In South Korea, the main struggle has been felt in depopulated farm and fishing
villages.
Now, brides from China and Southeast Asian countries are settling down with
local bachelors hoping to raise the next crop of farmers.
In Singapore, the government plans to bring in about 2 million immigrants--or
nearly half of the current population--to maintain growth.
The squalling of babies is a welcome sound these days among the roughly 40
households in Guzi village in Jeollabuk-do province in southwestern South
Korea.
Rice farmer Paek In Ki, 37, and his Vietnamese wife, Tran Thi Thanh Thuy, 25,
welcomed their first child--a girl--in 2004. Their son was born late last year.
The couple wed in 2003.
In this traditional farming village, Confucianism still exerts a strong
influence. Thanh Thuy cooks up local delicacies to celebrate Confucian events,
and she works in the rice paddies and strawberry fields alongside her husband.
"She is now a crucial member of this village," Paek said.
Thanh Thuy says she feels right at home. "The farming and Confucian events are
similar to the way I grew up in Vietnam. I don't feel any difference here," she
said.
International marriages are on the rise in rural South Korea. According to the
Korea National Statistical Office, of about 8,600 farmers, forestry workers and
fishermen who got married in 2006, 41 percent got hitched to women from other
countries.
Of all South Korean men who married foreign women in 2006, about 11,000 took
Vietnamese brides, a 74 percent rise from the previous year. Many marriages
were made through brokers.
Not all those matches were love at first sight, but appearance did play a
factor.
Paek cited a pragmatic reason for choosing Thanh Thuy. "She looks South Korean,
so I thought our children would not face discrimination," he said.
In 2005, the South Korean birthrate--the number of children a woman has in her
lifetime--fell to 1.08 children on average. That figure was even lower than
Japan's birthrate of 1.26 and ranks among the world's lowest.
Moreover, in rural villages, the gender imbalance is growing wider, in part
because of fetal sex selection techniques, similar to those that have led to
serious population problems in China and India.
According to Yang Soon Mi, an official of the National Rural Development
Institute, illegal prenatal sex selection is rising because of the declining
birthrate and a traditional preference for male children.
Some estimates show that, within three years, the male-to-female imbalance will
widen to 120 to 100.
The shortage of brides in rural areas has led male villagers to head to cities.
That has reduced the work force, and in turn, led to fewer young families and
fewer children in the countryside.
However, it is often difficult for women from other cultures to fit in with
Korean farm families, leading some to give up and return home in defeat.
The biggest troubles are communicating with their husbands or their
mothers-in-law.
According to a support group for foreign women, one woman was rejected by her
husband when he discovered that she was sterile. Another woman said that her
husband physically abused her when she disobeyed her mother-in-law's dictates.
South Korea's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry now regards immigrant women
as important "human resources for farm villages." It is working to make things
easier on these Asian brides.
This year, the ministry is training 300 counselors who will teach immigrant
women the Korean language or offer advice on common problems. The counselors
are being dispatched throughout South Korea's farming villages.
The government is also offering financial assistance to enable the foreign
brides to afford trips to their home countries to see the families they left
behind.
Most of these marriages were arranged through brokers, which has led some
international human rights organizations in the United States and Europe to
label them "marriages close to human trafficking."
However, according to Yang, "Foreign women are now indispensable to South
Korea's farming villages. They can really improve things, so we should not view
them negatively. We need to create ways to help them soon."
In Singapore, meanwhile, a ceremony was held in mid-April at a public hall in
the eastern part of the city-state to welcome 91 people who had just been
granted Singaporean citizenship. The immigrants were mostly from India, China
and Malaysia.
After receiving a citizenship certificate from Deputy Prime Minister Shunmugam
Jayakumar, each newcomer placed his or her right hand on their heart and swore,
"We, Singaporean citizens, pledge to build a democratic society irrespective of
race, language or religion."
Jayakumar congratulated the group, and said that both Singapore's native
citizens and its adopted brethren must make efforts to get along.
In March, the Singaporean government said it plans to raise the population from
the current 4.5 million to 6.5 million through immigration.
Singapore's birthrate fell to 1.25 per woman in 2006.
Pauline Straughan, an associate professor of medical sociology at the National
University of Singapore, cited these reasons for the decline:
・Married couples with higher education have increased, and they spend
much money for the education of their children. Thus, they are having fewer
children.
・Temporary employment contracts of one to two years are on the rise,
leaving would-be mothers unable to afford to become pregnant. That is because
maternity leaves could obstruct their promotion.
Straughan noted that, as long as young people have uncertain job prospects, the
birthrate will never rebound.
Singapore's increased immigration policy is a desperate measure to retain its
prosperity and battle the declining birthrate.
However, hurdles for obtaining permanent residency or citizenship are high, as
the main reason for accepting immigrants is economic growth. Preference is
given to immigrants who bring with them skills and wealth to contribute to
Singapore's future.
Unskilled workers, meanwhile, are unwelcome, in part because of fears of social
unrest.
In 2003, the government began granting permanent residence status to
individuals who had invested at least S$2 million (about 160 million yen) in
the country per person through real estate or stock purchases, among other
investments.
Researchers in fields such as information technology or biotechnology are also
welcome to apply for permanent residency. This year, the government began
issuing working visas that make it easier for highly skilled workers to find
employment in Singapore.
But Singapore also imposed strict restrictions on its about 500,000 unskilled
immigrant workers, which include maids and construction workers. Such workers
can only live in certain areas and are prohibited from marrying people with
Singaporean citizenship or permanent residency.
Female temporary workers face deportation if they become pregnant.
In addition, many Singaporean citizens fear competition for jobs could
intensify with a rise in immigrants.
"We have to work harder not to lose our jobs. We are too busy working to raise
our own children, which is why the birthrate is falling," said a 38-year-old
Singaporean man who runs a consulting firm. His wife, 34, is a national library
employee.
Each year, 10,000 to 13,000 people become citizens, and about 50,000 people
receive permanent residency.
However, Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs does not reveal details on their
origins, fearing a backlash could worsen diplomatic relations with their home
countries, officials said.
IHT/Asahi
