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By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright January 2023
Any day is good day to get married. But try to avoid CNY day especially if the bride is from Ipoh.
Every Chinese New Year my wife and celebrate our wedding anniversary. At every anniversary for the last 35 years the first toast would be preceded by, "Here's to not getting married on CNY day!" and everyone in the room will break out into hilarious laughter as they raise their glasses to wish us a happy anniversary.
I suppose our anniversary in 2023 will be more or less the same except that it will be more subdued since everyone is going to be older by 36 years.
Maybe we'll be less gregarious but I expect laughter to be equally loud when we speak of a wedding on that fateful Chinese New Year day in 1986.
Each and everyone who was with us on that historic day would have a funny tale to tell on their journey to our wedding just because it was a Chinese New Year's day and it was held in Ipoh.
Getting to Ipoh on Chinese New Year's day was a breeze. There was hardly any traffic on the PLUS Expressway to Ipoh both from the North or the South. Everyone who celebrates was home with the family.
The Chinese would normally travel only on the second day of the new year. The people who made arrangements for getting us married knew this well.
They chose the day purely to suit the convenience of family and friends travelling from the North and the South and neglected about the difficulties that might be faced by the bride on a day like Chinese New Year day in Ipoh.
From that perspective it was logical and very appropriate. Nobody was stuck in traffic. We assembled at the old Station Hotel in good time and were ready for solemnisation way ahead of the appointed hour.
However, unknown to us the bride had a horrendous problem of finding a beauty parlour to get her hair and make up done for the wedding. The whole town was shut down. No hair stylist or make up artist available to help doll her up for the occassion.
This was going to be a disasterous day for the bride. She could not be looking at her worse on such a memorable occassion for once in her life.
This is the day when all brides want to be at their best. You cannot appear in front of the guests with your hair in absolute mess and the face not made up by a professional.
The family gathered a posse much like a sheriff would in a small town in time of ennergency to knock on doors of all hair stylist and make up artists in Ipoh early on Chinese New Year day.
They went but not a single one was available. One or two found was reluctant to help because they believed that it would be bad luck to open for business on day one of the new year.
Finally her auntie found one lady in a remote area of Ipoh not far from Silibin that was willing to forsake the bad luck because she saw the goodness in helping a damsel in distress.
She said "bei yoi kin", never mind tok pek kong will understand. Chinchai lo".
Out of thousands of hairstylists in Ipoh this particular lady was kind enough to set aside her family chores, cultural mores and taboos to help a lady unfortunately scheduled to be married on Chinese New Year day of all places in Ipoh where there was hardly any hair stylist who was non Chinese and not celebrating.
On our wedding anniversary each year we toast to the lady who helped a bride now my wife overcame what seemed to be an unsurmountable problem at the time.
Each toast would end with an advice constantly on our minds "Don't ever get married on Chinese New Year day in Ipoh!" Not unless you want a bride to have a hairy day!
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