KUCHING: A Christian girl’s wedding photographs with her six Muslims bridesmaids went viral in social media recently.
The Christian couple had their wedding at one of the churches here and the girl’s bridesmaids were mostly from Peninsular Malaysia.
It is indeed one of a kind and definitely portrayed the true meaning of unity in Sarawak.
Many netizens praised the couple’s wedding ceremony after photographer Ariffin Husaini shared the couple’s beautiful pictures on his Facebook page, especially that of the girl and her Muslim bridesmaids which caught the attention of many.
The newly-wed, Sylvester Voon and Esther Joseph Toha, had known each other for three years and finally decided to tie the knot on Dec 29.
Voon, 26, is a medical assistant at Petra Jaya Health Clinic while Esther, 23, of Iban and Bidayuh parentage has just completed her Bachelor of Science in Information Systems course at UiTM Puncak Perdana and is currently doing her internship as an Information Technology administrator.
The two met for the first time when Voon was assisting in Esther’s medical checkup at the clinic.
It wasn’t hard for the lovebirds to get in touch after their first meeting as Esther’s brother-in-law was Voon’s colleague.
Voon soon got a little help from Esther’s brother-in-law to get the girl of his dream.
Speaking to New Sarawak Tribune Voon said it was common to see Muslims attending church weddings here.
“I personally didn’t expect our wedding to get much attention as our true intention was to share our happy moments and celebrate our wedding,” Voon said.
Voon the youngest son in his family said his only eldest sister is a Muslim convert which showed that it does not matter what religion a person professes. What is important is to have love, respect and understanding for each other.
Meanwhile, Esther said that all her bridesmaids were her college-mates from Peninsular Malaysia.
“They are my best friends who have been with me through my ups and downs,” she said.
She added that their racial and religious backgrounds were not problems for her to take them to be her bridesmaids. She was more than happy to share her happiness with them.
“I want to thank the photographer for his beautiful pictures. He was the one who posted our photographs before they got viral after that,” she said.
The couple is going to save first to start their own family and will only then plan for a honeymoon.
The photographer Ariffin said he felt blessed for being able to photograph the couple and the experience was a very rare occasion for him.
“Although in Sarawak it is quite common to see Muslims attending church weddings, never in my working experience as a wedding photographer have I witnessed all the bridesmaids to be Malays and Muslims. This was the most unique wedding I have ever seen,” said Ariffin who has been a photographer for seven years.
He added that although they were of different races and religions that did not the stop them from celebrating their friend’s happiest moments.
“There is nothing sweeter than seeing friends from different backgrounds accepting and respecting each other’s culture,” he pointed out.
Ariffin from Kuching also hoped to see more multicultural weddings where people of different races and religions can come together on a very special day to celebrate their beloved friends or family’s big day.
“The couple is such a lovely husband and wife and I wish them all the happiness together,” he said.
On Dec 22, photographs of an Indian groom with his Malay groomsmen in Kluang also went viral on social media.
