Today is not only Christmas Day but also my 27th wedding anniversary. How time flies! I can still remember my wedding held in Kuching. And the wedding photos we took at Monica Salon in Kenyalang Park now looked really “outdated” compared to the stylish wedding photos we see today.

My 27th Wedding Anniversary

Wedding anniversaries are the remembrance of the most special day in a person�s life when he or she agreed to share his or her life with that special someone. When two persons exchange marriage vows it is a solemn and sacred rite which binds these two persons in holy matrimony for the rest of their lives. Sadly in our modern society these very same vows are not treated with the respect that they deserve. Nowadays a lot of marriages last only for a short period of time. This sorry state of affairs threatens the very sanctity of marriage institution.� Anyway for those few couples who make it through their first year of marriage they have every right to celebrate their wedding anniversary.�In fact every year of a wedding anniversary should be celebrated in a special way.

Candlelit dinners, romantic holidays, gifts and bouquets of flowers are all commonly associated with wedding anniversaries. A carefully planned and executed anniversary will no doubt show your spouse how much you still love him or her

As the old saying goes it�s the thought that counts. The most important thing is to remember the wedding anniversary date itself. Woe betides any spouse who forgets this day as there will be hell to pay later.

Here are the corresponding symbols and gifts for each Anniversary:

1st Wedding Anniversary — paper

2nd Wedding Anniversary — cotton

3rd Wedding Anniversary — leather

4th Wedding Anniversary — flowers or fruits

5th Wedding Anniversary — wood

6th Wedding Anniversary — sugar or candy

7th Wedding Anniversary — wool

8th Wedding Anniversary — bronze

9th Wedding Anniversary — pottery

10th Wedding Anniversary — tin

11th Wedding Anniversary — steel

12th Wedding Anniversary — linen or silk

13th Wedding Anniversary — lace

14th Wedding Anniversary — agate

15th Wedding Anniversary — crystal

16th Wedding Anniversary — silver hollowware, peridot

17th Wedding Anniversary — furniture, watches

18th Wedding Anniversary — porcelain, cat�s-eye

19th Wedding Anniversary — bronze, aquamarine

20th Wedding Anniversary — china

21st Wedding Anniversary — brass or nickel

22nd Wedding Anniversary — copper

23rd Wedding Anniversary — silver plate

24th Wedding Anniversary — musical instruments

25th Wedding Anniversary — silver

26th Wedding Anniversary — original pictures

27th Wedding Anniversary — sculpture

28th Wedding Anniversary — orchids

29th Wedding Anniversary — new furniture

30th Wedding Anniversary — pearl

31st Wedding Anniversary — timepieces

32nd Wedding Anniversary –conveyances (including automobiles)

33rd Wedding Anniversary — amethyst

34th Wedding Anniversary — opal

35th Wedding Anniversary — coral or jade

36th Wedding Anniversary — bone china

37th Wedding Anniversary — alabaster

38th Wedding Anniversary — beryl and tourmaline

39th Wedding Anniversary — lace

40th Wedding Anniversary — ruby or garnet

41st Wedding Anniversary — land

42nd Wedding Anniversary — improved real estate

43rd Wedding Anniversary — trips

44th Wedding Anniversary — groceries

45th Wedding Anniversary — sapphire

50th Wedding Anniversary — gold

55th Wedding Anniversary — emerald or turquoise

60th Wedding Anniversary — diamond

65th Wedding Anniversary — diamond

70th Wedding Anniversary — platinum

75th Wedding Anniversary — diamond

To my wife Jennie, I just wish to say this:

After 27 years in this sacred institution of marriage, I can safely say: There is no one with whom I would rather be institutionalized.

Loving Couple Sculpture

Hark! The merry chimes are pealing,

Soft and glad the music swells,

Gaily in the night wind stealing,

Sweetly sound the wedding bells.

(Eliza Cook)

My wife and I attended the holy matrimony between my wife’s cousin Josephine Ngieng and Stephen Tan held at 11 a.m. this morning at the St Joseph Cathedral in Miri. How time flies! We used to carry Josephine when she was still a baby…….alamak! This means that we are really getting old, haha!

Stephen and Josephine exchanging marriage vows

Stephen kissing his bride

The holy matrimony was conducted by a personal friend Father Gabriel Chiong.� We got to know Father Gabriel about 20 years ago when he was still a music teacher. He was the piano teacher for my son Clarence for a couple of months and even gave Clarence a violin as a birthday present. My son used to call him Uncle Ding Dong, lol! Gabriel is a person whom I have a lot of respect for as he walks the talk and has such a gentle and kind temperament.

Stephen & Josephine walking down the aisle after the holy matrimony service

To the newly-weds, we extend our heartiest congratulations. And may the following quotes be an inspiration to you both as you start out on your journey as a married couple:

To keep your marriage brimming, with love in the wedding cup, whenever you’re wrong, admit it; whenever you’re right, shut up (Ogden Nash).

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person (Germaine Greer).

Two souls with but a single thought, two hearts that beat as one (Friedrich Halm).

There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage (Martin Luther).

The sum which two married people owe to one another defies calculation. It is an infinite debt, which can only be discharged through all eternity (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe).

There are three things that last: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love ( I Corinthians 13:13).