Match-making ceremony
In the past, all of the Baba and Nyonya’s weddings were arranged marriages. This is because they followed the tradition of Chinese. Normally, the elderly people will seek the service of a match maker when they felt that their child had come of age to be married.
The match-maker can be a professional match maker who normally has a large network of friends or he/she might be one of the close relative or friends. As a return for the successful match making service, the match maker will receive a red-packet with money and roasted pig trotter.
Enquiring (Merisik) ceremony
A group of elderly people (from the bridegroom family) will visit the short listed future-daughter-in law’s family. This visit is known as “merisek”, a custom that you could find both in Malay and Chinese community.
The “merisek” group is normally headed by the match-maker and a few elderly relatives from the bridegroom. However, the bridegroom’s parents will not participate in this “merisek” visit. The “merisek” group will inform the girls’ family of their intention and to seek approval.
They will not talk formally like in normal daily conversations, but talk in a mixture of pantun. It is from Malay influence.
To ensure that the couple will have happy day after their marriage, they will ask for the selected girls’ date of birth or “Pek Zhi“. Later, they will consult a Feng Shui Master to check the boy and girl compatibility with each other. After everyone has come to an agreement, a ceremony of exchanging gifts between the two families known as Lapchai which also known as engagement day will be held.
The common gifts used for the “Lapchai” ceremony between the families of the bride and groom before the wedding are
• jewelleries pig trotter
• auspicious fruits
• a pair of red candles
• dowry (money)
In the past, all of the Baba and Nyonya’s weddings were arranged marriages. This is because they followed the tradition of Chinese. Normally, the elderly people will seek the service of a match maker when they felt that their child had come of age to be married.
The match-maker can be a professional match maker who normally has a large network of friends or he/she might be one of the close relative or friends. As a return for the successful match making service, the match maker will receive a red-packet with money and roasted pig trotter.
Enquiring (Merisik) ceremony
A group of elderly people (from the bridegroom family) will visit the short listed future-daughter-in law’s family. This visit is known as “merisek”, a custom that you could find both in Malay and Chinese community.
The “merisek” group is normally headed by the match-maker and a few elderly relatives from the bridegroom. However, the bridegroom’s parents will not participate in this “merisek” visit. The “merisek” group will inform the girls’ family of their intention and to seek approval.
They will not talk formally like in normal daily conversations, but talk in a mixture of pantun. It is from Malay influence.
To ensure that the couple will have happy day after their marriage, they will ask for the selected girls’ date of birth or “Pek Zhi“. Later, they will consult a Feng Shui Master to check the boy and girl compatibility with each other. After everyone has come to an agreement, a ceremony of exchanging gifts between the two families known as Lapchai which also known as engagement day will be held.
The common gifts used for the “Lapchai” ceremony between the families of the bride and groom before the wedding are
• jewelleries pig trotter
• auspicious fruits
• a pair of red candles
• dowry (money)
1 comment:
It better works this time.
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