SINGAPORE : Divorces among Malay Muslims have been on a downward trend since 2007.
But statistics show that many divorces occur within the first 5 to
10 years of marriage.
So a public education campaign starts this week to get couples better
prepared for these critical years.
A drama titled "Mr Pakar" or "Mr Expert" may seem like your ordinary
sitcom.
But laughter aside, it approaches the financial, emotional and mental
preparation needed for a marriage. Its main target audience are younger
couples.
Customised radio programmes will also discuss issues raised in the
drama.
Separately, a commercial titled "The Promise" also aims to promote the
importance of seeking help if one's marriage is in trouble.
"The idea is to alert them to some of the challenges, and help them...
how they can prepare themselves for this entirely new experience. We
want to address this as early as possible so that we can reduce the
divorce rate as much as possible within the Malay Muslim community,"
said Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs.
"These efforts are more focused, in terms of areas that we want to do a
bit more - the first 5 (to) ... 10 years of marriage are very critical
areas for us," he added.
-- CNA
Good to see that.