百闻不如一见

To hear of something a hundred times is nothing like seeing it once - Chinese proverb

"It is common here," says W in response to my question: " Did you see the guy with 4 wives last night?" D said she sees men with 4 wives with loads of kids walking in malls quite often. Last night, I noticed that there was not one, but at least two tables with the 1+4 configuration.

Now, I've always known that having 4 wives is allowed in the Quran. I have monogamous muslim friends whom I teased about having 4 wives. I hear about it when some guy goes to court in Singapore for polygamy and defends himself by asserting that Islam allows for 4 wives. (albeit his 10 wives make him 6 over quota)

But actually seeing it as a social norm, that's something different.