Wedding 'must-have'

Attended many weddings reception over the years here in Sabah. Regardless of where it is held, be it at the bride/groom’s residence, community hall, restaurant or hotel, I noticed a few things in common.

Most obvious one is the song, Yue Liang Tai Biao Wo De Xin/The Moon Represents My Heart. This evergreen song by the late Teresa Teng is a ‘must sing ‘ song in every reception, regardless of whether the wedding couple is Kadazan or Chinese. This song has simple yet meaningful lyrics and perhaps easy to sing or memorize, making it so popular among the wedding singer. And, the wedding singer wasn’t even Chinese…Wonder if it is the only Chinese song they can sing? *smile*

Yup, this song is also sung at my wedding although it’s not in our requested song list ya. Hmmm…we listed some other Chinese song but instead we got this one. But, never mind la since it’s a beautiful song also. * smile * Now every time we heard this song, hubby and I always tease each other…”Nah, lagu kau!” LOL . Since then, we always compete whose first to point it out. Before long, it has become our personal game pulak….lol

Another compulsory song is Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton. I bet it’s popular for the same obvious reason, easy to sing. If the wedding singer does not sing it, then surely one of the guests will belt out this song. It’s also a signal that the floor is opened for couples to do the slow dance. * wink-wink*

There is one more ‘must have’, the Poco-Poco Dance. It’s a traditional dance originates from the Minahasa people of Manado, Sulawesi. Whenever the song for this dance is up, you can expect a crowded dance floor. The juniors, the veterans and children all scrambled to their feet, to get a space on the dance floor and proudly show-off their skills. Poco-Poco is a type of line dance with easy-to-follow steps. No wonder it's such a hit among the crowd.

But when it’s time for the Sumazau dance, only a few people whose willing to participate. Most of the time, the veteran. The teenagers even kena paksa pun, still refuse. Reason being; don’t know how to do the Sumazau. Common, what’s wrong with these people?? I don’t think that the Sumazau is that difficult, is it? Surely, nothing some practice can’t fix. Tiring, yes, but nobody’s going to scold you if you wanted to stop earlier than the other.

If we can spend some time learning the Poco-Poco, why not put some effort into learning Sumazau. It’s our own cultural dance we’re talking here. If our young generation refuses to learn, sooner we’ll be loosing a part of our heritage, our culture. It’s bad enough that most of us cannot speak our own Kadazan language. Sad but it’s a fact though. Then again, it’s never too late to learn.