The Ministry of Social and Family Development will enhance support for couples who marry below the age of 25, Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, the ministry’s Parliamentary Secretary, said yesterday.
Speaking at the annual Marriage Convention held at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, he said the help will include “group marriage education programmes, one-to-one marriage assessments and post-marriage support groups”.
The parliamentary secretary said the ministry recognises that younger couples may need more support than older counterparts, and added that there has been an overwhelming response to complimentary 12-hour marriage preparation workshops.
Results from a poll of more than 1,200 married people by Families For Life, a group that champions strong families, were also released yesterday.
They showed that 59 per cent of respondents think it is important for couples to attend marriage preparation programmes.
The findings also showed that balancing family and work was considered the most important issue.
The other main issues were “keeping the spark alive” and managing finances.
Mr Hairol Nizam Ibrahim, 40, and his wife, Ms Norhafizah Abdul Aziz, 33, said it is hard to divide their time between their jobs as civil servants, studying part-time and spending time with their three young children and parents.
Ms Norhafizah said: “We have a movie night on Friday. It’s almost compulsory. The children look forward to it, they remind us.”
This article was first published on March 20, 2016.
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