Couples wed in mass ceremony

Couples wed in mass ceremony

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

Young couple Abdul Manaf, 23, and Elia Tanjung, 19, were happy
that they could finally tie the knot in a ceremony in Medan they
shared with dozens of other couples, held to mark the country's
60th year since its proclamation of independence.

The couple -- the youngest of among 63 couples from the city's
21 districts who got married in the mass wedding ceremony on
Thursday -- were well-prepared for the event held at outside the
office of Medan city's Religious Affairs Office.

Abdul said he was happy that his dream to marry his wife has
come true. "We've been going out for eight years now. Actually we
planned to get married five years ago but as we didn't have the
money, it just did not happen, until now," Abdul told The Jakarta
Post after the ceremony.

The junior high school graduate had in fact once tried to
arrange for the wedding, but high costs put a stop to his
efforts.

"Fortunately, there was mass wedding planned to be held ahead
of the country's independence day celebration. I was once told I
had to have Rp 250,000 (US$27) to get married; where would I get
such amount of money?" asked Abdul, who apart from getting his
marriage certificate also received a gift and Rp 50,000 cash.

Secretary of the mass wedding organizing committee,
Burhanuddin Damanik, said the event was specially organized for
poor families to mark the country's independence day
celebrations.

"We want them to be happy for marrying the ones they love,"
said Burhanuddin, adding that the event was the fifth such event
held by the Religious Affairs Office.

The oldest couple who tied the knot on Thursday was Tumiran,
41, and Karsini, 35. The couple were married in 1985 but lost
their wedding certificate, which they need to arrange many other
documents.

"We have to get married again to get the certificate. But
frankly speaking, we feel happy getting married again and getting
the certificate at the same time," said the father of three who
works as a taxi driver.

"Until now our three children don't have birth certificates
because we don't have our marriage certificate. But now,
hopefully, we can take care their birth certificates."