A lifetime commitment

Last Saturday, my wife Liza and I attended our good friend Richard and Juliana son's wedding. It was held at the grand 5 star Sangrila Tanjung Aru Resort (STAR) Kota Kinabalu. The ballroom was beautifully decorated and the 8 course dinner servings was delightful. Sitting arrangement is predetermine and mapped out by the organiser as to smooth out the evening flow often according to familiar group.

Personally, I have preference for outdoor traditional wedding celebration especially in the Kampung (village). Since I am Sino Kadazan( partial Sabah native descendant), I have been invited to few of such wedding reception.We were free to mingle around and the guest are more open and  involved especially in the traditional dances. I also enjoy Filipinos wedding where guests will sing and dance to make the event a lively one. Of course drinks are often free flow which makes the night even merrier.

Attending wedding dinner gives the opportunity to meet new people and added motive for people who are in  sales  such as network marketing, insurance agents and etc. It is much easier to build rapport here due to common friendship with the groom, bride or their respective families. 

Nowadays, most people especially the Chinese guest often give money in red packet a.k.a "Ang pow" to the wedding couple instead of gifts. Usually Ang pow is much preferred then gifts since the couples are able to start a new with the money collected.

Divorce rate is alarming in some countries and in Malaysia there is an indication that this is on the rise. It is really sad that for some couples, the stories does not end with the line "and they live happily ever after". Though Liza and I have been married for 11 years after 6 years of courting there are so much more to discover about each other. It is not about how long you are married but how deep is the conversation between each other. Attending wedding ceremony , reminds me that it indeed takes a lot of effort and patience to make a marriage work. One thing I have learned is that marriage cannot  be based on feelings as the feelings will soon fade away. It need to be based on keeping the little commitment, having a sense of playfulness and to keep building on the trust.