Persepsies

Ek is nou wel twee dae laat hiermee, maar wil dit tog wys. Toe ek gister van KL na Chiangmai gevlieg het, het ek hierdie berig in die koerant (The Star) gesien. In SA en ander plekke is die 6/6/06-datum deur sommige met vrees ingewag, in Maleisie se Chinese gemeenskap was dit 'n dag vol vreugde en net die regte dag om te trou.

Tying the knot on a day of triple luck
PETALING JAYA: Scores of couples throughout the nation chose to get hitched yesterday, thanks to the auspicious date 06.06.06.
Many chose the date in the belief that the day signified “triple luck.” Luck is very close to the Hokkien word for six.
In Klang, when 24-year-old Gan Boon Kiat decided to tie the knot with her beau Lim Wei Han, she asked her brother Chiau Hen to be her witness at the marriage registration ceremony.
When Chiau Hen learnt that his sister and her boyfriend were getting married in a mass wedding ceremony at the Klang Hokkien Association (KHA) on June 6, he decided to follow suit.
Boon Kiat and Chiau Hen became each other’s witness in the mass wedding in which a total of 108 couples took part.
Chiau Hen, a health food distributor, said getting married yesterday was good, as the Chinese regarded the number six as auspicious.
Boon Kiat and graphic designer Lim, 31, who are neighbours, have been dating for over eight years, while Chiau Hen and Chan have been an item for five years.
KHA president Lee Yuh Shoo said mass marriages arranged by his association were always a hit with the Chinese community in Klang.
He added that this was partly due to the success of the KHA Cupid Club’s speed-dating event, which is held on the fourth Sunday of every month.
In Johor Baru, accounts clerk Tan See Wei tied the knot with her beau on the same date she first met him five years ago.
Coincidently, it is also her birthday.
Her husband, Pahang-born Ang Sin Hwa, 32, hopes that their first child would also be born on the same date.
Tan and Ang was one of the 66 couples who tied the knot in a mass wedding organised by the Johor Baru Tiong Hua Federation yesterday.
In Penang, Jeremy Justin Ch’ng and Rina Ooi registered their marriage and spiced it up with a late night outing to watch the horror flick Omen.
The movie trailer highlighting the film’s release date of 06.06.06 only added more significance to the avid cinema-going couple who fell in love at first sight six years ago.
“To the Chinese, especially the Hokkien, 666 is pronounced as luck, luck, luck, which is triple the good luck,” said Ch’ng, 28, a project co-ordinator who was aware that the number was regarded unfavourably in the West as the number of the anti-Christ.
“But we are Buddhists and we are not superstitious about this,” added Ooi, 26, a graphic designer.
They were among 66 couples who registered their marriage yesterday at the Che Hoon Khor Moral Uplifting Society here.
Registrar of marriages Tan Siu Lian said registration was normally conducted only on weekends at the society but yesterday was an exception due to overwhelming requests.
“A total of 74 couples wanted to register their marriage but we limited the number to only 66 couples in keeping with the auspicious number,” she said.