what's the matter with blue eyes??

I myself have this experience and i did my thinking tooo (not a thousand times though)..so just becareful. Looks like I need to find a local man..*wink*
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By Shaza Dzulkifly, 3/1/2010

Rais Yatim says: think "a thousand times" before entering a mixed marriage
According to studies only three out of ten mixed marriages work. In response, Information, Communication and Culture Minister, Rais Yatim has cautioned that young people should think “a thousand times” before committing to such unions.

The minister cautioned that incidents of marriage breakups involving Caucasians (coloquially referred to as mat salleh) happened more frequently, as compared to thove involving other ethnics group.

Rais was commenting on results of studies conducted from the years 1995 to 1998.

However, in a statement to Malaysian paper, Utusan Malaysia, he said that "mixed marriages in Malaysia involving local people who had converted to Islam, whether men or women, are more successful than those that involved partners from the West."

According to the minister, more information about these studies could be obtained from the civil marriage registers in the sharia archives in Johor and the Federal Territory.

When asked about the recent split between local celebrity and star of Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam, Maya Karin, 31 and her Italian husband, Steven David Shorthouse, 41, Rais said they had only been "in love" and were to blame for not considering their cultural differences.

According to the Malaysian Mirror, he went on further to say that "the reality is that those who want to go into mixed marriages have a lot of obstacles to go through. Marriage failures are due to cultural and religious differences as well as the upbringing they go in their respective countries."

"Most of the marriages are a result of 'short-term love affairs' that survive for a brief period before each of the spouses go back to the cultural and religious beliefs they grew up with."

Rais continues to caution about the legalities of such issues.

"It's not that simple to get a Malaysian citizenship. In this sense, it is easier if it involves a foreign woman marrying a Malaysian man than otherwise."

"This is because the status of citizenship, under Section 16 and 17 of the Federal Constitution, is based on the paternal consideration not maternal."

"What more, if the couple has a child or children. The father is likely to 'snatch away' the kids to England or Europe, for instance."

"It is, perhaps, better for those involved in mixed marriages not to have children."

Meanwhile, Maya Karin attended the Environment Integrity forum at the Malaysian Institute for Integrity on last week and made an indirect reference to her domestic woes. She admitted that her two-year marriage to Steven is indeed facing problems but she is not about to go into hiding.

In an interview with the Daily Chilli, Maya said she is trying hard to save her marriage. The couple married in August 2008 in Italy and Steven is a mathematics teacher at an international school in Kuala Lumpur.

Maya declined to comment on the cause.

"It is not true that we're having problems because of cultural differences, being a child of mixed parentage myself, cultural differences have never been an issue to me."