MSF Building Online Portal That’ll Help Married Couples Stay Together, Or At Least Split Amicably

A divorce is usually a pretty gloomy affair.

This is made even worse if the couple has children.

COVID-19 doesn’t help either, putting strains on already rocky relationships, leading to more divorces.

In an effort to reduce pains of this process, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has decided to take an extra step further.

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Still, not everything has been finalised just yet.

According to the Straits Times, the ministry will consult Singaporeans to better customise the content of a new online portal.

It will be designed to provide information and support to couples who are considering ending their marriage, as well as content related to saving marriages.

This will last from today, 25 September, until 28 November.

The full portal is expected to be finished by late 2021. Suggestions are also open to potential website names.

MSF says it aims to engage 100 divorced couples along with engaging those who decided not to go through with one.

Some information such as matters related to the Housing Board and Central Provident Fund would be included.

It will also offer self-assessment tools to help couples better understand their marital situation. This includes tools to understand their children’s needs and online counselling.

Support Those Going Through It

If a divorce is inevitable, it would best to be prepared for it.

An MSF spokesman said that they hope the portal ” will help families achieve better post-divorce outcomes”, even more so if they have children.

They also plan to have nine public engagement sessions on how the portal can be improved. Online questionnaires will also supplement this.

For Muslim couples, the Syariah Court will also work with the MSF to make resources for them.

The former will engage the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis), partners and citizens to ensure said content is relevant.

“As much as possible, we want to save marriages. But if there has to be a divorce, we want to enable informed decision-making so that parents can take into account the best interests of their child when planning. We hope to mitigate the long-term impact for all involved, especially the children,” said Ms Sun Xueling, the Minister of State for MSF.

If you want to provide feedback, you can email the MSF at [email protected]

While a divorce is sad, it doesn’t have to be a messy situation.

That being said, we hope couples affected by this pandemic can remain strong, together.

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