February 17, 2025
SINGAPORE – Not raising your voice in anger and making the effort to spend quality time together are key to a lasting marriage, said a couple who have been together for almost seven decades.
Mr Peter Chua, 91, and Madam Molly Foong, 86, were married in 1956, and just celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary in February.
“I always make sure that we have breakfast, lunch and dinner together,” Madam Foong said. “When I go out for my exercise, I make sure that I come back on time so we can eat together.”
They were one of 202 couples present at the Golden Jubilee Wedding Celebrations on Feb 16, an event to honour couples who have been together for more than 50 years.
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his spouse, Ms Jane Ittogi, also attended the celebration.
At the event, organised by the Families for Life Council, the Registry of Marriages and the Registry of Muslim Marriages, Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli announced more support for couples looking to tie the knot.
From July 1, all Singaporean and permanent resident couples who complete marriage preparation programmes will get a higher rebate of $170, with full subsidies provided for lower-income couples, Mr Masagos said.
This is up from the current rebate amounts of $70 for an evidence-informed programme – one that blends research, best practices and community input – and $140 for an evidence-based programme – a rigorously tested, proven practice.
These rebates are valid for programmes done with operators approved by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).
Mr Masagos said marriage preparation programmes “equip couples with the skills and knowledge to navigate their relationships and form important foundations for the couple’s journey together”.
Aside from higher rebates, more online learning modules with information on strengthening relationships will be made available to all couples later in 2025, he said. MSF said more details will be announced later.
There will be 17 complimentary online modules for all couples, which are now available only for Muslim couples.
These include topics on preparing for marriage and family life, setting expectations, financial management, communication, conflict resolution, and relationships with in-laws, said MSF in response to queries from The Straits Times.
“Nurturing a life-long marriage requires effort, communication and, above all, commitment,” said Mr Masagos.
“We believe that it is important to begin by building a strong foundation for the union and continually investing in the marriage to keep it strong.”
Couples are also taking more proactive steps to strengthen their relationship, with more than 10,500 couples completing a quiz to check on the health of their relationship and more than 200 couples seeking mentorship help for their first year of marriage, he said.
Mr Masagos added that 31,000 Muslim couples have also received support from their kadis and naib kadis – religious officials who oversee marriage.
President Tharman presented Mr Chua and Madam Foong with a commemorative marriage certificate and gifts to celebrate their relationship, which started when they first met as teenagers while taking the same bus home after school.
“We locked eyes and realised we were on the same wavelength,” Mr Chua said.
“Usually, when we said ‘bye’, and we didn’t see each other, we didn’t miss each other,” he said, as he revealed more about their early days.
“But as the years went by, there was one time when we didn’t see each other for a long time, and there was that feeling that we were missing something.”
The couple married young and built a life together – raising three children and welcoming seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Mr Chua worked as a tanker allocator for petrol company Esso for 30 years, while Madam Foong was a homemaker.
They went on many trips together – travelling in Europe and visiting Japan, Hong Kong and Canada, among other destinations, Mr Chua said.
“We depend on each other,” Madam Foong said, noting how Mr Chua looked after her in 2015 after her spinal surgery.
“In our lives, we have gone through so much,” she said. “That’s the thing about our marriage. We really take care of each other.”