He probably felt like he’d hit the jackpot.
Posted on 05/28/2019 2:00:04 PM PDT by Zhang Fei
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Rabia Kanwal’s parents were sure her marriage to a wealthy Chinese Muslim she had just met would give her a comfortable future, far from the hardships of their lives in Pakistan. But she had a premonition.
“I was not excited,” said Ms. Kanwal, 22, who lives in a poor neighborhood in the city of Gujranwala, in the eastern province of Punjab. “I felt something bad was going to happen.”
Arranged marriages are common in Pakistan, but this one was unusual. The groom, who said he was a rich poultry farmer, met Ms. Kanwal’s family during a monthslong stay on a tourist visa. He had to use a Chinese-Urdu translation app to communicate with them, but over all, he made a favorable impression.
Ms. Kanwal went through with the wedding. But upon moving to China with her new husband in February, she said, she was disappointed by what she found: He was a poor farmer, not a wealthy one. Far worse, he was not a Muslim. Within days, with the help of the Pakistani Embassy, she was back home and pursuing a divorce.
Hers was a relatively happy ending, though. In recent weeks, Pakistan has been rocked by charges that at least 150 women were brought to China as brides under false pretenses[1] — not only lied to, but in some cases forced into prostitution. Others said they were made to work in bars and clubs, an unacceptable practice in Pakistan’s conservative Muslim culture.
At the same time, Ms. Kanwal’s story is not uncommon in China.
China has one of the most heavily skewed gender ratios in the world, with 106.3 men for every 100 women as of 2017, according to the World Bank. That tilt is a product of strict enforcement of China’s[2] one-child policy
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Cue tiny violin...
Translation Error. I said I had an itch not that I was rich.
The funny thing is - the guy claims to make $2900 a month, which makes him solidly comfortable in China. My guess is the girl was hoping for lavish European shopping trips. That’s not happening on $2900 a month.
At least the farmer has the possibility of improving her life, albeit remote.
[I’d think marrying a Pakistani Muslim male would be a worse fate than marrying a poor Chinese farmer.
At least the farmer has the possibility of improving her life, albeit remote. ]
Mr Salmonella thinks this is a hard luck story /s
Maybe he was an Organ Farmer and he failed to move faster than his target.
That’s quite a good income even in China.
He’s a prosperous farmer.
But in China that kind of money means less than in Pakistan, because the cost of living is higher, as is the relative social status indicated by such an income.
In Pakistan that would signal some sort of gentleman farmer, with servants to do the hard work. In China it means dirty manual labor.
“He wasn’t a muslim.”
That’s one thing in his favor.
-PJ
Dating apps are always a crapshoot.
She's not a virgin anymore so in compliance with Pakistan's rich cultural traditions, next week she will be doused with acid, lit on fire, and blinded with glowing hot pokers.
He probably felt like he’d hit the jackpot.
Crazy (Not So) Rich Asians.
There’s also another obvious possibility. Expat brides have to deal with a lot. Being married to someone in a town where no one speaks your language and where you speak very little of his is pretty tough. She’s a pioneer. If the population of Pakistani brides increases, I expect future waves will find the transition much easier. And the social freedoms they get, compared to sharia in Pakistan, may serve as a lure for the more liberated Pakistani women.
Fruits of the one-child policy. Other manifestations, involving kidnapping in the countryside, are worse.
[In Pakistan that would signal some sort of gentleman farmer, with servants to do the hard work. In China it means dirty manual labor.]
“Far worse, he was not a Muslim”
She won the lottery.
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