Tradition
Face-lift
for the bride
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Tradition
Face-lift
for the bride
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"I've come to put down a betel-leaf." ABOUT A MONTH before the marriage eve, (there was no hard and fast rule when this had to be done) an elderly Malay woman, brought by one of the widow's friends, came to file Poh Sim's teeth, to pluck her eyebrows and to clear her face of any hair. That was the traditional face-lift for every nyonya bride, a custom borrowed from the Malays. Poh Sim lay on a straw mat on the timber floor upstairs, her head resting on a hollow bamboo pillow. Her mother sat beside her to give her courage and confidence. The face-lifter produced from her sireh-box, a 3-inch long smooth file with a small wooden handle and put it into a tumbler filled with water. She then placed a peeled areca-nut in Poh Sim's mouth to set apart the two rows of her strong, white and pretty teeth. Only those between and including the canine teeth in each row, had to be filed. The woman started with the top row and after examining the teeth, rubbed them with a wad of wet cotton. Then, holding Poh Sim's forehead with her left hand to keep her head steady, she used the file gently moving it against the edge of the teeth from left to right. She was experienced in this business and every time the girl winced and attempted to move her head, the woman knew she had pushed the file a bit too hard. At such times, she kept on whispering: "Sayang jangan takut, jangan takut" (my dear, don't be afraid, don't be afraid). Every now and then, she rubbed the teeth with the wet cotton, before continuing with the filing. After every ten minutes, she removed the areca-nut, rubbed the teeth with the wet cotton and examined them to see how much more levelling had to be done. It took about an hour and a half of patient work to complete the filing of the top and bottom rows. The plucking of the eyebrows gave no difficulty - but, clearing the face of fine hair was quite a painful affair. Fortunately, this did not take long. With thread held in a cross-loop by the thumb and first finger of one hand and twirled by the thumb and first |
| finger
of the other hand,
the
face-lifter ran the cross-loop up and down and
across each cheek, and
as each tiny hair was plucked out, it caused some pain. However, Poh
Sim bore it all bravely,
having been warned not to jerk her head lest the skin of her face get
damaged. Siireh box and leaves  Ten days before the wedding day, our widow spent two days carrying out an important social requirement: the traditional announcement to her friends of her daughter's marriage and extending to them her invitation to the nuptial feast. She called on her friends, one by one, paying each a brief visit. The visit had to be brief, as the rickshaw was hired by the hour, and she had to call on so many others. The pattern of each visit was the same. After greeting her friend, she just said: "I've come to put down a betel-leaf", and from a sireh-box she took out a small pink silk handkerchief from which she picked out a tiny betel-leaf tied up with a fine red thread, and put it on the table in the guest-hall. Her friend, knowing the significance would ask gleefully: "Which daughter? Who's the lucky boy? When's the happy day?" After these queries were answered, they would exchange some pleasantries and the friend then offers the visitor her congratulations and good wishes. Our widow, on departing, reminds her friend, "Don't forget to come." In all, she invited some sixty people. Accepting Meh Ah Lian's suggestion, the widow told her eldest boy to invite on her behalf, the Principal of the school and his form-teacher to the marriage dinner. The second boy, Kwee Ngee, was also asked to extend her invitation to his class-teacher. A few days before the marriage date, our matchmaker brought over from Lim Ah Keow's house, the bridegroom's wardrobe and things, all packed in two large new leather bags, each bag with a round piece of red paper pasted on it. As everybody, especially the girls, was keen to see what they contained, the widow opened the bags one at a time, and with Meh Ah Lian assisting, laid out the contents. They consisted of wearing materials and men's accessories, the outstanding items being two tweed suits of light, fine wool, two pairs of English leather shoes to match the colour of the suits, a score of long-sleeved Arrow shirts and shirts of other assorted brands, neck-ties, bow-ties, Pyramid handkerchiefs, socks, silk pyjamas, gold cuff-links and useful odds and ends - all topgrade imported goods. For four days before the happy event, wedding presents trickled in. They were mostly perfumery, face lotions, face powders, scented toilet soap, ladies' handkerchiefs, tea sets, glassware, silver spoons, and flower vases. A dinnerset for twelve, was a joint |
| gift
from the Principal and the invited teachers. All the gifts were of
foreign manufacture, mostly
from England, France and Italy, and they were displayed on the dressing
table and on another
small table near the bedstead. The bridegroom's father sent a large,
magnificent brass lamp with a
snow-glazed shade. This was hung up in the middle of the bridal chamber
by a carpenter, and at
night, the lamp gave the room a brilliance it never had before. So well had the widow planned everything that two days before the marriage eve, the bridal chamber was ready for inspection. The nuptial bed was the central piece of attraction. The bed curtain was parted in the middle and the folds on each side were held in position by a thick silk cord with a gold-plated hook at its end. This was to show to advantage the quality of the bed and all the things on it ù particularly, the workmanship bestowed on the pillows, the dutchwife, the bed-spread and the bed curtain. Corsages and sprigs of silk flowers and buds were tastefully pinned up on the bed-curtain and in the middle of each down-curve of the front drop of the bed-spread. On the floor, just in front of the bed, was a 4 by 3 orange-coloured rug. The door and window curtains were parted and tied to the sides with red ribbons and a silken rosette. On the dressing-table which was' covered with a centre-spread of fine lace, was arranged the expensive perfumes, lotions and face powders ù the pick of the wedding gifts. The yellowish-brown uniquely designed clothes al-meirah, with its carved dragons on the top, its well-arranged shelves, its shiny polish and its large Italian mirror, drew immediate praise from everyone who saw it. The wall facing the entrance to the room was decorated with Poh Sim's mandarin ducks and peacock, and with well-placed corsages of silk flowers and leaves. On another wall of the room was hung up four embroidery pieces of birds and flowers produced by the other two girls. All told, the bridal chamber was splendidly done up, and our widow was highly pleased when two of the bridegroom's aunts who came to see the chamber expressed their unmitigated admiration of what they saw. And, what was important to her was that she knew they meant what they said, for they were discriminating and critical people.# (To be continued) Next instalment Fourth extract from Chin Kee Onn's "Twilight of the Nyonyas" |
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Foong Kim
Cheong
The Best Thai Food in TownPaya Terubong Phone 825 5643 |
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Preparing the bride |
____________________ The Penang File Issue 38 |