Amal

22.2.2015.

Saturday 21st February 2015 marks an auspicious day in the young life of Amal, Calit's only child.  Except for Yan, this is the last of the Yunus clan to get hitched. Soon, perhaps, Calit becomes "atok"!

I got to officiate the ceremony, witnessed by brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, and first cousins from both sides of the family, something I'd done many times for various nephews & nieces. Usually in the past I'd carried sheets of scribbled "pepatah petiteh" to scare the visitors. For starters I would have dramatically said in very authentic ( "pokat" - thick ) nogoghi dialect:

Sakit bermulo

Mati bersobab

Awal berpumala'an akhir berkesudahan

Melompek nak bertumpuan

Menconcang nak berladasan

Mengompang nak beralahan

Memagar nak berpintu

Kedarek Adat Perpatih

Kelaut Adat Tomonggong

Masuk kandang kambing mengembek

Masuk kandang kobau menguak

Lain padang lain belalang

and that would have sent the already nervous leader of the entourage into a tail spin.

Instead of perhaps continuing:

Bercakap siang pandang-pandang

Bercakap malam donga-donga

Datang nampak ghoman

Balik nampak belakang

Apo hajat tuan kesini ?

I said let's simplify ("singkap daun ambik buah" - lift the leaf and pick the fruit).

He said they were here to ask for Amal's hand for "W" ( Amal had pasted a sign "W & A" outside. I asked two of her friends before the visitors came why W & A ? When they were puzzled by the question, I said if it was "A & W" people might order waffle and ice cream !) Actually he used more words, from his written notes, but that was the gist of it.

So I simply replied that the query usually comes with "cincin tanya". I might have said:

Cincin sobontuk menanyokan ibubapak

Cincin duo bontuk oso sekato

Oso sekato kato dibalikkan

Tak oso sekato cincin dibalikkan

Untung lelaki ditanyo-tanyokan

Untung perempuan dinanti-nantikan

and that would have really floored the poor bugger !

So instead I just said show us the ring, which they did, and Ina officially consented to the proposal, and I asked to say my piece, and the future m.i.l. slipped the two rings on Amal's finger, and the gifts were exchanged, and the dua was read, and everyone was invited to the prepared reception. That was it.

Actually there is much more to all of that.

This is of years of love and tender loving care for a precious  only child,  seen through the fond upbringing and the tedious schooling and the priceless shared moments in life, and now this private bond has to be shared with a stranger ! It's not a frivolous passing episode. It is  a momentous life-changing occasion for both parents, to let go, and yet to open up to a new life chapter that promises nothing but hope.

We all cherish this sort of moment in our lives, and as believers in the Islamic faith, we pray that for fragile, fragile Amal and the young man she has chosen to share the rest of her life with, God would Look upon their union with Compassion, Amin.

......................................................................................................