Cut The Crap: Let’s Stick With Covid-19 Chinese Wedding Practices Even After The Pandemic
Let Weddings Be What They Really Are: A Union Between Two People, Not A DisplayTo Be Shown Off.
On 21 May 2021, I attended my cousin’s wedding. Due to the Covid-19 resurgence in Singapore, strict measures were put in place to quickly curb the spread of the virus. Only 50 guests were allowed and any wedding reception was strictly off-limits. It was a beautifully simple affair — a cozy group gathered in the Church (with safe-distancing measures) to witness the transformation of two people becoming one family, vowing to love each other till death do them part. Unlike many Chinese weddings in Singapore, the affair was stripped to its simplest form. There was no ridiculous need to wake up at 4-5 am for makeup, no gatecrashing, no lavish reception after the solemnization, no costly dinner banquet. It is the wedding that many Singaporean Chinese couples dreamed of.
For those who are unfamiliar with Chinese wedding practices in Singapore, let me bring you through what usually happened before the pandemic arrived. Singaporean Chinese weddings are a rather complex and sensitive phenomenon. I learned very quickly in my own experience that Chinese weddings are not for the couple. It was an event for the parents and the…
