The Good Wife Happy School

In Malaysia there is the Obedient Wives’ Club, with branches in Indonesia and Thailand. According to the Star newspaper, China now has the Good Wife Happy School and the Beijing Moral Education Center for Women.

These two are among the many that have sprouted to offer marriage guidance in view of the increasing divorce rates. The latest statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs reveal that 45 million couples divorced in 2010, an increase of 11% from 2009.

To help women to acquire the skills to manage a marriage, marriage management schools offer online and off line courses that teach women how to fix or prevent a broken marriage. According to a spokeswoman of the Good Wife Happy School, women will also learn how to get rid of a mistress!

The Moral Education Center in one of the districts in China offers a 30-hour course on how to snare a millionaire. It includes modules on conversational skills, personality development, make-up, and traditional tea-pouring techniques.

These marriage management schools have emerged to meet the need for relationship advice, especially among the women.

However, methinks here the onus has been placed mostly on the women to ensure that the marriage works whereas men too, play an important role in whether a marriage succeeds or fails. After all it takes two hands to clap.

Maybe someone should start a niche market by opening a school for aspiring husbands with tips on how not to begin on the wrong foot, the do’s and don’ts in a partnership which is meant to last for life. It's better to be prepared before inking on the dotted line than to be one of the statistics later down the matrimonial path.

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Mine and Mine Only

Just as cats and dogs assert territorial rights, so do human beings. The most visible is the fence around the house, demarcating one’s property from neighbours’. Gestures used in human behavior, both covert and overt signal possession.

One can observe these anywhere. A hand stroking the nape, an arm linked to another or around the waist of the person – these are overt signs of possession, signaling “hands off”. A man always holding his partner’s hand wherever they go shows a bespoke relationship.

The poses in photographs say many things too, whether deliberately posed or taken candidly.

Relationships that are intimate and have gone the distance are often identified by the comfortable and companionable silence surrounding them.

A small gesture, a certain look in the eyes…these are familiar communication that do not require words. Very often one partner knows what the other is going to say or what he/she is feeling. An almost imperceptible nod or a squeeze of the hand conveys a message known only to them. This exclusivity and bond set them apart from others.

There is no jealousy or discomfort in the company of others for they have a rock solid relationship and understanding. However, some women who may not like it when their partners are perceived to enjoy talking to other women will take umbrage and behave in subtle ways to assert ownership. One can often sense when another woman is not pleased.

Both men and women can be very possessive of their partners and show this trait in different ways. However it has been taken to the extreme in some cases where crimes of passion are committed, sometimes over misunderstandings or misperceptions. A case in point is Shakespeare’s Othello who murdered his wife Desdemona although she was innocent of his jealous suspicions.

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