Social, Cultural, And Traditional Values Of Canada And Tonga

Do you ever think about marriage? If so, where, when, how, and who do you want to marry? Do any of those things even matter to you? Everyone regardless of age, gender, background, or culture will contemplate about marriage at least once in their lifetime, in fact some even plan their dream wedding since they were a kid. However, in reality, marriage is more than just a fairytale-like, dreamy concept as some cliche Hollywood films would portrait. Marriage requires countless serious negotiations and decisions, that couples would soon realize deciding on a marriage was only a tip of an iceberg of decision-making. Couples will have to decide on where to live, how to split the work at home, if they want to expand the family, have children, and etc,

Tonga is an archipelago in the south pacific in Western Polynesia, consisting of more than 170 islands, but with only 45 inhabited, (About Tonga) and is a very different country compared to Canada in nature. Both Canada and Tonga has its own unique social, cultural, and traditional values which have greatly influenced over their marriage traditions, and the clear differences in such values explain why Canada and Tonga share such different viewpoints towards in terms of marriage values, and the life after marriage.

In general, Canada and Tonga are two exceedingly different countries, which inevitably influenced both countries to show different marriage values. The current population of Tonga is 106, 480, with 50.1% (53,336) of male population and 49.9% (53,144) of female population, (Tonga Population) whereas in Canada there are about 36.20 million people living, with an almost equal amount of male and female populations. (Population by year) Although Canada clearly has far more population than Tonga, the well-balanced gender ratio of both countries suggests that there

Canada and Tonga share completely different cultural and traditional values in certain areas which eventually led to completely different marriage traditions and values as well. To list some; same-sex marriage is legal in Canada, but illegal in Tonga, there must be a proposal to the woman’s father to get married in Tonga, but not necessarily in Canada, and Tongan couples tend to live closer or even together with their parents after they got married, whereas Canadian couples prefer moving out and start a new home on their own. Tonga has a strong Christian beliefs, due to the influence of Christian missionaries in the mid 19th century; about 57% of Tongans belong to Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, and is the biggest Christian church in Tonga, and there are many other branches of Christian churches such as Roman Catholic, and Anglican Church. (Ennardo) Therefore, same-sex marriage in Tonga is illegal, and even just same-sex sexual activity can result in maximum of 10 years in prison and whipping according to The Criminal Offences Act. (LGBT Rights in Tonga) However, in Canada where a bigger variety of religious groups exists, there is not a single dominant religion that influences the whole nation. Although Christianism exist in Canada, same-sex marriage has been legal since 2004, and more widely accepted than ever, in fact by 2011, Canada