BEIJING: A Malaysian man has tied the knot with a Muslim Chinese woman after they met on a street in China when he asked her for directions to a launderette.
Ethic Malay Zairy Amir, 38, comes from the state of Selangor in West Malaysia.
He runs a delivery store in Guangzhou, in southern China’s Guangdong province.
He recently shared a video about romance between him and his wife Wang Sufiah, 40, a native of Yunnan province in southwestern China, according to a report by the Malaysia-based Oriental Daily News.
Their relationship, the exact starting date of which is not known, began when Amir was sending items to a launderette, and he asked Wang for directions.
Wang was happy to learn that Amir was also a Muslim because she and her mother are the only people of that faith in her family.
“I was quite lonely while living in a foreign country. I did not have any friends. So I was delighted to hear she said she wanted to be my friend and she is also a Muslim,” Amir was quoted as saying.
He said Wang took the initiative to ask for his contact details. In the following days, she checked if he ate regularly.
“I had expected that our meeting would end just like that. But she kept on calling me every day, telling me to fetch the meals she made for me at the subway station,” said Amir.
He also started visiting Wang’s home and integrated into her everyday life, such as going to the market with her, meeting her friends, distributing Iftar with her and taking her to work on an electric bike.
“She even invited me to host the Tarawih for her and her mother. This made me feel honoured but a bit nervous, since I had never been a leader at such an event,” said Amir.
According to Amir, Wang is a devout Muslim, dedicated to reading the Koran in her spare time. The couple communicate with the help of translation apps, he said.
Not long ago when Wang was sick, her brother asked Amir to visit her and enquired whether he considered marrying her.
The couple got married on December 26.
“My family all supported my decision,” said Amir.
The news has captivated social media in both China and overseas.
“As a Chinese saying goes, ‘I wish you a harmonious union lasting for 100 years’,” one online observer said.
While another netizen said: “The same religion has brought them together.” - South China Morning Post
