A filepic of participants and their families at the Suyamvaram programme last year.
THEY say marriages are made in heaven but sometimes, a helping hand is needed to make marriages possible here on earth.
With this in mind, Penang Hindu Association (PHA) and Sri Meenakshi Sundaraeswarar Temple management have decided to play matchmaker by jointly organising the Suyamvaram 2.0 programme to create opportunities for Hindu adults to meet for the purpose of getting hitched.
The event, held for the second consecutive year, will be from 8.30am to 3pm on Sept 16 at Sri Meenakshi Sundaraeswarar Temple in Jalan Kebun Bunga.
The programme is open to Malaysian Hindu men and women who are unmarried, divorced (with or without children), widows/widowers (with or without children) and single parents.
Closing date for registration is Aug 31.
PHA president P. Murugiah said, “It is disappointing that the number of Hindus who are unmarried in Malaysia seems to be on the upward trend.
“One possible reason for this is that young adults focus more on their career.
“By the time they reach their 30s or beyond, many realise that life isn’t complete without a spouse but then they find the age factor is a stumbling block to finding a life partner.
“Another reason for not getting married is that some do not have the time and resources to find a life partner,” he said.
Murugiah said that more than 80 people, ranging from 25 to 61, had applied to join the programme.
He said that while most of them hailed from Penang, there were also applicants from other parts of Malaysia including Sabah.
“The temple is also offering a 50% discount on the rental of its wedding hall for applicants who want to tie the knot after this programme.
“Special offers await B40 and physically challenged applicants who are successful,” he added.
Murugiah said photos of the applicants together with their basic profiles would be displayed in the temple hall.
“Only the applicants will be allowed to view the details to select his or her potential partner.
“The display area is not accessible to non-participants.
“Applicants are strictly prohibited from taking photos or notes of the profile,” he said.
He urged applicants to attend the event so they could personally decide whom they wish to interact with.
He added that candidates would be vetted by volunteers, such as the police, to ensure safety and the temple committee would also screen applicants to check if they were really single.
Applicants who are divorced will need to produce legal documents confirming their divorce.
If the meeting does not work out, the applicants can always seek out a different candidate and they can do this multiple times during the programme.
The fee is RM100 but the programme is free for those in the B40 category and those physically challenged.
Participants must bring along their identity card and/or birth certificate, numerology chart, and official paperwork if divorced.
Murugiah also hoped that more eligible males would participate in the programme as female applicants seemed to outnumber males.
For details, call Murugiah (016-444 9246), V. Palanisamy (016-497 5466), Dr Ponni Kannan (017-503 5397) and K. Ganesan (013-421 1193).
