Grand wedding for Mahsuri’s descendant

IT was a cheerful wedding reception for Wan Aishah Wan Nawawi, the seventh-generation descendant of the legendary Mahsuri, in her Phuket hometown on Saturday, Mingguan Malaysia reports.

Dressed in a modern white kebaya laced with Pink Swarovski crystals and a matching tudung, 25-year-old Wan Aishah was resplendent besides her husband, Alee Tongyun, 27, who donned an all-white suit.

About 700 guests attended the reception and were served traditional Malay Phuket cuisine.

There was the usual procession of the bride, complete with bunga manggar but without the beating of the kompang. The kompang was replaced with traditional music by Kumpulan Muzik Seni Kota Mahsuri of Langkawi.

The musical troupe was specially brought in to signify the link between Wan Aishah and the history of Langkawi.

Wan Aishah, who many claim inherited her ancestor’s (Mahsuri) stunning beauty, came into the limelight in May 2000 when she and seven other Mahsuri descendants from the fifth and sixth generation set foot on Langkawi, which supposedly mark the lifting of a curse.

According to legend, Mahsuri was the daughter of a Thai couple from Phuket who moved to the island in search for a better living.

> Metro Ahad carried a story on the arrest of members of a Malay band for consuming beer in an entertainment joint in Subang Jaya on Friday.

The arrest was made by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department who had been observing the band following a tip-off.

The department’s strategic planning division assistant director, Shahrom Maarop, said the musicians, including a woman, aged between 25 and 35, had been performing at the outlet for about a month.

The paper quoted a member of the six-piece band as saying that it was normal for them to “drink” to get the energy when performing.

● Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this > sign, it denotes a separate news item.