Lovebirds make a beeline for ‘perfect 10’ wedding date

PETALING JAYA: It appears that not even a pandemic can deter Malaysians from getting married on a “good” date.

Oct 10 or “perfect 10” has always been a dream day for many lovebirds who want to make their union memorable and this year is no different despite the presence of Covid-19.

According to the National Registration Department (NRD) and other organisations authorised to accept marriage registrations, many couples are unfazed despite the third wave of Covid-19 in the country.

NRD public relations officer Siti Mariani Ayob said NRD offices in Putrajaya and several states across Malaysia would be open today to cater specially to couples who want to get married on this special day.

“There will be 56 couples getting hitched in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya (10), Selangor (nine) and Penang (seven), with one or two couples in other states.

“NRD offices are not normally open on weekends, but today is a special arrangement. We want to let more couples say ‘I do’ on this special date,” she told The Star yesterday.

She said all couples and their guests must follow the stipulated standard operating procedure and each couple would be given their own time slot to ensure crowd control.

Kuala Lumpur’s Thean Hou Temple marriage registration department officer Chow Soo Sin said the 100 couples who reserved their registration of marriage (ROM) would be given their own 20-minute slots between 9am and 5pm.

“We only allow seven people in total for each couple, which include the couple, their parents and a photographer. This is necessary to ensure effective crowd control of at least 700 people throughout the day.

“We have also arranged staff and committee members to be on duty to direct people in and out of the hall throughout the day,” she said, adding that three marriage registrars would be present simultaneously for the day.

Heng Ann Association, the largest community organisation accepting ROMs in Melaka, is hosting 44 couples today.

Its executive secretary Irene Sia said this was a significant increase compared to 23 couples on the same day last year.

“According to the Chinese tong shu (almanac), today is good for marriage and union,” she said.