Couples not talking, so they're splitting

IT'S not money problems, nasty in-laws or even adultery. 

Couples in Singapore are splitting up because they just don't talk to each other anymore. 

Lack of communication and a sense of alienation were the top reasons cited by almost half of the 50 couples who took part in a study by the Subordinate Courts last year. 

The study, which is yet to be completed, is aimed at finding out why marriages fail and how the problem can be nipped in the bud. 

This comes at a time when the number of divorces in the republic is increasing steadily.  

According to Dr Joseph Ozawa, senior director of the court's Family and Juvenile Justice Centre, there were 4,044 divorces in 2001, compared with 3,767 the year before. In 1999, the number was 3,494. 

The couples in the court's study comprised only a fraction of the divorce applications last year and may not be representative, he said. 

“I expected problems with in-laws and sexual and financial problems would be the main reasons. But they all ranked relatively low,” he said. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network