'I felt so alone,' says foreigner who married Singaporean man

Synopsis: The Invisible Asia Podcast is a special edition series in which The Straits Times casts the spotlight on people and communities living in the shadows of their societies where they exist largely unseen and unheard of. Do follow all nine episodes of Invisible Asia over the next two months on The Straits Times podcast channel on audio apps - Apple podcasts, Spotify or Google podcasts.

The Straits Times' senior social affairs correspondent Theresa Tan speaks to two foreign brides in Singapore on their struggles to adapt to life in a new city, far from their loved ones back at home. Our series' narrator is Tan Jia Ning:

1. Once a financially independent woman in Indonesia, Siti finds her movements restricted by her controlling husband in Singapore (0:31)
2. A timely programme and a buddy system prove a lifeline for lost, lonely Vietnamese bride Anna in the early years of her marriage (2:36)
3. Anna pays it forward by befriending other Vietnamese women newly married to Singaporean men (3:33)
4. The collective plight of the many “voiceless", "invisible” migrant brides in Singapore (5:06)

Read the full story by Theresa Tan: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/i-felt-so-alone-in-singapore

Produced by: Magdalene Fung, Tan Jia Ning and Ernest Luis

Edited by: Adam Azlee

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