Get married for what

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Rhyfelgyrch Gwyrharlech (Men Of Harlech) - Welsh Male Voices - Very Best Of The Festival Of One Thousand Welsh Ma [UK], of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

If you haven't already read it, go read Adri's fabulous piece on a Teochew wedding. The comments to that post are just as interesting (interestingly, all coming from men), and this one in particular reminds me of once when a friend was in my car, and he pointed to two men holding a child's hands, on either side of the child, crossing the road together, and he said, 'Look, perfect family'. I was just talking to a friend the other day about marriage, and how I thought many of our female friends who were married or about to get married tended to view marriage as the goal in life. This friend became quiet, and told me, 'you know, that was... that is my problem, and maybe that's why things are not going well for mine now'. (I'm reminded of that hilarious LMD account of how her friend's mother asked her friend why she didn't want to get married 'to experience sex soon'.) Another friend recently told me what he had to do in preparation for his coming wedding. He did the dreaded bridal studio packaged photo shoot. 'The bugger make me run while he take photo! And then ask me to turn and smile! Where got people run like that one?' He also had to pose for shots carrying his wife, at locations ranging from Fort Canning to Sentosa to Arab Street, then come back to the studio, where some be-petaled bed was set up for the couple to pretend to canoodle in their wedding best while the photographer snapped away. I asked him why he did it if he didn't like doing it, and he said 'make the wife happy lor, she wants all this mah'. Aiyah, dunno lah. All youse can keep getting married for all I care. At least my brother's shop will get some business. Check out his wedding specials.