Getting married vs Getting on with the years

In case you are caught off guard with this header, do not be surprised. I am NOT getting married (at the moment) but still I cannot defy the nature’s course of getting old. (Maybe shall I say, I am aging like old wine?) *ponders*

Sumiko Tan’s article in Sunday Times have once again weaned on the never-ending issue of the GREAT marriage leap. Instead of whining (she does that often), she shifted her target to Fann Wong (of all people… well, perhaps Sumiko did take up some Sun Tzu’s lessons)

Anyway, the underlying issue of her article is still this: Getting on with the years.

It comes to no surprise. Women since historians instructed scribes on the written form of history, have chased the dream: ever-lasting youthfulness. From Cleopatra to modern day ladies in society, who, in her right frame of mind; does not want to be adored and revered by men at her feet?

From the traditional wrinkle-remover of our grandmothers’ era to the modern day SK-II product ranges featuring a wide array of stars with their baby-like skin, who DOES not want to have such beauty? Men, from paupers to emperors forsake everything, so as to lay their hands on such marvellous products of nature. Needless to say, men these days are no indifferent from the emperors and men of yesteryears.

Imagine going under the knife to attain the looks of the Koreans or the Japanese, women have placed great emphasis on their looks. From Botox jabs to bust lifts advertisements that sprung up not too long back like a whole burrow of rabbits, it is little wonder why aging women like Sumiko, look back and wonder what else could be done. Unless they are the likes of the aunties and grannies that roam around in pyjamas like fashion parade shows (was indeed once fashionable… I wonder why of all outfits, why pyjamas) *scratchs head*, I would say most ladies are well-dressed for the occasions these days.

I do not deny that men are getting onto the vanity flow as well. Metrosexuals, a term I hear flying around these days and of course the gay community are very much such ‘needs’ (imagine, a luxury have now been upgraded to become a ‘need’ in the lives of some personnel)

Before anyone start cussing and try to flip my cupboard for anything, I use the usual facial wash and a toner at night (not regularly… forget to clean) to clean my face these days… moisturizers come in handy when the winter winds start to cut into the face when I am at work. So that is it, nothing more.

Back to the main issue at hand… the looking-good comes naturally under the ‘attraction’ process. Animals too have their version of fashion shows… look at the peacock and you get the idea. But the reality check is the older you get, the less attraction you have. Unless specifically that you are Lisa Wang or Rene Russo, a greater proportion of how we look in future is already written across our very eyes… take a good look around you and you have the future in your eyes. Perhaps some of those happily unmarried, fear the same downfall should they choose to pick the red carpet down the aisle. Perhaps only…

But I believe that it is not only the physical outlook that matters most, I have seen the fair share of average looking SGeans tied down earlier than their well-endowed, attractive peers. Of course I am not comparing the rate at which they get hitched, do not get me wrong there then.


The co-relation goes like this:

Attractive = married off earlier, no worries about being left on the shelf
Unattractive = high possibilities of being the statistics of being unmarried in SG.

In the current marriage-cum-family-pro setting in SG, the article serves like a hot butter knife into personnel such as Fann Wong. No offence to those who chose to remain single, Sumiko Tan probably wanted to shift some attention off and hand in a piece for placating her bosses.

Last words, those nonsensical ‘Extreme Makeovers’ reality shows sub-consciously rubs the fact that to look good and attractive is THE WAY and it is a sad fact that this is how the society governs the rules of survival.

So crudely put across, to get married, you must be attractive. Sad but this is the fact in this world.