No couple expects their marriage to end up in a divorce. It distresses not only them but also their families.

Also, the stigma attached to divorcees is still very much alive.

With a divorce, a lot of time that was invested in the marriage goes up in smoke and time and effort have to be spent if one wants to find a new spouse again.

So I disagree with the thrust of Mr Fabian Ng Yuan Sheng's letter (Better to focus on reconciliation, healing in family courts; Nov 15).

There are cases where couples have turned on each other, resulting in the death of one party or even both.

(Coroner: Man killed wife before committing suicide in Geylang double tragedy; Sept 28).

Such cases could possibly be avoided if one of them decides to pursue a divorce on realising that the marriage is going nowhere.

So the shorter time taken for divorce proceedings, as announced by Senior Minister of State for Law Indranee Rajah in Parliament, is good news for couples in a bad marriage.

I would go a step further and suggest that the ministry make it even easier for couples to split up in marriages of shorter duration and especially in which no children are involved.

James Soh