A Malaysian Wedding

Sing it with me now…

Happy wedding anniversary to Asma Shurfa and Mohd Faiz!!!

I can’t believe it. It’s been a year since the two of them tied the knot. A YEAR. One year of having the two of them live in my house, in the room downstairs that used to be inhabited by my grandmother (who, sadly, passed away in 2004). One year of sneaking in said room to get my hands onto Faiz’s gorgeous Pentium 4 computer to play my favourite game, The Sims 2, while he was at work (he works as a tutor at Lim Kok Wing university). One year of no longer walking downstairs in a towel just in case Faiz might catch me three-quarters in the nude. One year of seeing Faiz slouched over the dining table at night, doing his animation work thingy.

One year of having my eldest sister married to the man she had met in 1999 and the only guy she had ever fallen in love with all her life.

(click on the pictures if you want to see it more close-up)

That's the two of them on the day they made their vows. My sister Asma and my brother in-law Faiz. There’s only one word that can be used to describe the two of them in this picture… radiant. Not to mention pretty. They have to be the best-looking Malaysian couple I have set my eyes on. Surely my sister Asma has never been this photogenic in her life (just kidding, Kakak!)? Faiz’s sitting position looks a bit awkward… but who am I to judge?


So guess who’s the bridesmaid! Guess guess guess (people who know what I look like obviously don’t have to bother)! Okay… well, it’s ME. Yep, that’s me, holding on to the weird broomstick thing for dear life next to my sister. By the way, this wedding was held in the Taman Tun Dr. Ismail Community Hall. My sister looks rather scary, doesn’t she? Blame it on the makeup artist. My advice? Just do your own makeup for The Big Day. No one knows your own face like you do. (Which is rich, coming from me, since I applied my own makeup on that day, too, and looking back on it I can only say one word: GHASTLY – I looked like a child wearing way too much makeup)
That’s my mum, reciting the doa. She looks rather…at peace. This is most probably due to the fact that my mum was the master organiser of this whole wedding. Formerly, we had planned to hold the wedding at our house, which was why we had the renovations done. But considering how the guest list surpassed 300 people and keeping in mind the fact that everyone would be arriving in cars, my mum changed the venue to the community hall. It wasn’t easy, having to find an emcee, music to play through the speakers (I suggested Coldplay) but she did it. My mum’s the best!
My mum pouring water on the hands of the bride and groom. Look at my face! I look…tired. And oily.
My turn to do the water-pouring! Actually, everyone in the family got to do the water-pouring thing. It’s called “merenjis”. I had quite a bit of fun when I did it, because I made sure to be very generous. Anyway, the only reason I’m putting this picture up is because my sister Azimah requested me just now to put a nice picture of her up, if I could find one. Well, I did.

That’s the VIP table. You’d have thought the bridesmaid would have gotten a seat there too, to…umm… wipe stuff of the bride’s lips. But no… I got seated waaay at the back and couldn’t see a thing without my ugly spectacles (at this time, I hadn’t yet been able to persuade my mum to get me contact lenses)

Note to self: if I ever get invited to a wedding, always look excited and happy. You never know when the sneaky camera’s on you. Seriously, these people (whom I don’t recognise) will be immortalised with those expressions in my sister’s wedding photo album forever, to be passed down from generation to generation. Would you like that to happen to you?

Awww… how sweet. By this time, I had already disappeared to the toilet with my friends so I missed this bit. I didn’t even get to eat the cake! Sigh.

Fast forward to about three hours later and this is at the ending, when everyone’s gone home.

Top row from left to right: Aisya Shurfa (looking constipated), Azimah Shurfa (grinning, tall and proud), Mohd Faiz and Asma Shurfa (king and queen of the day), Aida Shurfa (posing all fake-cutesely), Sharifah Yaacob (the happy but exhausted mother and event-planner)
Bottom row from left to right: Amnah Shurfa (with her typical “ayu” pose), Ahmad Firdaus (he looks like a drag queen here), Anisah Shurfa aka me (ooops, I didn’t realise that my leg was showing…) Mohammed Shukry (my father, moved to tears)

So…. Happy wedding anniversary, Kakak and Abang Faiz! May you live long and happy together, and create a whole clan of Shurfas and Shurfans!!!