Tonight (or rather, yester-night), I've been told firsthand, a tale of the results of gambling...

How does this tie up with a prenup, postnup and the TV drama, Desperate Housewives? In Desperate Housewives, Season 1, episode 18 - "Children Will Listen", Carlos forces Gabrielle to sign a postnup, so that if she divorces him when he's in jail, Gabrielle will not get any portion of Carlos' money (including the settlement money from the hospital for the negligent death of Carlos' mother).

Mdm Anastasia sought out my help last night. She has divorced her husband because he is an incorrigible gambler (who perhaps, should be CAMPing out at IMH). Anthony (her husband) and she is the current (which is also the 2nd) HDB flat's owner. Once they're divorced, according to new HDB regulations established in 2001 (or 2002, which I've no bloody idea of, I can't keep track of so many policies and regulations), she has to pay her husband the CPF amount which he has contributed into the payment of the mortgage loan of the flat. In addition, she has to refinance the loan amount from a private bank.

Anastasia and Anthony got married initially, and some time later, Anthony became jobless and started gambling. Unable to persuade Anthony to give up the gambling habit, Anastasia divorced him. Having given visitation rights, Anthony managed to influence the children to persuade Anastasia to give him a chance.

In the meantime, Anastasia has purchased a resale HDB flat from the open market using her name and her children's. So, after her children managed to persuade her into giving Anthony a chance, Anastasia sold off the HDB flat, and bought another HDB flat (which is the current HDB flat she's staying in when she sought out my help), using her name and Anthony's, after marrying Anthony again.

During my conversation with Anastasia, I've discovered that I can easily translate from Mandarin to English, however, I do not have the same or equal ability to translate the same English word (which I've previously translated from Mandarin) back into Mandarin again.

And, hence, her current trouble. When I first understood what a prenuptial and postnuptial agreement is, I thought it only applies to richer people in other countries.

I've learnt that
  • whether you're rich or poor, if you're getting married, a prenup and postnup would serve to protect everyone's interests, especially if you're living in Singapore.
  • marrying the same person more than once and divorcing the same person more than once, can happen in Singapore.
  • no matter what, do not be forced into selling your HDB flat under pressure. Generally, do not be forced to do anything under pressure.