Kuala Lumpur, July 26: Malaysian men are hunting for brides from other countries like Vietnam and China, with many asking women to undergo virginity tests before agreeing to a wedding. Brides from India are not sought, a survey has said.
Luring them are matrimonial agencies which portray Vietnamese girls as ‘pure and innocent’ and who ‘will never divorce’. This trend of getting a foreign bride that began almost a decade back in Malaysia is catching on, The Star newspaper said in a survey on Sunday.
Brides from mainland China come next for Malaysians. Chinese are the largest ethnic minority in multi-ethnic Malaysia. Though ethnic Indians consist of 7%of the population, brides from India are neither sought nor promoted, the survey said.
Malaysian students have joined in the bride hunt, citing lack of opportunity to meet girls as they are either in girls’ colleges or pursuing courses. But agencies turn away students if they are below 21.
Work pressure is taking its toll on single Malaysian men. With no time for courtship, these bachelors are turning to matchmaking agencies to seek life partners.
The matchmaking process is now more sophisticated as some local agencies link up with their foreign counterparts to ‘supply’ the brides online.
The prospective bridegrooms get to view the candidates and communicate with the agencies via e-mail. Once a selection is made, the woman is flown over for a trial meeting. The agencies claim this is a legal operation as the women sign up for the service willingly, many with their parents’ support.
The potential bride is sent for a medical check-up to determine if she is free from sexually transmitted or other diseases and may even have to undergo a virginity test if a request is made by the groom-to-be. If all goes well, the marriage takes place in less than a month, before the woman’s visa expires.
To overcome the language barrier, the brides attend classes so that they can communicate with the groom and his family members. Although there have been reports of runaway brides, some marriages have turned out to be happy unions, the survey says.
—IANS