The groom, Beng Kiat, is the eldest of our three children, our only son, and the first to get married. We Hokiens will describe us as having 'tan chin koo'! which when translated into English means 'Waited very long'! Hakkas will describe that as 'ten hau kiew'. This serves as a hint to Beng Kiat's two sisters, Cheng Boon and Cheng Yee.
Beng Kiat was born in UK. Yet, he chose to study in Australia because most of his friends were heading in that direction. After a few years of working in KL, he realized that being born in UK has a special privilege, that of 'Right of Abode'. This is similar to PR status with which the holder is entitled to live and work in UK, without the need to apply for a work permit. When he returned to UK to look for a job, at Heathrow Airport, he realized he had joined the wrong queue - which was meant for foreigners! He was considered British!
Anyway, at the time, I said that if history were to repeat itself, within months he would have found his 'soul mate' in UK. But it was not meant to be. He worked for more than 4 years, without finding anyone suitable. The UK economy was in the doldrums and his British colleagues were getting notices to quit. He saw the writing on the wall. When he was back on holiday, he was asked to go for an interview by a friend. When he got back to UK, he was offered the KL job.
To cut a long story short, instead of finding his soul mate within months in UK, it turned out that he found his within months in KL! Apparently, both of them were watching a World Cup football match in a pub... and Cupid did it! I do believe in affinity and fate.
To Dorothy, welcome to our Ong family. To her parents, Mr and Mrs Tan, we are very pleased to have you as our in-laws or 'Shin Jia' in Hainanese. I could have met them when I was a trainee with Merlin Hotel in 1971!
I take this opportunity to wish both Beng and Dot a very happy and long lasting marriage. They have to improve on our present 35 years. Beng chose March 3 for their wedding registration, which was the same date as ours. Having the wedding dinner tonight in Jaya 33 (Oriental Pavilion) therefore has its special significance and I wish to thank Frank Lau for making it possible. He did it his way!
I also wish to take this opportunity to thank our relatives and Beng's friends for their assistance in making his wedding event a great success.
Thank you all for your attention. Please feel welcome, enjoy the dinner and drinks, and have a nice evening!
The problem with trying to make a speech short is the likely omissions of certain names, for example. My original draft mentioned guests from outside KL/Selangor, then added with names. The first omission realized was Ms. Low Hor Fong from Ipoh when she greeted me again on her way out of the restaurant. The other person who I did not mention was Ms. Diane Law, daughter of our MC, Mrs. Ginny Law who happens to be godmother to my three children! Ginny is my wife's sister and Diane is really close to my youngest daughter, yet I did not mention her name when I mentioned Dr. Lau from Australia! This is just to put on record my honest mistake and my sincere apology in case she mentions it later!
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