Couple head to polling centre first before getting married
SHAH ALAM: The early morning sky over Shah Alam was gloomy, but Cheng Chin Mian and Nelson Choo brought sunshine with them as they strolled into SK Taman Sri Muda to cast their votes before going for their wedding ceremony at a church nearby.
Cheng, 26, and her fiancé, Choo, 27, initially picked Nov 19 “by chance” many months ago.
“It was a good date as two of our friends who were supposed to also get married on the same day, decided to move their wedding date in order not to clash with ours,” said the 26-year-old bride who was voting for the very first time, while Choo was voting for the second time.
For the groom, the announcement of the polling date came as a shock.
“I was in the middle of work, and I could not concentrate. I just lost my appetite, as we have been planning this wedding for more than 10 months,” said Petaling Jaya-born Choo.
Cheng’s phone rang non-stop on Oct 20 when the polling date was announced, with messages and calls enquiring about the clash of her wedding with GE15.
“Initially, she handled it quite well, and it didn’t quite hit her until night, when a few of our close friends said they can’t make it to our wedding (because they would need to return to their hometowns to vote),” said Choo.
However, the couple decided to take it in their stride, sticking to their chosen date.
“After thinking and praying over the matter, what was initially bad news turned out to be ‘not so bad’,” said the couple that turned up at the primary school here in their wedding finery to vote, with Cheng attracting stares as she strode into the voting centre in her white bridal cheongsam.
“It actually encouraged us to see how people put effort to vote in their hometowns, some as far as Sabah, and actually arranged a flight back on the same day to attend our wedding.
“The same goes to our friends from Melaka, Negri Sembilan, and Johor,” said the couple, who had dated for six years before tying the knot.
“Ultimately, it’s been memorable and was good date indeed,” said the couple, who managed to arrive at the Shah Alam Gospel Centre on time to solemnise their wedding by 11am.
On Friday, The Star reported that quite a number of couples chose to discharge their duty as citizens, working around the time of their solemnisation on the same day.