Couples opt for midnight wedding

TANGERANG: A superstition that says people who get married at midnight will have good luck in life has inspired many young couples in the Pondok Aren district of Tangerang to tie the knot in the dead of night.

The Pondok Aren chief of Islamic religious affairs office, Mursyahid, said on Wednesday that his office marries about 120 couples every month between 23:50 p.m. and 2:00 a.m.

"I've very often married couples from just before midnight until two in the morning, because they believe that getting married at that time will bring them good luck in life," he told Antara.

He said that couples usually wanted to get married in the morning or between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.

He said that he could not refuse any requests to marry couples during the wee hours of the morning. "As a civil servant I am dedicated to the public's interest. I have to serve them well regardless of the time they ask to be wedded," he said. --JP