Marital problems

There have been so many cases of extramarital affairs in the news lately that I don't think they are scandalous anymore. This is not a new phenomenon, it's just that we're reading more about them because of the media.

Recently I also learned that some of my friends are having marital problems. One had divorced his wife only to remarry her again for the sake of the children. His son, now a teenager who had witnessed the tumultous relationship from young, even asked his father how long this marriage is going to last.

Another friend, a very respectable man and one of the nicest person I know is also in the midst of ending his marriage. The couple have been living apart for a number of years and the distance between them have reached a point of no return. While he has been a great father and provider, the kids are closer to the stay-at-home-mom. He's feeling so guilt-ridden that he intends to sign off all his assets to the wife and leave the business to the kids. Having built his business for years, he might end up with almost nothing. As his friends, we worry for him because he's getting on in his years and will need a nest egg for his old age.

One young friend I know is so tired of living under the same roof with his bickering parents. He gets so exasperated whenever they use him as a go-between, he wonders why they won't get divorced so everyone can be happier.

In a  recent survey, one in two married people in Singapore considered divorce at some point in their marriage. I am still surprised at the findings because I do know of many happily married couples too.