THIS NTU professor went through a marriage agency in Chinatown to get himself a Vietnamese bride.

He's such a firm believer in matchmaking, he's now trying to find his wife's sister a Singaporean groom.

Indeed, together with his wife, he vets the men who are interested.

Associate Professor Christopher Shearwood, 45, is also keen to tackle prejudiced views of matrimony through marriage agencies.

The British man, who is now a permanent resident here, said: 'It's inappropriate to pass comments on people who are not on the same social level. Some people may think these women are being traded but you should have a balanced perspective.

'There are Singaporean men who are unable to find partners. Since these girls are keen on getting a Singaporean husband and some men are all right with picking any girl and marrying within days, why not?'

For now the professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering is hard at work trying to find a groom for his sister-in-law, Miss Nguyen Thi My Thu, 19.

While some may scoff at the idea of such unions, Prof Shearwood has no such hang-ups.

Prof Shearwood said he met his Vietnamese bride, Mrs Hang Shearwood, 21, during a matchmaking tour in Ho Chi Minh City in 2006.

The trip was organised by another agency, which has since shut its office in Chinatown.

Prof Shearwood said: 'I'm keen for my sister-in-law to marry a Singaporean man, partly so she can see my wife more frequently and also because she'll enjoy a better standard of living than in her village.'

Mrs Shearwood's elder sister is married to a South Korean.

Prof Shearwood said: 'The social fabric is changing so much and many Vietnamese girls are looking to leave their village homes in Vietnam to seek husbands overseas.'

He said he sought a Vietnamese bride as he had not found a partner by the time he turned 40.

He said: 'I wanted to get married and have children. When I was younger, my career was my priority.'

It was love at first sight for Prof Shearwood when he saw his wife.

Mrs Shearwood recalled: 'He was bald when I met him and I smiled as I thought he looked funny.'

Her smile charmed Prof Shearwood and he decided there and then that she was the one for him.

The couple have a son who is almost 2 and a seven-month-old daughter.

Since February, when Miss Thu signed up with the agency, there have been a few men expressing interest in her, but she felt they were either too old or immature for her.

Prof Shearwood said: 'There was one Italian man who was keen on her but we felt he wasn't mature enough, even though he's much older than her. She's 19 so we're looking for someone not more than 40 years old.'

Miss Thu sat and waited in the agency's Orchard Plaza office for only a day as she did not get along with the other girls there.

Prof Shearwood said: 'Some of the girls were vulgar and skimpily dressed. We didn't want to expose her to that kind of environment.'

However, he said he sees nothing wrong with Miss Thu sitting in the agency if she wanted.

He said: 'One shouldn't be narrow-minded. These girls are looking for a better life and seeking someone who is suitably affluent. So you have to make sacrifices and perhaps, make compromises to achieve that.

'Perhaps they could use the time to do their own sightseeing instead of waiting and hoping in the agency. But if you don't go to the agency, how are you going to meet the men who go there to select brides?'

Prof Shearwood feels that people who think the matchmaking agencies are treating the women as commodities are imposing their own societal beliefs on people who come from less developed countries.

Mr Mark Lin, boss of Vietnam Brides International, has Miss Thu's photo in his portfolio and Prof Shearwood has offered to take her there if there are suitable men who are keen on her.

Prof Shearwood, who has been teaching at NTU for 10 years, said Miss Thu visits Singapore once or twice a year, staying for a month at his campus home each time.

He or his wife will meet men who are interested, to see if any of them is suitable.

They do not foresee Miss Thu having difficulties in adjusting to life in Singapore if she marries a local man.

She said: 'She speaks English better than my wife and Mandarin wouldn't be any more difficult. Like many rural girls, she's hardworking and family-oriented. She doesn't have other expectations.

'She has no financial burdens as she's not expected to make a contribution to her family. She's just a young girl hoping to meet a good match.'



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We don't mind being put on display

THROUGH the glass, the 10 young women can be seen sitting in a row.

Passing men sometimes stop to glance at the women, as they would at wares in a shop window.

One man was heard telling his friend in Mandarin: 'These girls are fair-skinned and pleasant-looking.'

The Vietnamese women at First Overseas International Matchmaker in Katong Shopping Centre do not mind being ogled at.

It is the same at Vietnam Brides International, another Vietnamese matchmaking agency in Orchard Plaza where the boss has up to three girls for show.

Ms Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, 22, said: 'How can the men pick from us if they don't see what we look like?'

The recent case of a human rights group in the US successfully petitioning credit card company Diners Club to cancel its tie-up with Vietnam Brides International on the basis that it is wrong to buy a bride has put the spotlight on such agencies' business practices.

The women are usually at the agencies for two weeks to a month - the usual duration of their social visit passes.

During this short period, they must get married, failing which they have to leave the country.

Only when a Singaporean marries them can they get an extension on their pass more easily - with a permanent residency in sight.

Vietnam Brides International's boss, Mr Mark Lin, said: 'Many girls will try to come to Singapore again if they don't make it the first time round. They just need to get a new social visit pass.'

Ms Trang attests to this. She has been to Singapore three times and met her match on her third try.

Her first trip here was in 2007. After a month, she had no luck and returned to Vietnam.

She came here again in February and a civil servant took a liking to her, but she was not keen on marrying him.

Early last month, a 45-year-old businessman proposed to her and she accepted.

'My fiance is much older than me but I'm not bothered by the age gap. It's more important that he treats me well.'

Mr Francis Toh, boss of First Overseas International Matchmaker, said: 'You can't say that having the girls sit in your shop is unethical. I don't control the girls' schedule when they're in Singapore.

'It's up to them to come to my shop to sit and wait. Sometimes, they go sightseeing with the pocket money I give them so they're really having a free holiday at my expense.'

But not everyone sees things from the matchmakers' perspective.

Mrs Elaine Seah, 30, a housewife who was picking up a maid from an agency in Katong Shopping Centre, felt sorry for the Vietnamese women after seeing them in Mr Toh's shop.

Dr Ann Tan, president of the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations, said the practice does not sound nice, considering that these women are prospective brides.

For the matchmaking agencies, their job is done once a marriage is solemnised.

Mr Lin said: 'I've had cases of customers and girls coming to me with their marriage woes but I'm not a marriage counsellor. They shouldn't bother me with their family problems.'

This article was first published in The New Paper