This is a traditional chinese wedding ceremony held in Pahang, Raub, a small village in Ruab.
ABOUT PAHANG
Pahang, which covers an area of 35,960 sq. km, is the largest state in Peninsular Malaysia. Pahang has so much to offer the visitor that tourists, both locals and foreign, come back again and again.Pahang has cool green mountains, rain forests, hill resorts, tranquil fishing villages, long stretches of sandy beaches, mysterious caves and unspoilt lakes.With population of 1 million, the state, which lies on the East Coast, offers the finest in beaches such as the famous Cherating Beach, Teluk Chempedak and Beserah Beach. There are the renown hill resorts of Cameron Highlands, Genting Highlands and Fraser's Hill. If you are looking fir adventure, why not visit parks such as Kenong Rimba, Endau-Rompin and Taman Negara (National Park).
Pahang, which covers an area of 35,960 sq. km, is the largest state in Peninsular Malaysia. Pahang has so much to offer the visitor that tourists, both locals and foreign, come back again and again.Pahang has cool green mountains, rain forests, hill resorts, tranquil fishing villages, long stretches of sandy beaches, mysterious caves and unspoilt lakes.With population of 1 million, the state, which lies on the East Coast, offers the finest in beaches such as the famous Cherating Beach, Teluk Chempedak and Beserah Beach. There are the renown hill resorts of Cameron Highlands, Genting Highlands and Fraser's Hill. If you are looking fir adventure, why not visit parks such as Kenong Rimba, Endau-Rompin and Taman Negara (National Park).
CULTURE
In Pahang, the visitor will find fascinating evidence of the diverse Malaysian cultures, manifested in the customs, clothes, food, art forms, games and festivals of the various races.Pahang has a rich cultural heritage and its specialty is songket, the distinctive hand-woven gold and silver brocade. Travelers can visit the handicraft centres at Teluk Chempedak, Sungai Karang and Cherating. Household items made from pandanus leaves and woodcarvings, shell crafts and batik are sold at these centers.Visitors should also not miss out on the Pahang Silk Weaving Centre in Pulau Keladi, Pekan where they can see the process of making the intricately woven material. For those short of time there is a showroom in Kuantan, located on the first floor of Teruntum Complex in Jalan Mahkota.Batik, the unique wax-printed fabric, is available everywhere with manufacturing outfits at Kuantan, Semambu, Beserah and Cherating. At some of these places the visitors are able to view how batik is made.
GEOGRAPHY
Geographically diverse, Pahang ranges from mountainous country in its west to its coastline in the east. It adjoins the South China Sea for a distance of 208 kilometers. Terengganu and Kelantan bound the State on the north, by Perak in the west and by Selangor and Negeri Sembilan to the southwest. Johor forms the State's southern boundary.Of the total land area of the state, 48.8% is covered by forest, 23.4% is agricultural land, 16.3% is government land, 10.8% is urban and industrial land, 0.5% is Orang Asli (Aborigine) Reserve and the remaining 0.2% is mining land.
GEOGRAPHY
Geographically diverse, Pahang ranges from mountainous country in its west to its coastline in the east. It adjoins the South China Sea for a distance of 208 kilometers. Terengganu and Kelantan bound the State on the north, by Perak in the west and by Selangor and Negeri Sembilan to the southwest. Johor forms the State's southern boundary.Of the total land area of the state, 48.8% is covered by forest, 23.4% is agricultural land, 16.3% is government land, 10.8% is urban and industrial land, 0.5% is Orang Asli (Aborigine) Reserve and the remaining 0.2% is mining land.
Let's get back to topic. Talking about the traditional chinese wedding ceremony. It is very different from what we see in Singapore. What we can do here are limited as compared to a village. My this relative is their only son getting marry therefore it's quite grand. Their wedding dinner are held separately, the bride will be on the night before the traditional ceremony. For the bride's side, the dinner was held in an air conditional resturants. A special part will be when there is KTV sessions for diners to sing for the bride and groom. Some were singing so awfully lousy as they were screaming and shouting. And when the dishes are finished half-way through, the groom's side parents have to leave. They cannot finish the meal for a certain reason which i've forgotten already. Back to the groom's house, there are people (who are their neighbourhoods) were invited to have a spread dinner to celebrate. Two person wedding involves so many people as this is a grand event.
Back to the next day where the ceremony starts. The groom will leave home to the bride's side to fetch her over. The groom will bring a male chicken along. For what reason? (will be announced later) For the period when the groom is away, I don't know what happen as well. Around 11am, I can hear the horn of their cars coming in. At the moment you hear the horns, it means there are turning into the road to the house. And when the car stop outside the house, the fire cracker was light to bring the joy of the couple.
After the fire cracker, those who accompanied the bride and groom back will enter the house and they will sit down at the corner for their snacks and drinks which are prepared before hand. The bride and groom were sitting inside the car for some time for the boy to open their door and let them out.
The boy in blue shirt is the groom's elder sister's son. The other little boy is the groom's second sister son. By the way, in the family, there are five siblings. Two elder sister, one male (groom), and two younger sisters. A big family. At this time, the boy will knock on the glass window and ask for a red packet first in order to open the door for them.
After the couple entered the house, they continued with the praying and they were resting and awaiting for the tea ceremony.
As mentioned above, the groom will bring a male chicken over as well. The male chicken will bring back a female chicken and this pair of chicken are not allowed to be kill and eat. This pair is to live till they die. In Singapore, the newly wedded couple's room are prepared before hand and might even be slept on before. But in their custom, the bride will bring over her pillow and only get the things prepared at that time.
Due to the number of people involved, it is time for Singapore people to have their tea. First of all will be my grandparents.
Following next, will be my parents together with my auntie and uncle husband and wife.
After the tea ceremony, each couple was given a pair of towel. Might be as a souvenir for everyone. At this time, the groom's mother was calling out for those who are not married to queue up for collection of red packets. After hearing this announcement, everyone were asking us to go collect. David was thinking why there is such a practice that requires that unmarried to collect red packets. My cousins were shy as well. But i took the lead and bring them in to collect. It was as a yi si yi si thing. A red packet from the bride and a red packet from the groom. Each red packet contains RM 2. We can't expect too much inside the red packets as they will be broke by then after distributing the red packets.
Lunch was next and there were so many people sitting to eat. I did not take the picture of how their systems work as to serve the food out. After eating, the people will clear the plates and will wash them on the spot at a corner and not in the kitchen.
Dinner time. It was held in a basketball court in the community center. There is no air condition but fans. It was a cooling night and the food was nice. Among the uncles, one of them is a chef. He was the one who lead his team to cook for 60 plus tables of diners who attended the dinner. The same, there was KTV for diners to sing and eat. Don't be surprised by people in the village, they do have slides of their wedding photos plus photos that that the bride and groom from young till the day they date. They started dating in year 1999 and held their wedding on 2007.
After dinner, we walked back to their house. Along the road, the lights were dim and it was raining, a small light rain. The younger cousins were so happy as they do not usually walk in the rain. One of them was saying he was bathing.
The following day will be the day that we leave back to Singapore. In the morning, we decide to have breakfast with the chef uncle. We had the bak ku tah. After that we had a tour around the market, where we can see some people selling pork in their cars. Look so disgusting. Then we reach the chef's house.
The view from the outside of the house. It was facing the mountains and the clouds was so beautiful. Pahang was sort of located on a mountain and therefore such a view is present.
My auntie loves the view and said she would want to buy a house there for retirement. The air is fresh and people living there are peaceful and happy.
Look at the aunties and uncles and my grandmother, they were plucking chilli padis that were planted by the chef's family. There are chilli padi, mango tree, lady's finger, pineapple, and others.
At the groom's house, they plant vegetables like cabbages, kang kong, etc. My auntie and my mother brought back cabbages. The differences from their cabbages and what are available in the supermarkets or wet markets, the vegetables are orangic and no fertilizers. The vegetables are healthy and top rated vegetables.
At the groom's house, they plant vegetables like cabbages, kang kong, etc. My auntie and my mother brought back cabbages. The differences from their cabbages and what are available in the supermarkets or wet markets, the vegetables are orangic and no fertilizers. The vegetables are healthy and top rated vegetables.
We brought back one carton of mushrooms. The mushroom is a big piece in a tin and it's nice to eat. Not available in Singapore i think. Had two big packets of peanuts.
Well, that's what most happening during the trip to Malaysia and that is to Pahang. Hope you guys are able to understand and would be able to understand other country's traditional culture that is not practiced in Singapore anymore.
