Mr Kim, 78, a property magnate worth 24 million pounds, asked men aged between 37 and 42 to apply for the hand of his 38 year-old daughter. He specified that the ideal candidate should have grown up in a happy family, have a good character and a stable job.
Rather than a man from well-off family or of great ability, I want someone who is sincere and hard working," Mr Kim said. Ten candidates were interviewed. The most eligible, a 41 year-old named as Mr Lee, was introduced in October to Mr Kim's daughter. The couple is due to marry on Saturday.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/korean-tycoon-seeks-soninlaw-20100512-uy8b.html
The same agency said that a wealthy 49-year-old Korean woman who advertised for a husband last May has not yet found a soul mate, despite receiving 390 responses.
Recent stories in the press of the customs among middle-class Indians have indicated that the younger generation, rather than going through the mediation of a 'match-maker' chosen by their parents as has long been the custom, are looking to a variety of websites and newspaper advertisements to find their life partner of a similar social status, educational background, cultural preferences – and even skin colour.
This reminds Well-Being Australia chairman Mark Tronson of similar situations that have long existed within Orthodox Jewish communities and several other migrant groups within our seemingly 'marry for love' culture.
Utilising the word 'arranged' loosely, M V Tronson ponders two things. First, that this is not very much different from the plethora of 'dating websites' popular in western cultures at the moment; and second, he sees that marriages from Old Testament times had notions of "arrangements".
Abraham sent his servant Eliezer on a journey to find his son Isaac a wife (Genesis 24). As Eliezer arrived at a small town well, his prayer was that the woman who draws water for his camels also be the woman chosen for Isaac. In the UCB Word of Today booklet reading for 2 May 2010, spelt out what this meant. 'One' camel drinks 180 litres of water, therefore even with a few camels, this was half a day's work, and not easy work for a woman. Yet this is precisely what Rebekah offered to do and the dye was cast. An arranged marriage was in the process of being established.
In many parts of the world today, parents arrange the marriages of their children, sometimes the bride and groom have never seen each other. In other situations the agreement between the parents was made at birth and the two children were never told.
We see some of the problems associated with this when assumptions are made by parents yet the children who never knew any such arrangement go off and make a commitment to someone they have established a relationship.
But, M V Tronson says, that the word "arranged' can be explored further as although Christians in the West do not have formal arranged marriages, evangelical Christians do everything in their power to "arrange" meeting opportunities.
These are referred to as Church Youth Groups, Christian Camps and Bible Colleges. It is said that YWAM (Youth With A Mission) with its campuses in almost every western nation is a hot bed of "connections" and as a result, many marriages.
Flo Harris Lodge associated with Petersham Baptist Church, the Baptist Hostel for rural and regional NSW Baptist young people boasts of its role in linking Christian young men and young women in marriage.
Although, Mark Tronson admits that this may be stretching the limit of the definition of 'arranged', as these young people are of the age when they are looking for a marriage partner anyway – and they are more likely to find one if they join any organisation where they will meet people with similar attitudes.
Many people meet their partners at work or at University: just as an example, four of M V Tronson's immediate family married people they met at University residences.
It seems to M V Tronson that it is no coincidence that many young people meet their life partners where they work, where they worship or where they study.
And if they do not meet people in these places, then they turn either to traditional match-makers (in some cultures) who peruse the family background, or more recently, to online sites where matters of taste, education, religion and culture can be discussed before the couple meet each other in person.
It follows then, for young Christians looking for a partner, that they may not be fulfilled in their religious commitment if they are to marry someone other than another Christian. It has been noted that it can also be an issue if one is a fervent zealous Christian (almost over the top) while the other simply follows the observance, that too can be unequally yoked and a cause of distress and argument between the partners.