Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Status:Engaged:)



Until now, it's unbelievable to think that i'm engaged..Well, i'm merely 23 years old..not that i wanna say i'm unhappy..i'm truly happy.I am. It's just the status is now different and sooner or later, my life will be different too..entering a new life of marriage..Hmm..by the way..engagement ceremony..It's a one of a kind experience that i'll be glad to share with you. In our Malay society, before marriage, usually a couple will go through the engagement ceremony first. Engagement in Malay is called “Bertunang”. The period for engagement usually vary from six months to 3 years.

It's really really fun driving the car with my best friends from Kuala lumpur to my hometown (for my engagement ceremony of course). It's 30th of May and we're heading to Sg. Besar with a lot of luggage;p..(for only 3days). We can't stay long considering that we're in the middle of teaching practice (yes we gonna be teachers). We were singing and eating and making jokes and laughing hilariously in the car (i supposed to drive carefully i know). It's one of the best moments ever!
On the day of the engagement (31st of May 2008), the future bride..which is me..;p... dressed in my best cloth (which i rented). A group of my future groom’s family members were coming over to my home at the pre-arranged time (8.30pm.). Usually the future groom do not tagged along but he's coming and waited until the ceremony was over



His family came laden with trays of gifts which then be placed in the centre of the hall. Their theme color are purple and pink..(his mom's favourite) while my family side had chosen green and white for our gifts. The engagement ceremony began with recitation of prayers, a formal introduction of both sides, a discussion on the agreement of how long the period of the engagement will be, the confirmation of the amount for the “mas kahwin” (marriage fee or dowry) and the number of gifts to be exchanged, these gifts we called it the “hantaran”.


Normally, once the details have been agreed upon, an elderly woman from the future groom’s side will then place a ring on the future bride’s finger. In my case, his grandmother. I was quite nervous that my heart's pounding and my hands trembling a little. She then slided the ring into my finger and kissed me on the head. I can't exactly describe what i felt at the moment. Hehe. Then there was exchange of the gifts from both parties followed by supplication made as a form of thanksgiving. The meal time has come!..We ate and ate and ate..and took a lot of pics of course!

I felt so relieved when everything was over..The next day we had to go back to KL. Since that moment, my status was automatically changed to 'engaged!'...




~Just engaged~



















































































































































1 comment:

Diary From Africa said...

Thank you for visiting my blog all the way in Africa & congratulations on your engagement ! I loved reading all about the ceremony/traditions behind it & looking at your lovely photographs, thanks for sharing them !
Lynda, Kilimanjaro, East Africa