XN000022-1978-02-08 — Page 4

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1978

3

-

THE GROWTH AND CHANGES OF MARRIAGE REGISTRY

****

PROBABLY THE MOST SOLEMN OCCASION IN A WEDDING CEREMONY IS THE TAKING OF THE MARRIAGE VOWS. IT MAY BE THE SWEETEST MOMENT IN THE LIFE OF THE BRIDE AND THE GROOM, BUT IT COULD ALSO BE THE SORRIEST MOMENT OF TRUTH FOR SOME.

MR. S.S. TAN, IN HIS MORE THAN 30 YEARS' SERVICE WITH THE REGISTRAR GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT, HAS WITNESSED MANY SUCH SWEET AND SOUR OCCASIONS.

+THERE WAS A CASE IN WHICH A BRIDE BURST INTO TEARS DURING A WEDDING CEREMONY AND REFUSED TO SAY I DO' BECAUSE SHE WOULDN'T PART WITH HER PARENTS. THE MARRIAGE THEREFORE, COULD NOT TAKE PLACE, SAID MR. TAN, THE SENIOR ASSISTANT REGISTRAR OF THE MARRIAGE REGISTRY.

+ IN ANOTHER CASE THE SERVICE WAS CANCELLED WHEN I LEARNED THAT THE GROOM RAN AWAY MINUTES BEFORE THE CEREMONY - THE REASON BEING THAT THE MAN'S WIFE APPEARED AT THE SCENE WITH HIS CHILDREN.+

BUT, MR. TAN ADDED THAT TEARFUL OCCASIONS LIKE THESE WERE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. IN FACT, MOST MARRIAGE CEREMONIES I HAVE CONDUCTED WERE FULL OF CHEERS AND HAPPINESS.+

MR. TAN WHO JOINED THE GOVERNMENT SHORTLY AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR, RECALLED THAT REGISTERED MARRIAGES IN THE EARLY 1950S WERE NOT VERY POPULAR BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT MANDATORY. MOST OF THE CHINESE RESIDENTS PREFERRED CUSTOMARY MARRIAGE.

THERE WAS THEREFORE NO URGENT NEED TO EXPAND THE MARRIAGE REGISTRATION SERVICE AT THAT TIME. IN FACT THE ONLY MARRIAGE REGISTRY THEN WAS IN SUPREME COURT BUILDING. ABOUT TWO TO THREE THOUSAND MARRIAGES WERE REGISTERED EACH YEAR IN THE EARLY 1950S, I.E. LESS THAN TEN WEDDINGS A DAY.

AND IN THOSE DAYS, BOTH THE BRIDE AND THE GROOM WERE REQUIRED TO BE DRESSED FORMALLY FOR THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY.

+ IF THE GROOM HAD AN OPEN NECK SHIRT, WE SUGGESTED THAT HE SHOULD WEAR A TIE,+ MR. TAN SAID.

+SO TO AVOID EMBARRASSMENT, WE KEPT A FEW TIES IN THE REGISTRY JUST IN CASE A GROOM TURNED UP WITHOUT ONE,+ HE ADDED.

THINGS HAVE CHANGED A LOT IN THE PAST TEN YEARS PARTICULARLY AFTER THE ENACTMENT OF THE MARRIAGE REFORM ORDINANCE IN 1970 WHICH ABOLISHED CONCUBINAGE AND MADE REGISTRATION OF A MARR LAGE MANDATORY IN 1971.

+PEOPLE WHO NOW MARRY IN A MARRIAGE REGISTRY MAY DRESS CASUALLY PROVIDED THEIR OUTFITS ARE NEAT AND CLEAN. THE WEARING OF A NECK TIE IS NO LONGER A CONDITION, MR. TAN SAID.

THERE ARE