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MORE people here are saying 'I do' more than once.
Of the nearly 24,000 people who walked down the aisle last year, 17.5 per cent of grooms were remarrying and 15.3 per cent of brides were tying the knot again.
The figures have been rising for several years. A decade ago, only about one in 10 marriages involved a partner who was remarrying. Associate Professor Paulin Straughan, a sociologist at the National University of Singapore, said this trend is a good sign.
'Even though people have had an unpleasant experience, they don't give up on the institution of marriage and they try again,' she said.
The typical repeat groom was 41 years old and a remarrying bride was 35 on average last year; older than first-time newlyweds aged 30 and 27 respectively.
For Muslims, the remarriage figure was even higher.
Slightly over a quarter who took the plunge last year were not doing so for the first time, according to figures released by Singapore's Department of Statistics yesterday.
It found that divorces rose in tandem with marriages - which swelled to a five-year high of 23,967.
There were 7,226 divorces and annulments last year, up from 7,061 in 2006, a far cry from the 4,888 dissolutions a decade back.
The reason for divorce among non-Muslims however, remained the same: living apart, unreasonable behaviour and adultery.
More people are also marrying outside their ethnic groups, according to the report.
Of those who tied the knot last year, 3,940 or 16.4 per cent did so with someone of another race.
Ten years ago, there were just 2,290 inter-ethnic marriages, which made up just 8.9 per cent of the marriages that year.
Close to half of the inter-ethnic marriages last year were between Chinese men and foreign brides from countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines.
Said Prof Straughan: 'Inter-ethnic marriages will be much more common in a cosmopolitan society. It shows the high racial-tolerance level and open-mindedness of society.
She added, however, that there were concerns in the case of foreign brides. 'If there are language and cultural barriers, I worry that the marriage will not last and there will be no marital satisfaction.'
simlinoi@sph.com.sg
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