mr&mrs Chia

today my sister got registered; chinese still place lots of importance in the traditional wedding ceremony and couples who are registered are not really considered married till after that) it was done at the national registration department in klang. everything went smoothly, the groom was there earlier to queue for registeration. when we arrived at around 10.20am, they (NRD guys) were ready for the happy couple.
the first thing to get over with is the paperwork, they marriage certificates were printed and they had to pay a rm 30.00 fee. Rm 10.00 for ‘pendaftaran’ and rm 20 for the certs (?). i must say their certs are much better than mine. mine is as thin as a tracing paper and God forbid that i should get it wet for I’m sure it’ll just melt away.
the ‘ceremony’ was done in a room, large enough for a medium sized entourage(30-35). after everyone was seated, an officer proceeded to read the oath to both husband to be and wife to be. Both responded with enthusiastic ‘ya’ when their names were read and the ‘binding’ question asked. marriage certificates were signed and no they did not mention anything like "i now present you mr & mrs Chia".
it was quick and depending on the entourage, it can be quite fun when all the official stuff is done. we took lots of photos ( 3 digital cameras snapping away ), rings were exchanged, the groom even get to kiss the bride on the cheek. all for the photo opportunities.
all in all, the whole paperwork plus ceremony thingy took about an hour.
from there we proceeded to a sumptuous lunch, and headed home. nice and quick……for now. the messy one will be in march next year. that’s when you get the tea ceremony + the killer dinner. all will be calm till then :)