Quyen still has vivid memories of going to the matchmaker's house in Ho Chi Minh City, a 120-mile bus ride and a world away from Tan Loc.
"I was scared," she said.
Quyen made the final five. Speaking through an interpreter, the man asked a few simple questions: How many brothers and sisters do you have? How far did you go in school?
They had dinner and Quyen agreed to marry him on the spot.
"My life in Taiwan is good," she said during a visit to Tan Loc. "My husband and his family treat me well."
Life is not so good, however, for the young men in Tan Loc who watch the exodus of marriage-aged women with despair.
"If all the girls leave," said Nguyen Hoang Mong, 19. "there won't be anyone left for us. Marriage shouldn't be about money. It should be about love."
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Associated Press writers Vu Tien Hong in Hanoi and Debby Wu in Taipei contributed to this report. |
