Tradition
Poh Choo's wedding
|
Tradition
Poh Choo's wedding
|
| A chin chuey wedding (7) A nyonya marriage was the time to exchange saucy gossip and to air one's views, to pull each other's legs, to test each other's wits, to laugh, to forget one's worries, to eat and to drink at somebody else's expense. The dinner before EVERY GUEST KNEW, according to the practice of that period, that the 'dinner' would start around 5.20 or 5.30 in the late afternoon of the day before the wedding day. Thus from three onwards, guests started to trickle in. The time of arrival of each guest gave an indication of the closeness of friendship between guest and hostess. The closer the friendship, the earlier the arrival. Most of the nyonyas brought along their own sireh-box. Without this little box, how could they carry on conversation for hours? A nyonya marriage was always a keenly-looked-forward-to social event, as it gave old friends the "opportunity to meet, to recall the happy times they had had together, the jokes they had shared, the escapades they had gone through together, the rogues and the 'saltish fellows' they had come across, the good luck they had been blessed with, and the misfortunes they had encountered. That was the time to exchange saucy gossip and to air one's views, to pull each other's legs, to test each other's wits, to laugh,'to forget one's worries, to eat and to drink at somebody else's expense. Some of the early women arrivals brought their gifts in neatly-wrapped packages (each with a piece of red paper pasted on it) and invariably the excuse given was "Adoi... I was so busy the last few days... just couldn't come earlier lah." Some, on greeting the hostess, fondly pressed into her hands a red packet, which might contain currency notes or even small jewellery, like a gold chain with pendant or a gold pin. While people were chatting and laughing and the old friends were greeting each other, our hostess, in order to avoid congestion, invited small batches of the guests to go upstairs to have a look at the bridal chamber. Such a privilege was one of the delights of a marriage occasion. |
| Poh Sim,
beautifully dressed up, her face faultlessly powdered and rouged, waited
with the sarng-keh-myn, her companion and counsellor, to receive the guests
in the hall as they came up. To the immense joy of our hostess, each batch
of guests, after inspecting the bridal chamber, heaped praises on her for
the excellence of the handicraft they saw. At about 5.10 the Principal of the school, a bachelor, arrived with the resident missionary and his wife and two missionary teachers from America (one, a lady and the other, a man) together with four upper-form teachers. The hostess welcomed them and they were introduced to her, one by one, by Kwee Yit, her eldest boy. They were allotted a table in the front hall, and in deference to the missionaries, the bottle of brandy was removed from their table. Fifteen minutes later, our widow was highly pleased to receive Tuan Mac, our matchmaker's husband, who brought along a planter-friend and his wife. They were seated at the centre table and Meh Ah Lian joined them. Other guests kept arriving and soon filled up the tables in the front hall. Before 5.40, according to the new wall-clock (presented by Tuan Mac) all the guests had arrived. The tables had been laid with food ù eight varieties in all. The hostess, moving from one table to another, requested the guests to start with the dinner and not 'to walk on ceremony'. The missionary ladies who were newcomers to Malaya, were very curious and wanted to know what each dish was. Mr Liew, one of the teachers, furnished the information. He was fluent and knowledgeable. "Oh, what a marvellous soup," exclaimed one of the ladies, sipping a spoonful: "what's in it?" "That is abalone soup. That is soup primed with Californian tinned-abalone and it has been steamed for hours with selected pig's ribs and dried cuttlefish from China." "Is this prawn?" asked another lady, commenting on another dish; "it's so crispy and delicious." "Indeed, it is. It is large kalong-prawn and is so-called because it is caught in a kalong, a special trap laid out in the sea not far from the shore. This prawn is stripped of its layered covering and steeped in egg-beaten flour and fried in lard oil until it crackles. That's why it is so crunchy." "And what's this somewhat pasty but tasty and delectable stuff?" queried another lady, who had taken two spoonfuls of it. "Ah, that's shark's fins cooked in chicken soup with choice shredded chicken and enriched with eggs beaten with corn-flour. This is a Cantonese dish and rarely served in a nyonya feast. This must be a special order." Another dish that intrigued them was steamed duck stuffed with sliced mushroom, water-cress, green peas and chestnut. It was served with a light delicious gravy and the missionaries had never tasted such a preparation before. |
| "Ah, these
are wonderful pickled vegetables," one lady exclaimed as she scooped up
a repeat spoonful of it. "Oh, it's just lovely and not too pungent. What
do you call this?" "That's ard-chat-awak. Yes, they are pickled vegetables. This dish is a testimonial of a nyonya's cooking skill. Each household has its own style of preparing and cooking it." Another highly-appreciated item was a fried medley of imported tinned mushroom, crispy French beans and sliced water-cress with chicken and crab meat. There were also favourable comments from the foreigners about the chicken curries, one with thick gravy and the other half-dry and saturated with spices. They also loved the ard-chat-fish and prawn. Besides the wonderful food, they admired the distinctive patek table crockery. It was clear that the cooks had done a wonderful job. Within fifteen minutes of the start of the dinner, there was an incessant coming and going of those who served, refilling rice plates, soup bowls, the various dishes and the glasses with drinks. The most popular items of food were ard-chat-awak, the abalone soup and the shark's fins. The westerners in the front hall were not shy and repeatedly asked for the pickled vegetables for they went well with the meat dishes. Every now and then, there were bursts of laughter and loud giggling as the guests joked and teased each other while they ate and drank. One elderly nyonya, a close friend of Meh Ah Lian, went from the main hall to the front hall and to the merriment of everyone there, challenged Tuan Mac to drink with her! She held up half a glass of neat brandy and demanded that Tuan Mac do the same. Then she shouted yam seng and emptied her glass in two gulps. Our matchmaker's husband, the gentleman that he was, noticing that the lady was already tight, feigned difficulty in finishing his glass and admitted defeat. The nyonya, feeling very satisfied, went back to her seat in the main hall. Everyone in the front hall clapped, more for Tuan Mac than for his challenger, for they knew that he was a terrific drinker who could easily have downed her. There were other harmless incidents in the main hall in which four of the men guests challenged each other to drink, playing the noisy 'finger guessing game', common to the Chinese on festive occasions. Our hostess was watching everything going on. She conducted herself with dignity and wearing a minimum of jewellery, looked neat and matronly. All the time she smiled and moved around from table to table, urging the guests to eat to the full. Sometimes she spoke in Siamese, sometimes in Hokkien or in Hakka, each time conveying the exhortation, 'please don't tread on ceremony'. To those she knew to be good drinkers, she would add "Drink up... don't spare the brandy." The spirit of conviviality was all over the place and the hostess and the cooks were greatly pleased that every guest, including the children, ate heartily. All of them were perspiring, as there were no ceiling or stand-fans, but it didn't bother them at all. |
| Everything went off well and our hostess
was happy for she could see that all her guests were satisfied. When it
was time to bring in the dessert (the iced loongan and laichi) she signalled
to the service crew to do so. The dinner over, our hostess observed that
there were still a dozen or so of her friends who had not yet seen the bridal
chamber. These, as was done earlier, were taken upstairs in batches, and
when they came down, they poured encomiums of praise on the beaming hostess.
In particular, they praised the excellent wood-carving of the almeirah and
the displays in the chamber which highlighted nyonya culture. Before sunset, most of the guests had left and it was time to light and hang up the five Kitson lamps rented for two nights for the happy event. These lamps, fed with kerosene under air pressure, gave out a bright glow and lit up the house well, downstairs and upstairs. The last guests to leave were the school party. The Principal and the missionary ladies were captivated by the bridal chamber and were full of praise for the embroidery pieces done by the bride and her two sisters. They also admired the artificial flowers, buds and leaves, for they were indeed well made. They stayed on until seven-thirty, making inquiries about nyonya marriage ceremonies and customs. The two missionary ladies when told that the hostess' daughters had had no schooling at all were astonished, and the one who was in charge of the Primary Department, persuaded the widow to send both the younger girls to school. She assured the mother that it was never too late to go to school, and she said that they were still admitting girls from 15 to 16 years of age. "Do send your girls to us," she pleaded with the mother. The person who did all the interpretation was Mr Liew, the handsome young teacher who had described the various items of the dinner. He was a local-born Hakka and was fluent not only in his own dialect, but also in Hokkien and Cantonese. As they were leaving, this versatile young man stole a quick glance at Poh Choo, who had attracted him by the brightness of her eyes, the sweet smile on her face and the whiteness of her perfect teeth. These, he had noticed when she came thrice to serve their table. On the third occasion when she brought the dessert, he observed that she had a fair, smooth skin and a well-proportioned figure. Mr Liew was not the only one who admired Poh Choo. The young American teacher, Mr Andy Grubb from South Carolina was also fascinated by her. He also admired Poh Sei who served the next table, captured by the way she walked and the sweet Mona Lisa smile on her intelligent face. (To be continued) Seventh extract from Chin Kee Onn's "Twilight of the Nyonyas" - A chin chuey marriage in Ipoh Previous instalment |
|
Child Protection Society Penang 118A Scotland road |
| ______ INDEX Point to the article that you want to read, and CLICK Index page
The Baling meeting (3)
Book review Food guide The God in the garden (3) The wedding dinner |
____________________ The Penang File Issue 41 |