Singaporean TikToker cites the lack of marriages in Sweden as biggest culture shock
A Singaporean who has lived in Sweden for four years recently pointed out the lack of marriages in the country.
Wynnette Yip, who met her partner in 2016 during her student exchange in Sweden, moved to the country in 2020 after the couple did four years of long distance.
In a video uploaded on TikTok with the caption “Swedes don’t get married?”, she shared some cultural differences between Singapore and Sweden.
@wynnyyyy Replying to @🌝 living together but unmarried 🙋🏻♀️ #cultureshock #sweden #sambo #culturalnorms #relationships #livinginsweden #singaporean
“I think one of the biggest culture shocks for me has to be the culture around marriage,” said Ms Yip in the clip.
“A lot of Swedish people are not married even after having two kids or three kids.”
‘Sambo’ visa enables couples to live together
In Sweden, there exists an unconventional visa, called the samboförhållande (co-habitation in Swedish) visa or ‘Sambo’ visa for short.
Ms Yip explained that the visa allows non-Swedish citizens to move to Sweden with their partner without being married.
“You are allowed to live, work, [and] study on the sambo visa,” she said to MS News.
For Ms Yip, her Sambo visa application took about eight months to be approved.
She first attained a temporary permit to live in Sweden for two years.
However, after three years, individuals can apply for permanent residency even though requirements can vary.
Source: Canva
“I think it’s crazy that I am able to move to a new country based on a relationship with someone without the need of marriage,” said Ms Yip.
She also added that the concept of relationships in Singapore is very “linear” as most locals take a step-by-step approach.
“You date, you propose, you get married, you have kids,” listed Ms Yip in the video.
She also shared that people in Singapore might feel like her partner is “wasting her time” as he has not proposed to her despite eight years of dating.
However, in Sweden, her situation is deemed as ordinary as most couples also live together without tying the knot.
Netizens list possible reasons behind the cultural difference
Some netizens familiar with the Sambo culture in Sweden also chimed in to the discourse.
They highlighted that Sambo relationships do not differ much from marriages, hence assets could be evenly split in the event of separation.
As a result, a wedding is seen as an “expensive party” in Sweden instead of a huge milestone.
Ms Yip noted that while some couples in Sweden do get married, it is not seen as a “requirement for a committed relationship”.
“It’s culturally accepted and supported by the legal framework, so marriage isn’t the only way to define commitment here.”
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Featured image adapted from @wynnyyyy on TikTok.
