Mail-order ‘bride’ is married

KUALA LUMPUR: A store manager’s dream of marrying a young and beautiful Vietnamese bride was dashed when she turned out to be another man’s wife.

Tan Ching Seng, 30, and his family thought it worthwhile to fork out RM17,000 to a matchmaking agency when he first saw the woman at the KL International Airport.
“I was excited and was looking forward to a happy marriage. I thought it was God’s gift that I was able to marry this attractive woman.

Marriage woes: Chong (right) and Tan holding up the wedding photos and marriage certificate at the press conference in Kuala Lumpur

 

“But I was shocked and didn’t know what to do when she told me that she had already been married in Vietnam in 2006,” Tan said at a press conference organised by MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong.

Tan found this out only after Nguyen Thi Vinh, 25 – Ah Hoong to Tan’s family – failed to come home on March 10 after returning to Vietnam when her grandmother died.

“When I managed to contact Ah Hoong a month later, she told me the shocking news.

“She claimed she had been cheated by the agent as she was supposed to come to work in Malaysia and not for marriage,” Tan said, adding that it was only then that he realised why Ah Hoong always “gave excuses” and “looked sad” when he wanted to sleep with her.

He said Ah Hoong even sent him a copy of her wedding photograph and marriage certificate,
Tan said he now wanted the agents to refund him the fee which he and his family had borrowed from relatives.
Chong said the department would help Tan take legal action against the agent.

 Source: The Star  Saturday May 8, 2010