Wedded bliss in Vietnam... The search for love and companionship has brought Singapore men to new shores. In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnamese women wait for them, each hoping to marry a "prince" who will be good and kind to her. Braema Mathi traces the path of one of these Singapore men and talks to three of the starry-eyed Vietnamese hopefuls. Mark Poh (not his real name) was happy to be single, especially since he was in the navy. But he is now 45 and has left the navy more than 10 years ago. So the joy of being footloose and fancy free is wearing thin. At the same time, the single women in Singapore do not really appeal to him, he said. So two weeks ago, he signed up with a marriage agency here, Joyful Marriage and Child Adoption Agency, to look for a Vietnamese bride in Ho Chih Minh City. He paid $2,000 for a package which included his airfares, hotel and viewing of prospective brides in the Vietnamese city. He was to get some refund if his search was unsuccessful. At his hotel in Vietnam, he told The Sunday Times: "I am here to take a look, just to see if I can find the right person. I have nothing to lose just by looking." Now a businessman who has his own three-room Housing Board flat, he also stressed that he was not desperate or in short supply of women. And witnessing a wedding reception in the hotel, one hosted by a Taiwanese groom and his Vietnamese bride, he speculated aloud that the groom had been unable to find a Taiwanese wife because he was too dark-complexioned and was probably a farmer or a fisherman. "That's why this man has to come to Vietnam to find his wife. Good for him. But my case is not like his." In his case, he has ruled out Singapore women because he did not like them, he said. And he also decided against brides from China, as they have a reputation for being calculating. "They soon compare themselves with other wives here and start asking for more money, more everything, putting a lot of pressure on the husbands. Some ask for a divorce after getting permanent residency." But Vietnamese girls are different -- they are beautiful, innocent and well-mannered, he said. So for the three days in Ho Chi Minh City's Chinatown, Mr Poh wore colourful batik-print shirts and slicked back his hair -- to meet the young women in "dates" arranged by the agency's Singapore proprietor, Madam Alice Ng, and her Vietnamese counterpart. Chaperoned by the Singapore and Vietnamese matchmakers, the first of his prospective brides was presented to him at a restaurant. But he did not like her protruding teeth and pimply face. Heavy rains prevented two other women from turning up to meet him at the restaurant that evening. The next day, he met a 23-year-old woman in his hotel room. As he and the chaperones discussed her fate in Hokkien, her eyes darted about anxiously. But no, she was too young, he decided. On the third day, he saw another woman and took an instant shine to her. But something else got in the way -- they were both born under the same Chinese zodiac sign of the ram, which he feared would mean a rocky marriage. In the end, Mr Poh left to return to Singapore, resigned to leave it till another day to select his Vietnamese bride. By Braema Mathi - The Straits Times - May 21, 2000.