Support foreign wives too, suggested Aware. Doing so would improve Singapore's birth rate.

So Aware suggested granting permanent residency and citizenship rights to foreign mothers of Singaporean children so that their families are able to remain intact.

Not having permanent residency or citizenship puts these women at a disadvantage. For instance, these women are dependent on their Singaporean husbands, usually low-income earners, to sponsor their stay in Singapore, said social workers and Aware.

And some are stuck despite being in a violent and abusive relationship.

"If their husbands threaten not to sponsor their long-term visit passes, they will be forced to leave the country and their (Singapore citizen) children behind," said Covenant Family Service Centre's director Florence Lim.

"Once that happens, many of them don't have the economic means to come back to the country to fight for custody of their children, much less a plane ticket."

For every foreign wife abuse case Covenant Family Service Centre sees, "more than half" say their husbands threaten not to renew their social visit or long-term visit pass, Mrs Lim added.

Moreover, legal aid is restricted to permanent residents and citizens, said lawyer Poonam Mirchandani.

"Many, therefore, are unable to obtain even the very basic quasi-criminal remedies such as Personal Protection Orders (PPOs) or Maintenance Orders (MOs)against their husbands when confronted with family violence and in matrimonial proceedings.

"Similarly, many are unable to get legal representation in divorce, custody and division of matrimonial assets proceedings against their husbands," said Ms Mirchandani, who is also Aware's foreign brides sub-committee chairman.

While a foreign motheron a long-term visit pass is allowed to work here, she will still have to find an employer willing to apply for the relevant work pass from the Ministry of Manpower first.

This itself can be daunting, some foreign wives told The New Paper.

"I never hear from them once I tell them I'm on a long-term visit pass," said Madam Siti Norizan, 43, who has applied for three jobs in the past year since she learnt that long-term visit pass holders could work. The Indonesian national, married to a Singaporean, has two children aged eight and seven.

Ms Mirchandani argued that this group of foreign wives find it tougher to secure permanent residency and citizenship, and even long-term visit passes.

"Regrettably, what is often overlooked is the potential earning capacity of these foreign wives, who are able to supplement their Singaporean husband's income and therefore, ease the family's financial hardship," she added.

Foreign wives

Aware is cognisant that women married to much older Singaporean men with low education may not be a catch.

But, Singapore needs to look at foreign wives in "a different light" from migrants who are here for economic purposes, said Aware's executive director Corrina Lim.

"We should recognise that there are two types of migrants and have different criteria for each," she said.

Ms Lim added: "As Singapore places an emphasis on family…We believe that it is consistent with the state's policies that foreign wives be given the same rights and benefits as local wives."

When asked how would giving more rights to foreign mothers improve the TFR, Ms Lim said it would "not directly" increase it, but will make it "conducive for people to have families".

"We have to, of course, have checks and balances in place to deter and prevent sham marriages, but where the marriage is not a sham, foreign wives should not be discriminated against," she said.

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