Peranakan-Chinese weddings were known to be a 12-day feast of festivities, rituals, and merriment. Baba-Nyonya wedding ceremony is mostly based on Chinese culture, however more elaborate than the Chinese. It is known as the most colourful wedding ceremony in Malaysia. Baba Nyonya have special wedding rituals which other cultures do not have, however, as time pass, the complex Baba-Nyonya wedding ceremony is abandoned by most people especially in this modern year.
1. Blessing of the Bridal Bed
The beautifying of the bridal chamber was a ceremony that would have been conducted by the older ladies of the family before the wedding festivities began. Once the bed was prepared with decorations and cleansed with local Indian incense known as stangee, it would then be ready for a blessing.
On the right day and appointed time, a young boy within the family, would be chosen to roll on the bed back and forth three times. It was important that his Chinese zodiac sign complemented the couples. This ritual was done to bless the couple with many children, with the hopes of the first being a male.
2. Chun Tok Ceremony (Fun & Games)
The Chun Tok ceremony would be the first time the bride and groom would eat as a couple. During this ceremony, a game would be played. Underneath the table, if the groom manages to put his foot over the brides, then he would be the master of the house. However, if she manages to put her foot over his, then she would rule the roost. As the couple eats, the candles would also be observed by on-lookers. The candle on the bride’s side represented her lifespan, and the candle on the groom’s side his lifespan. The flame to last the longest shows who would live the longest. However just to be fair and politically correct, most family members would snuff out both candles at the same time.
3. Berandam/Chiu Thau (Hair Combing Ceremony)
A three-tier (sam kai) altar is used to honour the highest god Ti Kong. It would have been placed in the outer reception hall, facing the street. The bamboo tray (niru) symbolizes the world. The bride or groom would step onto the tray and sit on a measuring scoop for rice known as the gantang.
A female master of ceremony Sang Kheh Umm would assist the bride, and an older man, Pak Chindek would assist the groom through this ritual.
The bride or groom would sit on the gantang, hold the prayer book in their lap, with the items to remind them of their new roles they would be stepping into: scales to act justly, a pair of scissors to make all things equal as husband and wife, a razor as a warning to be cautious, and mirror to tell good deeds from bad, a comb and a 3 ½ meter thread to represent long life of 3 ½ generations.
4. Wedding Day
During the 1900s, wedding attire in Malacca were commissioned from Shanghai or from a Shanghainese tailor that lived in Singapore. These costumes are fashioned from the Qing Dynasty (1644 –1912).
When the bridegroom uncovers the bridal veil, both couples have to swallow two Tang Yuan (one red, one white) in one time to present living together till the end.
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