The speech............

Bismillahirohmanirrohim.

Assalamualaikum warohmatullah hiwabarokatuh dan salam sejahtera. A very good evening to friends and family.

First and foremost, I wish to apologize for my hoase and sexy voice tonite. The preparation for the reception has taken a toll on me, but for the sake of my brother, I am going to read the speech I had prepared earlier. I hope that everyone here tonite will bear with me.

Dato’, Datin, tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, berdiri saya disini malam ini mewakili ahli keluarga saya yang terdiri daripada bonda saya, Datin Nik Zaharah bt. Nik Din, my sisters, Nik Elin Zurina dan Nik Adura Zuliana, my brothers, Nik Ahmad Rozaidi & Nik Azan Shah Reza, untuk mengucapkan setinggi-tinggi penghargaan dan terima kasih kepada semua rakan dan kaum keluarga yang telah sama-sama membantu menjayakan majlis menyambut menantu Sufianiza bt. Adam atau Adnan, isteri kepada adek kami yang tersayang, Nik Adlin Fariz, pada malam ini, 11 Februari 2006.

If our father is still alive today, it would be he who would be standing here tonite giving this speech. But alas, he is not here. May Allah bless his soul. I stand here on behalf of my mother, my sisters and brothers, to give a few words of advice to our beloved newly married brother, Nik Adlin Fariz, or Ayis, as he is fondly known, and his new wife, Sufianiza, as I think our father would have given the same advice too, for I am my father’s daughter.

Our father would have said this. Ayis, marry whoever your heart desires for it is you that is getting married, not I, and it is you who will live with the person for the rest of your life. Choose wisely for she will not only be your wife, but also your partner, a mother to your children, a friend, a lover and most importantly a person who is able to love you with all her heart, for who you are, accepting you for your good and bad, past, present and future and for U to love her back with the same commitment you promised today as you would tomorrow, till death do U part.

Dato’ Fadhillah Kamsah ada berkata bahwa perkahwinan itu umpama sebuah bekas yang kosong. Makin banyak yang diisi, makin banyak yang boleh dikeluarkan. Tahun demi tahun, isilah ia dengan segala perjalanan yang dilalui bersama sebagai suami isteri. Tidak kira samada yang manis atau yang pahit, ia boleh dijadikan pedoman dan pengajaran untuk mengukuhkan lagi perkahwinan yang dibina atas dasar kasih dan sayang kerana kita hanyalah insan biasa yang tidak boleh lari dari membuat kesilapan.

A friend once told me that you can tell the difference between a dating couple and a couple that has been married for far too long. If you look out the window while in a car, if the couple in the car next to you or ahead of you is having a very animated discussion, that is a dating couple or a couple very much in love.

But, if you see the couple in the next car with the woman looking out of the window, and the man either looking up ahead or looking out of the window in the opposite direction, that is a couple has been married for far too long. I hope, Ayis, that you will be the couple in the former car and not the later, even when both of U are already old and grey.

When you are 1st in love, U look into each other’s eyes. After U are married, you need not look into each other’s eyes, but what is more important is to look in the same direction.

Sufia, you are one very lucky woman. Ayis is a person with a golden heart, always giving in to others. I remember a time when he was very young, probably when he was less than 3 years old, if he had already put in sweets into his mouth and that was the last piece, if U asked him for it, he would willingly take it out of his mouth to give it to U, even though it could have been his favourite sweets.

If any of his siblings needs his help, no matter what time of the day it is, he will be there for us. I have asked, not once, but many times, whenever abang man is away outstation on service, to accompany me at nite. All it needed was a phone call, and he would be at my doorstep in less than 30 minutes, even if it is already past midnite because I couldn’t sleep from hearing bumps in the nite.

Now that U are married, Ayis, can I still do that?

A quiet person among his siblings, though I doubt it that he is quiet with his friends, and especially U, Sufia, he is easy to love. So Sufia, love him with all your heart for U might never find another man as loving, as patient and as accomodating as he is. Love all of him but don’t take all of him. Leave some for us, for he still has responsibility to us as a son and brother, for he is our son and brother first before he is your husband.

Sufia, be warned that you have just married into a family who loves to talk. We can go on talking and discussing on almost any subjects until the cows come home.

Want to talk about law, ask kak lin. She’ll tell you anything and everything U need to know and don’t need to know about the law. Want to know more about the construction industry, and I can go all technical with the details. Need to know about the best hotels in town? Chik can tell you the best places to stay, but I am sure she will tell U that Renaissance is still the best of all hotels.

Need to change duit raya for distribution to 10 extra nieces and nephew? Go to abang NikAi, and he’ll do it for u for a small fee! No, just kidding! But want to understand better the economics of the country, abang NikAi will explain to U in lengthy details. And soon, insyaAllah, should U need any medical advice, U can ask our little brother Azan about all there is to know about the little life which we hope will soon be growing inside of U.

So, Sufia, we hope that you are not shy and will quickly fit in and not feel out of place once we get into a lengthy animated family discussion. BTW, should U need a comediane on ur next upcoming birthday party, kak lin just told me that if she wasn’t a lawyer, she would have been a stand up comediane.

Sufia, I hope you like to cook for Ayis is a hearty eater. Serve him anything, and most of the time it gets finished. Ayis enjoys food and I am sure he will enjoy eating food cooked and served by you.

If you find cooking not ur best forte, fear not, for the cooking class at USJ 5 is always open. Come over and we will cook up a storm that will keep our men happy for the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.

To Ayis, our dear son and brother, berbekalkan kasih sayang yang melimpah, bimbinglah Sufia dengan sebaik mungkin untuk menjadikan dia seorang isteri yang solehah. Berilah dia didikan agama yang secukupnya. Jadilah seorang ketua keluarga dan suami yang baik. Saling hormat menghormati kerana perkahwinan itu merupakan sebuah ikatan perkongsian yang memerlukan kedua dua belah pihak saling mengerti antara satu sama lain.

Dari mata jatuh ke hati. Dari hati timbul perasaan cinta. Bagaikan ombak dilautan, rasa cinta juga mengalami pasang surutnya. Cinta yang dahulunya membara, boleh cepat menjadi layu jika tidak sentiasa disirami dengan air kemesraan agar tetap nampak segar dan harum.

Lagikan lidah boleh tergigit, inikan pula suami isteri. Jika mengalami ketegangan atau perselisihan faham, cepatlah bawa berbincang agar yang kusut cepat dapat dileraikan. Gunakanlah segala pengalaman yang lepas sebagai satu pengajaran untuk memperbaiki lagi diri dan mengukuhkan perkahwinan yang baru dibina agar kekal bahagia hingga ke anak cucu.

Sufia, with U marrying Ayis, we hope that we have not lost a brother but have gained a sister in you, and you in turn have not only gained 3 very nice sisters but also 2 equally good brothers. But most importantly, U have gained a mother in Ma, our beloved mother. Come to her should U need any advice, be it in the motherly section, or if U just need a word of encouragement from a mother. Love her like U love ur own mother, though not the same, she will be there for U, like all mothers would, in times of need.

Ayis, congratulations on finding your new true love. May she always greet you at the door after a hard day’s work with a smiling face and a table laden with delicious food cooked from the heart.

To Sufia, we welcome u into our family with open arms. Take good care of our dear son and brother and love him dearly. May your love for each other grow stronger with each passing year, and may you and Ayis be blessed with lots of children.

Akhir kata, kepada kaum keluarga, sanak saudara, sahabat handai dan rakan taulan, majlis ini tidak akan sempurna tanpa kehadiran semua yang datang dari jauh dan dekat untuk memeriahkan lagi majlis yang penuh bermakna ini.

Bermula dari majlis pertunangan pada bulan November yang lepas, diikuti dengan majlis sembahyang hajat dan seterusnya majlis akad nikah pada tanggal 29 Januari 2006, dan akhir sekali majlis menyambut menantu ini, tidak akan dapat dilaksanakan dengan sempurna tanpa kerjasama semua pihak. Setinggi-tinggi penghargaan kami ucapkan. Kecil tapak tangan, nyiru kami tadahkan.

Saya sudahi dengan wabillahitaufik walhidayah, wassalamualaikum warohmatullah hiwabarokatuh dan salam sejahtera.