The long weekend starts today for most people working a 5-day work week. For them, the long weekend is a highly anticipated breather granting 3 days of break from the gruelling work life that these poor unfortunate souls of this country suffer from due to weak labour unions and an entrenched work culture of staying back late. Hey, after all, we are still a developing nation where wages are depressed, employers' expectations are stupendously high and hours are long. In Malaysia, unless you work for the public sector, nobody leaves work on time. It's just the work culture here. Leave on time and your peers will perceive you to be lazy. Leave on time and your superiors will think that you do not have enough work and will burden you with additional workload and expect you to finish it within a ridiculously unreasonable time frame. Perhaps it's an Asian thing where the worker who stays back the latest is perceived to be the most hardworking. I remember when I was in Tokyo earlier this year, from my hotel room window I saw a considerable number of people still in the office even at 11pm, and there was still a busy sea of people who had just left the office walking to the subway station to go home.
Does work-life balance really exist in this world or is it only a utopian paradigm?
Friday, 31 August 2012
Sunday, 5 August 2012
A Wedding in August
On a beautiful Saturday morning in August, I attended a wedding. Not just any wedding, but the wedding of a close friend from high school. In fact, it was the first wedding within the small circle of high school friends whom I still keep in touch with. Some of us have not seen each other in person for almost 10 years since we last left high school, and so it was really exciting to see one another again. Apart from the main event (i.e. the wedding), it also felt like a mini high school reunion.
The wedding ceremony was held in a church. At a quarter past 10, the ceremony commenced and the congregration stood to honour the wedding procession making its way down the centre aisle. As the wedding march was played, the first to appear were two little flower girls looking so dainty in a white frock. This was followed by an older flower girl in a similar ensemble. Then came the handmaidens in matching peach dresses. Finally the bride appeared, accompanied by the groom, looking ever so elegant in her white wedding gown with a long train, her face shrouded beneath a veil.
Next up, a praise and worship session was scheduled. This was followed by a reading of the scripture and then a sermon which would serve as a very handy guide to people considering marriage, as well as couples who are already married. After the message had been delivered, it was time to officiate the marriage with the exchange of vows and the exchange of rings. A funny incident occured during the exchange of rings - one which would be unforgettable in years to come. As the bride attempted to place the ring on the groom, the ring got stuck and she struggled to twist it onto his finger. The whole congregration burst out in laughter and the poor groom's face was red with embarassment. After a few more twists, the ring finally went into place and all turned out well.
There was a special presentation to the newly married couple that morning. A relative of the bride who flew in all the way from Melbourne took to the stage to sing "The Prayer". His resonating baritone voice astounded the crowd who gave a thundering applause. After a closing prayer by the pastor, the ceremony officially ended and a light buffet lunch was waiting outside.
Crowded around a small table, there were 8 of us chatting animatedly while eating. To be honest, there was probably more talking than eating. Sitting together at lunch had that nostalgic feeling when we used to eat lunch in the canteen together. It just feels as if nothing has changed since then. Some of us still have not changed a bit exhibiting the same clumsiness and deafness as before. Ahh the good old days!
In the evening, there was a wedding dinner at a resort and spa in the outskirts of the city. It's a large resort surrounded by lots of palm trees and water. There was a pre-wedding cocktail reception in the garden outside the ballroom under a lovely sunset sky. A stepping stone path littered with colourful petals on both sides led to the entrance of the ballroom. The beautiful setting of a decorated garden somehow reminded me of a scene from an Alice in Wonderland tea party.
We made our way to the ballroom for dinner and were pleasantly surprised to find personalised thank you cards with our names printed on them placed on top of the napkins. At approximately a quarter to 8, dinner was served. There were some speeches, toasting and lots of merry making at this joyous occasion. We must have chatted the whole night away for even the night was not enough to catch up as it was time to say goodbye. As we parted ways again, the enjoyable day would forever be a good memory and we pleaded not to let this be the last time we meet up, but the first of many more gatherings. After all the excitement of the day, I retired to my bed and finally had my first good night's sleep in 44 nights.
The wedding ceremony was held in a church. At a quarter past 10, the ceremony commenced and the congregration stood to honour the wedding procession making its way down the centre aisle. As the wedding march was played, the first to appear were two little flower girls looking so dainty in a white frock. This was followed by an older flower girl in a similar ensemble. Then came the handmaidens in matching peach dresses. Finally the bride appeared, accompanied by the groom, looking ever so elegant in her white wedding gown with a long train, her face shrouded beneath a veil.
Next up, a praise and worship session was scheduled. This was followed by a reading of the scripture and then a sermon which would serve as a very handy guide to people considering marriage, as well as couples who are already married. After the message had been delivered, it was time to officiate the marriage with the exchange of vows and the exchange of rings. A funny incident occured during the exchange of rings - one which would be unforgettable in years to come. As the bride attempted to place the ring on the groom, the ring got stuck and she struggled to twist it onto his finger. The whole congregration burst out in laughter and the poor groom's face was red with embarassment. After a few more twists, the ring finally went into place and all turned out well.
There was a special presentation to the newly married couple that morning. A relative of the bride who flew in all the way from Melbourne took to the stage to sing "The Prayer". His resonating baritone voice astounded the crowd who gave a thundering applause. After a closing prayer by the pastor, the ceremony officially ended and a light buffet lunch was waiting outside.
Crowded around a small table, there were 8 of us chatting animatedly while eating. To be honest, there was probably more talking than eating. Sitting together at lunch had that nostalgic feeling when we used to eat lunch in the canteen together. It just feels as if nothing has changed since then. Some of us still have not changed a bit exhibiting the same clumsiness and deafness as before. Ahh the good old days!
In the evening, there was a wedding dinner at a resort and spa in the outskirts of the city. It's a large resort surrounded by lots of palm trees and water. There was a pre-wedding cocktail reception in the garden outside the ballroom under a lovely sunset sky. A stepping stone path littered with colourful petals on both sides led to the entrance of the ballroom. The beautiful setting of a decorated garden somehow reminded me of a scene from an Alice in Wonderland tea party.
We made our way to the ballroom for dinner and were pleasantly surprised to find personalised thank you cards with our names printed on them placed on top of the napkins. At approximately a quarter to 8, dinner was served. There were some speeches, toasting and lots of merry making at this joyous occasion. We must have chatted the whole night away for even the night was not enough to catch up as it was time to say goodbye. As we parted ways again, the enjoyable day would forever be a good memory and we pleaded not to let this be the last time we meet up, but the first of many more gatherings. After all the excitement of the day, I retired to my bed and finally had my first good night's sleep in 44 nights.
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