KUALA LUMPUR: An 80-year-old vintage car brought plenty of aplomb to the traditional sikh wedding of a couple.
The ribbon-decorated Austin 8, belonging to Stanley Yeong, 66, equally attracted attention when regal-looking Major Manvikram Singh Gill and the fabulously attired Manpreet Kaur arrived in it to celebrate their wedding at the Gurdwara Sahib Pulapol at the Police Training Centre in Jalan Semarak.
The car was used to symbolically ferry the couple from the main entrance of the police training centre, to the Sikh temple.
Also adding flavour to the event were the presence of a multi-racial blend of local and foreign guests, who donned Punjabi attire, the traditional men's turban and women's veil.
Among them were the country's first local Royal Malaysian Navy chief Rear-Admiral (Rtd) Tan Sri K. Thanabalasingam, former Army Division One commander Major-General (Rtd) Datuk Toh Choon Siang and wife Datin Shirley Toh, Army Western Field Command chief-of-staff Brig-Gen Datuk Johnny Lim Eng Seng, Royal Thai Air Force air attache Group Captain Alongkot Tamprasert, Australian assistant defence adviser Cdr Michael Doncaster and wife Sandy Doncaster, Army Training and Doctrine command headquarters chief-of-staff Col Jagjit Singh and wife Kiran Kaur, and Brazilian 'Malaysia My Second Home' resident Petra de Meneses Campozana.
Manvikram, 31, son of Baldev Singh, and Jesbir Kaur, is a Royal Medical and Dental Corps pharmacist at the Tuanku Mizan Armed Forces Hospital in Wangsa Maju, while Manpreet, daughter to Lt Col (Rtd) Gurmit Singh and Ranjit Kaur, is an instructional designer with TDCX at Menara Bank Rakyat in Brickfields.
Yeong told the New Straits Times that his friend Gurmit had approached him for the use of the Austin 8 as a wedding ceremonial car for the occasion.
"I had no qualms in offering him my car complimentary for a good cause, especially as we are cordial friends who both share a passion for vintage cars.
"It was memorable to attend the wedding ceremony and meet so many new friends," said Leong, who also owns eight vintage Rolls-Royce and Jaguar vehicles.
On the Austin 8, Leong said he had bought it for RM17,000 from a local in Klang 15 years ago.
"I spent another RM20,000 to refurbish the car with spares and parts so that is continues to be roadworthy.
"Till today, there are no issues maintaining the car with ample spare parts available," said Leong, who lives in Taman Andalas, Klang.
He added that the Austin 8, which was powered by a 800cc four-cyclinder engine, was initially brought into Malaysia in 1940 from Britain.
"You will notice that the car registration is 'PK 6274'. The alphabets represent Perak in the early days before the state later on began using 'A' for its vehicle registration," said Leong.
He will be among the 30-strong vintage and classic car owners taking part at the National Day parade at Dataran Merdeka on Aug 31.
