Aziz & Nok-in"s kenduri.

13.8.2008.

Finally Aziz & Nok-in's "olek" came to a successful close last Sunday, 10th. August. Azrin the bride is the youngest of four children - three girls and a boy. In reality the wedding reception took years to complete, what with the match-making, and, sadly, death in the family. 

Kak Long Iza succumbed to breast cancer last year, single and only in her early 30's. I had tears during the final prayer. The three girls all completed their tertiary education. Now there are two.

"Boy" didn't continue his schooling beyond Form Three, choosing to move to KL to work, and ,secretly, got married. Eventually the prodigal son returned home with two children, a girl and a younger boy, but without their mother. She apparently sued for divorce and the family hasn't seen or heard from her again.

Not much is known about Aziz's family because they're in Rembau and don't visit much, nor do Nok-in and the children visit Rembau much, as far as I know. But I'm sure Aziz maintains contact.

Nok-in has only one other sibling, a younger brother, Mat Cit. He was also the caterer for the wedding feast - that's one of his businesses. I did mention the fact in my acknowledgement address, but forgot to say that if the guests found the food unsatisfactory Mat Cit would not get paid. 

Nok-in and Mat Cit lost their father a long  time ago, due to food poisoning and delayed medical treatment. Their mother, my mother's younger sister, also passed away a long time ago, also because of medical problems. Nok-in now occupies the ancestoral home, while Mat Cit and Mok, his retired-teacher wife, has a house in Batu 46.

Mat Cit has an interesting history. He wasn't very keen in his schooling, spending a lot of time playing on his home-made guitar that he painstakingly made himself and painstakingly taught himself to play, and hitch-hiking to  towns like Johore Baru during the long school holidays. He was always restless, spending a lot of his out-of-school time in Dioh where his late father kept a separate house from the family. Attending a Malay school, naturally Mat Cit only spoke and wrote that Language. His footloose ways later found him hitching a ride all the way from Bukit Temensu to Germany. For many years his late mother would pine for him, receiving no news of his whereabout or his welfare, except once when he sent some money but no contact address. Then after several years he came home, for a break, he said. By that time he had not only learned to speak passable English, but also passable German, which he put to good use when a German Volunteer Worker posted to Kuala Pilah came visiting. 

Mat Cit only went back for about two or three years. Soon he was back home again. Apparently, all this while he had been living in Germany "underground"  without proper travel documents, thus the elusive existence his mother had worried for in the years of separation. No real reason for returning was offered by him, but I suspect he was caught in an immigration ambush and eventually got deported. 

Azrin's wedding is the first in that family. We are happy for them. At last it can now expand. There's still Juli who remains unattached. The late Iza was also in the middle of a relationship, but we should respect her memory and abstain comment on it.

Fuad, Din, Basit and I are responsible for the choice of the type of reception that was eventually held. The common practice nowadays in Malay weddings is for the buffet-style feast that I so dislike, as I have remarked in my older postings on this blog. The same arguments were successfully made this time - that a proper sit-down lunch with everyone together under one roof watching the Bersanding and then partaking the feast, and the speeches, to have a real sense of a formal reception- must be held.

Being chosen as the MC for the wedding day, I was determined that the entire festivities would be completed in good time. And although the target starting time of 12 p.m. was missed, on my urging, between the ceremonies and the feast, I was able to get the blessed couple back to the hall entrance as a signal for the end of the reception by 2 p.m.

Many lingered because old family members have not met for a long time. And in my haste, we forgot about the wedding cake left uncut on one side of the stage ! But my bowels were making complains and I quickly made my exit after informing Aziz, without telling Nok-in. May God bless the family, Amin.

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