Will You Bto With Me?

It’s less romantic, but more couples are applying for a flat before the proposal.

- Terence Ruis

SIX MONTHS INTO DATING, my girlfriend and I found ourselves talking about spending our lives together. With her, it felt natural. There was no sudden jolt of panic when she casually mentioned one day that she’d want a KitchenAid standmixer in our future home. “Our future home?” I asked, smiling happily to myself, and teasing her a little. I still remember the smug grin spread across her face as she calmly said “Yes”. After that exchange, I gave our relationship more serious thought, and with each passing day, I became convinced that I wanted to spend my life with her. The question was: how do I go about it?

As a consumer of popular media, I grew up with the romantic notion that I’d fall in love with a girl, date for years, propose, get a house and get married. How extremely naïve. After doing some research, I realised there was no way I’d be able to start a family that way in Singapore. Circumstances made it a little more complicated.