Jimi's last daughter's wedding.

Sun 25.8.2024

Jimi "Bok" (ask Malik Daim about the nickname) held his 3rd and youngest daughter's wedding at "The Boathouse by the Lake", Ampang, KL yesterday. On his request, I came for the aqad nikah in the morning, and stayed and attended the reception in the evening, both at the same venue.  Also on his request, I prepared the short speech for him, which he mostly used, except for some modifications. 

We left Seremban at 6.45 am, yesterday, and returned and reached home this morning at about 9.30 am. Thankfully, Dekna loaned her MPV, and Bok paid for the room at the Flamingo Hotel for last night.

As usual, we arrived at the aqad nikah venue at 9 am, well before everybody else. I'd made allowance for the traffic, coming, but not a single accident was seen, and we arrived at the Flamingo well ahead of time. That was fortunate, because I made the circles around the place thrice, first going around the Datuk Keramat u turn, then the Risda Hq side road, and finally the congested Jalan Awan Chinese housing area, before deciding to actually enter the Flamingo barricade. The Boathouse is inside the Hotel grounds. In spite of the road run-around, we had to cool our heels for a good 30 minutes before the first white-dressed participant showed her face.

I had time to do my thing, and Idah hers, at the non-functional staff washroom on the ground floor. The guest wash room, much more superior as expected, is at the front, we found out later.

The whole full event, from the morning session to the evening culminating function, came out excellent, by my reckoning. This was a full sit-down affair, very much the long lost practice of yesteryears. Nowadays people want to be more practical, and guests come when and as they please, often leaving the main event - the wedding couple's arrival - almost like an afterthought.

The solemn sitting-down feast gave way to a more robust sing-and-dance affair. Which all present enjoyed. And two professional singers were even added to the scene, including the nationally acclaimed Datuk Jamal Abdillah. They even pulled the celebrated couple to take take part, and they did, with obvious enjoyment.

It so happened that I was talking to someone at the morning event, saying that when Bok stayed at my parents' house when he was doing his SPM, we called him "Jamal Abdillah" because the singer was making his name at that time, and Bok looked like him. I didn't know that Jamal Abdillah would actually be one of the guest artistes that evening.

By design, the whole crowd was selective, because of the venue's physical constraints, or maybe the crowd size was the factor on the choice of the venue. But the event was well-planned and everything turned out well, I thought.

Bok generously booked a room at the hotel that saved me the late trip returning to Seremban. So we got sufficient rest, and took our time to take the provided breakfast this morning, before taking the highway back home. But not before 2 traffic snarls because of what appeared to be nasty accidents causing 2 huge jams on the PLUS highway.

Conen & Calit came, as also Dekma and Yan. The seating was numbered because of the RSVP, so Dekma and Yan disappeared somewhere, and I never saw them again that evening. Conen left very early, before desserts, and Calit soon after. We stayed almost to the end, because we were staying back.

Several ex Felda staff were there, including Zainal Ujud, Azizan, Rusdi, Husain Menggong and others whose names escaped me. It's been  35 years, man. Samad the ex ADUN waved to me from the nearby table, and when I pointed him out to Bok, he went to the table and they embraced. So, he didn't realise Samad was already there.

The Machang MP related to the groom was introduced to me in the morning session. We spoke a bit about local politics. In the end he took my number. I told him I wouldn't mind giving him some suggestions about how the BERSATU top management can improve preparations for the next GE.

Bok staged a good wedding for his youngest child. I hope they have a good life together.

A sad addendum to this beautiful event was the tragic news that Dr. Onny, who sat with us, conveyed to me: of Mutalib's passing this morning, at home in KL.  I learned later that he died in his sleep. He'd complained to Kak Lang Noi, his wife, about a chest pain, that morning. He was brought back for burial in his kampong, Sawah Lebar. Al Fatihah.

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