Match Making Stories

Match making was the order of the day in the 50's and 60's. Very few marriages were self made, if I could use the term.

But there were many cases of match making which were rather dubious. But once the match was made, nothing much could be done about it.

So read on.

A Case of a Young Woman with a Twitching Eye

Young Wong was not very wealthy , not having much rubber land, that was. But he was in favour of marrying at an early age so that he would have a helper besides having a wife. He sent out a match maker to find a wife for him.

As he could not offer much, the match maker found one fairly pretty girl who suited his budget. The family was willing to let her marry a little beneath their family status. Young Wong was delighted.

So the match maker brought Young Wong to the family residence to have a look at the potential candidate.

She was shy they told him. So she appeared with only one half of her body appearing by the door. So Young Wong saw the one half of his future bride.

On the wedding day, Young Wong was shocked to see that his bride had a bad ,twitching eye.

The marriage, however turned out well.

Case 2: The Girl with a Limp

A young man was of marriageable age. His parents were anxious that he should get married. He seemed to be rather pleasant and accomodating.

One family from another village was interested in him as a son-in-law so they accepted his offer.

On the day of the bride-viewing, the young potential bride sat by a table, and waited for the viewing to take place.

The potential groom had a good look at her from a window in a house opposite the girl's house. He was quite happy with what he saw.

The girl was no doubt pretty and seemed to be comfortable with her surroundings. The young man agreed to marry her and at the same time was delighted that he would be awarded with a piece of land from the girl's parents. He could not be happier.

On the wedding day, he found out that his bride had a limp. But it was too late for him to turn around. He went on with the wedding, rather disappointed.

However, the young man, being a good Foochow and sensible to boot, went on to be a loving husband and father of many children. He did well and was blessed with quite a fortune in the end.

Years later, my grandmother saw him at a wedding. He was a very happy man in spite of the trick he was played on.

So probably these two matches were made in heaven. I am really impressed by the stories.