The 3 Cs

I attended a Malay wedding on Sunday and this was my first Malay wedding I had attended. Interestingly in a multiracial society like Singapore, I only get to experience a wedding of a different culture until 31 years of my existence. I was merely tagging along as it was my wife's colleague.

We reached there around 3.30pm and was met with loud singing coming from a set of speakers via a karaoke system.


At a cozy multi purpose hall beside a multi-storey carpark







Close up views of the wedding dinner reception area



In a small tentage where the DJ cum emcees were, a friend/relative/acquaintance/karaoke fanatic/Singapore Idol Wannabe was belting out a familiar Malay song with gut-so ( big from the chicken briyani and free flow of drinks)


Well-wishers sending their congrats through karaoke



We are well settled, seen here my missus and her colleague. I am holding the camera doofus!!



Helping ourselves with the food



Chicken briyani... yum yum


Interested and disinterested Malays were seated in the multipurpose hall, trying to hold a proper conversation amidst the loud booming music. Anyway what really interest me was that the bride and bridegroom were no where to be seen. It seems that it was a malay wedding culture where the bride and bridegrrom will only appear at certain stipulated times and if you miss it, just take your meals and be off. I find this extremely interesting as my impression of a wedding is that the main centre of attraction should be the bride and groom and it seems so inappropriate that they were not around.


Where are the bride and the groom??



There they are!!



A group photo.. I am the odd one out with my height...I look horrible in this picture!!


The interesting theory that came out from the discussion I had with my wife while we were enjoying the sumptuous food was that the three main races in singapore have very different opinions about weddings and it can be classified under the heading "C"

For the chinese, we are very concerned about "CLASS", we would never be caught dead (pun intended) hosting a wedding dinner in a community centre or void deck. Chinese are too concerned about their "face" to do so. They would not mind incurring huge amount of loans just to have it at XXX hotel or XXX restaurant just be cause the ambience is good or the food is good. It seems like the bigger the place, the more class one has.

For the malays, it is important to have the "COMMUNITY". The strength of the communal spirit is exceptionally strong. It seem like a wedding is never a two people affair, it is not even a two family affair but the whole clan (extended or not) affair. That is the beauty of it, the whole family is down with friends and friends of friends helping out in one way or another. It is seen as a mini carnival and this is really a joyous occasion. And trust me, you would be happy when you see the bill after the wedding ( And definitely not as much as the chinese)

For the Indians, well I don't really know... Perhap there must be "CURRY" a staple in Indian cuisine. Anyway can't blame me I have never attended one myself. Any invitations?