Gorgeous traditional Malay wedding attire!

A traditional Malaysian Muslim ceremony.

Rahim Hussain was my colleague in Singapore and as a widower this was his 2nd marriage, but Fauziah’s 1st. It was a hot, tropical day in equatorial Singapore as usual and this was an outdoor reception, staged in the undercover common area of the apartment complex where Rahim lived. The Wedding ceremony is usually an intimate family affair, held in the Groom’s home on the morning of the same day.

Typically the traditional Muslim marriage feast goes all day, during which the Bride and Groom change seven times into totally different festive outfits. These custom-made ceremonial outfits are elaborate, often including complete headwear changes and each new outfit is then accessorised with different jewellery gifted to the couple from relatives. It really is quite a wonderful spectacle for the guests … however, it is a long, tiring day for the couple who must suffer the heat standing for hours in these multi-layered formal clothes! Some of the outfits are not even made for sitting down in! 

The point of all these changes is to be photographed in each successive, splendorous change. The guests are invited, table by table to proceed up to the small stage area that has been specially ‘set’ for the day’s photos, to have their photo taken with the newlyweds. I cannot recall which number outfit change this was but we’d been enjoying the delicious meals for some hours already and it was only somewhere in the middle. I felt very sorry for them both but Rahim was his naturally good-humoured self and so we were laughing about it, of course!

Rahim was a former body-building national champion for Singapore and is a really sweet, generous man with a lively sense of humour. Fauziah really was an empathetic person, who became the primary carer for Rahim’s 4 children upon this marriage plus she went on to add her own child to the happy family.