A dozen reasons to wed

Couples do not want to pass up chance to tie the knot on 12-12-12

PETALING JAYA: Few folks are going to let the 12th day of the 12th month in the 12th year of this millennium - the last of triple date sequence - slip away without a big bang.

Many are planning to have their “big day” on that date (which will only occur again in a hundred years), touting it as an “auspicious time” for marriage and an “easy anniversary date to remember”.

For Kelly Liang, 30, and Alex Choi, 31, a 12-12-12 wedding date had always been in their plans, citing the number as their lucky number.

The hotel sales manager in Penang said she was born on Feb 12 while Choi’s birthday was on Dec 10, adding that “our first meeting was at noon”.

“He was my customer then. We realised that the number 12 has always been significant to both of us so we wanted to make the ultimate day of 12s as our special day,” said Liang.

For Bamani Lingam, 27, and Thevendran Sakruvathy, 31, their Hindu temple priest had recommended that they tied the knot on that date.

“When we were picking out the dates, the priest told us that 1212-12 was a very auspicious date for marriage, according to our religion,” said Bamani, an assistant manager.

Thevendran said the date appealed to him, but for a different reason. “It’s easy to remember when anniversaries arrive.”

Circulation worker G. V Lekshman, 24, said he would marry his 24-year-old girlfriend Sharon Sugumar on 12-12-12.

“It’s kind of a historic day for us since there’s not going to be a 1313-13,” he said. “We wanted to do something memorable, which we can talk about in the future.”

Meanwhile, a National Registration Department spokesperson said it was bracing for a “wedding rush” that day.

Mass registration events, she added, would be organised at several of its state branches, adding that it was expecting a “record number”.

“On 11- 11- 11, last year, 723 couples registered to be married nationwide,” she said.

Penang Chinese Town Hall secretariat Koay Eng Seng said over 75 couples had booked to register their marriage on 12-12-12, adding that more couples were expected to come forward.

“There’s not going to be another date like this in a century,” said Koay, adding that the hall registered 94 marriages last year, on 11-11-11.