wedding karaoke

This time of the year must be an auspicious season for Malay marriage, because I saw three separate wedding parties within five minutes' walking distance of each other on my way home yesterday evening. By that time they were toned down and reduced to a couple families chatting quietly over leftovers while their kids dozed over the silken tables.

There's another one today, right below where I stay. From what I gather from a life of watching the processions and feasts with interest from the tenth storey apartment, the bride and groom are mostly there to be ogled. The other people participate in good eating, some dances and martial arts demonstrations, and far too much karaoke.

Friends and relatives partake freely of the karaoke. Not all of them are in tune. The microphones are very powerful, and echo dreadfully.

But I don't think anyone minds. I wish more weddings -- all kinds -- were held at void decks. It's noisy but festive and it sort of hammers it in that once people used to stay in kampongs where weddings were another excuse to have fun. And it's nice to think that the wedding couple is going to be blessed by everyone who sees or hears the revelry, passers-by and all. Look at me: I'm even getting used to the karaoke.