Why Are You Still Single, Ah?

Three older men tell us why they’re not married, and why they don’t see themselves settling down any time soon.

- Sophie Hong

Kevin*, 32

“Personally, I don’t believe in the legalised version of marriage. To me, there are no advantages to getting married in Singapore, except to apply for a HDB flat. I don’t plan on getting one, so really, there isn’t any good reason for me to get married.

I come from a business background, so I’m quite logical and calculate risks before making a decision. And I’ve come to the conclusion that marriage would be very disadvantageous for me, given that any assets I produce during the marriage would be divided in the case of a divorce.

Given that Singapore’s divorce rate is higher than ever (and rising each year), it means there’s a chance that I might lose up to half of my assets. Nobody goes into a marriage with divorce in mind, but we all know that people change.

Divorce in Singapore comes with a hefty price tag, and given that I don’t want to get a grant for a HDB flat, nor am I religious – and I can say with a high degree of certainty that I don’t want to have kids – there’s just no reason for me to get married.

My last relationship ended because I didn’t want a marriage. We were together for two years, and I should have laid it all out from the start. When I started asking her about her views on this, her response was always, like, “see how”. Eventually, I broke things off because it’s not fair to her if she loses the chance of having a marriage and kids because of me.”

Kenneth*, 38