TAWAU – Fifty-two couples had their marriages solemnised in Tawau late last night, only half an hour before the state came under a 14-day movement control order.
Kahar Sundu, an officer from the Tawau branch of the Sabah Islamic Religious Affairs Department, said the marriage solemnisation of the couples were conducted by six marriage officials, the entire process being completed at 11.30pm at the department’s office in Jalan Kuhara here.
Kahar said realising that many couples had applied to be solemnised during the MCO period, the Tawau department had taken the initiative to offer them the opportunity to do it earlier.
“During the MCO, all matters relating to marriage are postponed, except for administrative work. So I asked the marriage officials to contact the couples and 90% of them accepted the offer and came for the solemnisation process,” he said when met at the office last night.
He said the couples were mostly under the age of 30 and were present at the office along with their guardians.
One of the grooms, Muhamad Afif Afendi, 24, said his marriage with Nur Farahin Bahar, 25, was initially scheduled to be solemnised on January 23, but they were grateful enough that the process had been eased and done last night.
“We were frustrated at first when we learned that the ceremony may have to be postponed due to the MCO, but when the department contacted us about this initiative, we were more than happy to do it,” he said, adding that the wedding reception would be held after the MCO is lifted.
Meanwhile, Jupidah Muhammad Zin, 27, and her spouse Muhammad Hafiz Sedding, 26, were also grateful to have their marriage solemnised before the MCO, instead of being postponed to an unknown date.
“With the advice of our families, we decided to go ahead with it even without proper preparations,” she said.
Last Monday, the government announced the reimplementation of the MCO in six states: Sabah, Selangor, Melaka, Penang, Johor, and the Federal Territories (Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan) from January 13 to 26. – Bernama, January 13, 2021
