SMU Dean of Students and Professor of Sociology (Practice) Paulin Straughan said, “As women continue to prefer to marry grooms who match their education level, the pool of eligible men (in Singapore) is small. “Thus, expanding the pool to those beyond Singapore will improve the likelihood that they may find a significant other and life partner.” She added that Singapore has seen a normalisation of transnational marriages and the profile is similar to marriages among citizens. Prof Straughan said, “I think what is significant is the reduction in the proportion of marriages of less-educated Singaporean grooms to younger foreign brides from the region – the profile we noticed in the 1990s and 2000. I suspect the proportion of less-educated single Singaporean males is now lower as the educational achievement for Singaporeans has risen, which may explain the reduction.’’