Wrinklies race death to wed<\/p>\n
KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: Up to 500 elderly couples who have
\nbeen living-in-sin for as long as they care to remember will soon
\nbe married off in a mass wedding in southern Central Timor
\nregency.<\/p>\n
One 85-year-old couple is among those lucky enough to be
\ngetting the late church blessing on Dec. 16 so they can celebrate
\nChristmas as husband and wife for the first time.<\/p>\n
Some of the soon-to-be spouses are \"very old\" and others ill
\nfrom malnutrition, a local official said yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"The mass wedding will put the elderly back on the straight
\nand narrow before Death fetches them,\" provincial agency for
\npopulation chief Wilhelmus Lenggu told Antara.<\/p>\n
The couples from isolated communities did not know official
\nmarriage procedures and had formalized their relationships under
\ncustoms handed down from generation to generation.<\/p>\n
The wedding will follow a recent ceremony for 2,128 younger
\ncouples from the same communities, who were joined in wedlock in
\nChristian churches, to formalize their relationships.<\/p>\n
State Minister of Population Haryono Suyono will act as
\nrelative legally responsible for the wedding for all the elderly
\ncouples. (pan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/wrinklies-race-death-to-wed-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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