THE proverbial Sarong Party Girl is very much alive, if the hike in expatriate divorces is any indication of more foreign men leaving their wives for Singaporean and Asian women.
Recently, family lawyers have seen their base of expatriate clients grow from a handful to up to 70 per cent of the total number of cases they handle.
There is no particular social setting that breeds cheating, lawyers say, but the men who tend to travel often for work are most susceptible to it.
The third parties are often air stewardesses, female co-workers or women at nightspots or social events.
Once the wife smells a rat - a flirtatious text message, Facebook pictures, peer reports and receipts for expensive gifts are the usual giveaways - it is quite common for her to hire a private eye, who can tail a suspect all the way overseas.
Lawyers say that it is not uncommon to receive private eyes' reports which detail the men partying every night, having romantic dinners with women and inviting them to their hotel rooms.
Ms Wong Kai Yun, a partner of law firm Chia Wong, said she has handled easily more than 100 cases involving expatriates in the past five years.
Many of them came from high net-worth families, with husbands who were posted here to assume managerial positions or directorships in the multinational companies they worked for, she added.
This trend appears to coincide with Singapore's growing pool of Employment Pass holders: from 99,000 in 2007 to 142,000 last year, according to statistics provided by the Ministry of Manpower.
"In some scenarios, both husband and wife held high positions before the man was assigned overseas. The wife gives up her job, relocates with their children to Singapore where, a few years down the road, he is charmed by an Asian woman and wants a divorce," said Ms Wong.
Jurisdiction and convenience are the main reasons a couple usually choose to settle their divorce here instead of in their home country, observed Mr Koh Tien Hua, a family lawyer with Harry Elias Partnership.
Lawyers say they have acted for expatriates who come from as far away as Russia and Britain, to nearby Asian nations. They are usually in their mid-30s and older, as one would need to be in a relatively senior position to get an overseas posting, the lawyers said.
Such cases can cost a good five times the usual costs incurred by a Housing Board flat-dwelling Singapore couple - and can rack up between $80,000 and $100,000 in lawyers' fees for extra legwork, said an industry insider.
The drama factor is also higher for expatriates' divorces.
"You sometimes need to apply for injunctions to restrain the other party from disposing of their assets, or taking their children away," said Mr Koh, who is also a fellow of the International Acad- emy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
Expat divorcees also face other problems, said Ms Wong. Former husbands have no reason to renew their dependents' passes, so these women must leave, especially if they have no children study- ing here.
If they want to remain in Singapore, they must find employment or set up their own business, she said.
While Singapore's courts are highly efficient in processing these divorce applications, some women are shocked when they realise they may not get half of their husbands' salaries and assets, said Ms Linda Ong, a family lawyer with Engelin Teh Practice.
Recalling the story of a woman in her 40s who came to him for advice two years ago, Mr Koh said: "Her husband was fooling around and she was considering a divorce. But she had no home in her East African birthplace, and couldn't live with her parents in the United States as she didn't have citizenship.
"It would be difficult for her to find a job here as she was only a diploma holder. The children would obviously live with their father, who was paying for their education.
"Due to these factors, she decided not to go ahead with the divorce."
