Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Obedient Wives

Sometimes I read blogs about Singapore, and recently both Seelan Palay's Blog & Rachel Zeng’s Blog talk about a conversation Rachel Zeng heard on the MRT.

Basically the conversation was by a group of middle-age folks who were wondering how to find a suitable wife for one of their sons. Rachel Zeng was disturbed when one of them said that local women are useless while another suggested that Vietnamese brides are better as they are more ‘obedient’.

Rachel Zeng was unhappy with this mass grouping of Singaporean women while Seelan Palay commented that it was very disappointing that men still hold such views of women in society. He then commented that it is pathetic that Singaporean men actually want women from "developing" countries because they assume they will be more obedient.

Personally I fail to see what’s wrong with the views stated by the group of middle-age folks. It’s hardly a secret that Singaporean women have a reputation of being demanding and materialistic, while women from other countries in Asia have a reputation of being more ‘obedient’.

Now I won’t say all Singaporean women are demanding and materialistic, but what was stated is known and commonly accepted facts in Singapore. Is it wrong for the group to state accepted facts held by a vast majority of Singaporeans? I don’t think so.

Another thing is why is it a problem if Singaporean men take foreign brides because they are more ‘obedient’? Singaporean women marry foreign (white) men all the time and no one complain about it. This is the country of the ‘Party Sarong Girl’, so what’s wrong with it the other way around?

Last I check Singapore is still in Asia and there are Singapore (Asian) men who want obedient and domesticated wives. And if they do want women like that, most Singaporean women would be out of the question because most young Singaporean women I know do not cook.

Now there are Singaporean men who do not care how domesticated their wives are, and that’s perfectly fine. However there are Singaporean men who do want a traditional obedient wife, and to me…what’s wrong with that? Nothing wrong there!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with you. When it comes to choosing who you want to marry, it's fair games.

Singaporean women who show disdain for Singaporean men wanting obedient (or should I say virtuous wives) should examine themselves whether they have qualities that make a good wife in the first place. More often, they too look for men who can satisfy their wants for the 5C's in life.

The man who chooses a wife for her virtue more than her look is wise in heart, and so is the woman who chooses a husband for his integrity and faithfulness.

Ghost said...

I don’t think I should go that far but I think we can both agree Singapore men has a right to choose obedient wives if that’s what they want