20 December 2008
Mother, Lin Qiang and I woke early today to attend Mr Sawaran Singh's wedding at Central Sikh Temple. Hock Rong joined us and we shared a cab. There was a large golden peanut dangling off the front mirror which reminded me of the NKF "peanuts"...
The bridal car caught our attention. There is much effort spent in lining the entire car with flowers and scotch tape, unlike the easy drap-on bouquet on the Chinese bridal car.
Prior to entering the temple, we tied up bandanas and hid our hair.
The canteen is located at the first floor of the temple. As we walked in from the entrance, we saw Mr Pang and other grassroots leaders and we joined them in consuming breakfast. Males and females sat on different sides of the canteen. The Sikhs were very friendly and shared with us some of the customs when we were uncertain. We also spotted Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Inderjit Singh.
After the breakfast snacks, everyone headed to the prayers' hall at the second floor. Climbing up the stairs, we were greeted by a splendid view of a fountain bearing reflection from the sun rays.
We sat down in the prayers' hall as friends and relatives queued to offer their blessings to the couple. Here, the males and females are also divided. In the meantime, there was chanting of prayers and playing of musical instruments. Two screens in front displayed the English translation of the chanting. This was useful for non-Sikhs like us to understand what is going on.
After the groom and bride walked in to the front, a man spoke from the lectern, talking about love and marriage. Anand Karaj is given to the name of the Sikh wedding ceremony. You can read more about Anand Karaj at http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php?title=Anand_Karaj.
Some of the sayings left a deep impression in me. These included Marriage = Merry + Age; Marriage means the soul-bride can realise the divine-groom; Marriage is not only physical and contractual but intellectual and spiritual merger; The groom and bride are of equal status like 2 wheels of the same chariot of life.
The solemnisor then get the couple to sign the papers and the priest took over from there. At one point, one end of the scarf of the bride was placed over the shoulder of the groom and they walked round the priest 4 times.
There was buffet lunch reception at the canteen.
As the function ended, some of us continued part 2 with games and forfeits.
Mother, Lin Qiang and I woke early today to attend Mr Sawaran Singh's wedding at Central Sikh Temple. Hock Rong joined us and we shared a cab. There was a large golden peanut dangling off the front mirror which reminded me of the NKF "peanuts"...
The bridal car caught our attention. There is much effort spent in lining the entire car with flowers and scotch tape, unlike the easy drap-on bouquet on the Chinese bridal car.
Prior to entering the temple, we tied up bandanas and hid our hair.
The canteen is located at the first floor of the temple. As we walked in from the entrance, we saw Mr Pang and other grassroots leaders and we joined them in consuming breakfast. Males and females sat on different sides of the canteen. The Sikhs were very friendly and shared with us some of the customs when we were uncertain. We also spotted Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Inderjit Singh.
After the breakfast snacks, everyone headed to the prayers' hall at the second floor. Climbing up the stairs, we were greeted by a splendid view of a fountain bearing reflection from the sun rays.
We sat down in the prayers' hall as friends and relatives queued to offer their blessings to the couple. Here, the males and females are also divided. In the meantime, there was chanting of prayers and playing of musical instruments. Two screens in front displayed the English translation of the chanting. This was useful for non-Sikhs like us to understand what is going on.
After the groom and bride walked in to the front, a man spoke from the lectern, talking about love and marriage. Anand Karaj is given to the name of the Sikh wedding ceremony. You can read more about Anand Karaj at http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php?title=Anand_Karaj.
Some of the sayings left a deep impression in me. These included Marriage = Merry + Age; Marriage means the soul-bride can realise the divine-groom; Marriage is not only physical and contractual but intellectual and spiritual merger; The groom and bride are of equal status like 2 wheels of the same chariot of life.The solemnisor then get the couple to sign the papers and the priest took over from there. At one point, one end of the scarf of the bride was placed over the shoulder of the groom and they walked round the priest 4 times.
There was buffet lunch reception at the canteen.
As the function ended, some of us continued part 2 with games and forfeits.
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