SINGAPORE: The National Library at Victoria Street
is holding a Traditional Chinese wedding exhibition from now to
April 6, to help the public understand the meaning behind
traditional rituals, from marriage proposals and dowry preparation
to tea ceremonies.
The exhibition's centrepiece is a 92-year-old
authentic wedding sedan flown in specially from Fujian,
China.
But how relevant is this exhibition for modern
Singapore?
Gallery owner and curator Sean Lui said: "Fortunately, we have been
seeing increasing demands (for a Chinese wedding ceremony) in the
last few years.
"More and more couples are willing to go through a Chinese wedding
ceremony, but are not able to find reliable sources of information
to learn (about the rituals)".
Mr Lui said he sees about 20 to 30 prospective couples a month who
wish to organise a traditional ceremony.
Young brides- and grooms-to-be are not the only ones who are
interested.
Many older couples are also renewing their wedding vows the
traditional way.
Mr Lui said there have been about 50 couples who said they wanted
to be involved in the Chinese wedding exhibition. He added that
most of them wanted to take photographs in traditional Chinese
costumes for keepsakes.
-CNA/wk