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Significance Aspects of Wedding Ring Designs
Among The Malay Couples In the Malaysian
Jewellery Industry
N.B. Hakim¹, H.Z. Hashim², and R. Anwar³
Department of Contemporary Metal Design, Faculty of Art & Design
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor, MALAYSIA
qis.hakim@yahoo.com¹, hemazulaika23@gmail.com², rusmadiah@ieee.org³
Abstract— the significance of wedding rings is strongly
influenced by the culture of the people. In the Malaysian
culture, rings are perceived as a gift from the groom to the
bride and vice versa unlike wedding rings in the western
culture which are perceived as a symbol of one’s marital
status. Thus, the design of a wedding ring or a pair of them
differs in accordance to these perceptions. Malaysia, being a
country that once upon a time was colonised by the western
powers has moulded a local culture with a lot of
assimilations from the colonization. Aside from that, the
immigrants from India and China which made their way
into the country have also influenced the culture of the
Malays. These assimilations include the wedding cultures of
the Malays. The openness for assimilations is however
limited by the margin of good and bad. This publication
seeks to determine the significance of wedding rings within
the Malay culture currently which may have been
assimilated with other cultures, specifically the westerns. The
significance will strongly affect the designs of wedding rings
that will be in demand. This will help in constructing
prediction pattern for the jewellery designers in designing
and marketing to enhance the local jewellery industry. The
method of research will be descriptive research and what to
observe is the current Malay culture, the wedding culture
and also the perception of the society towards the
significance of wedding rings. For this, the researcher will
conduct a survey to gather information from the samples of
target population.
Keywords— wedding rings, significance, Malay culture,
assimilations
I. WEDDING RING DESIGNS
In Malaysia, wedding rings are available in various designs
ranging from the traditional look to the contemporary ideas.
The idea of wedding rings in the western culture is known as to
be in pair, but not in the Malay culture, where wedding rings
do not come in pair, the design for both bride and groom rings
does not match, and for some, the ring is only given by the
groom to the bride and not vice versa. This happens because in
the western culture, the idea of wedding rings is not just mere
wedding gifts. They are a sign of one’s marital status. In the
Malays culture, it is more common as a gift rather than a sign
of one’s marital status. A filled ring finger does not necessarily
mean married, and the common idea of a wedding band does
not exist in the Malay culture. Being in a multiracial country,
the Malays are exposed to many cultures and thus, the culture
of wedding rings exchange ceremony might be influenced by
other cultures.
The design in this context refers to the pattern or the
physical look of a product, specifically a metal product.
Scoping down to jewellery, there is a lot common designs,
differed by culture and trends. For example, the norm of
wedding rings for the Malays is usually yellow gold pattern-
forged rings with floral or geometric motifs (Fig. 1). But for the
Chinese, they would prefer white gold or yellow gold, but with
plain band (Fig. 2) design. The development in jewellery
industry paved the way for the more contemporary design and
thus giving a wide choice for consumers to be creative with
jewellery wearing, specifically for wedding ceremonies which
is strongly influenced by culture. The metal products in
Malaysia have expanded and developed, and so have the
wedding ring designs.
Fig. 1 yellow gold pattern-forged ring
Fig. 2: yellow gold plain band ring
A. Wedding Trends in Current Generations
The design of wedding rings in the Malaysian market is a
current concern because the trend will change when the new
generation changes. This is closely related to the development
of culture. Wedding rings are an object of culture, and thus the
changes in its design will set a new direction. This is going to
continue in the future and this study will hypothetically
determine the direction of how wedding ring designs will be.
In regards with the designs of wedding rings, it affects the
young generation of the Malays aged 20 to 30. This is because
at that range of age is when people would most likely get
married. Their choices of designs will determine the
significance of wedding rings. Their trends will be a setter for
the next generation and will in a long run create a neo Malay
culture. As the majority of consumer in wedding rings, they
have an important role to define the significance of wedding
ring designs in the Malaysian market.
This study will substantiate the Malay wedding tradition
that is currently upheld by in the society. The changes of
wedding cultures are beginning to arise and the context of
wedding ring designs is an important element in the changes.
The existing knowledge of the Malay wedding culture will be
revised with the evidence of new cultures in the current
generation.
The variables that will be measured are the age of the
population, which in this case is 20 to 30 years old, the
conservative Malay wedding tradition and the influences from
other cultures of wedding tradition assimilated in our society,
the traditional designs of wedding rings and the current designs
of wedding rings. The relationship of current wedding culture
in the Malay society with the current trends of wedding ring
designs is to be examined.
II. GENERALIZATION OF MALAY WEDDING CULTURES
In Malaysia, there are several classes of jewelleries which
are related with marriage culture, and are different in each
racial society; Malay, Chinese, Indians, etc. It is also
influenced by the integration of different religion; Islam,
Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and etc. This is because a
marriage ceremony is a significant event not only in the
cultural values, but also dominantly guided by the preaching of
one’s religion. For example, for the Christians, both the bride
and groom will exchange rings in the church after their oath.
For the Indians, they require a piece of necklace for the bride as
a symbol of marriage, traditionally.
Commonly in the Muslim Malay culture, the three main
functions of rings in the context of wedding ceremony (Fig.3)
are ‘Merisik’, engagement, and ‘Akad’. ‘Merisik’ is an
initiation step of the groom’s family to ask for a girl’s hand.
The usual ring for this event is a pattern-forged (‘belah rotan’)
gold ring. Whilst for the engagement, there’s no exact law or
trend for the ring designs. It depends on how much the groom-
to-be would want to spend on it. Both of these two rings are
only given to the bride and no exchange required.
The final one is the main wedding ring which is for the
‘Akad’. An ‘Akad’ is the ceremony of marriage itself, handing
over the bride as a wife to be the groom’s responsibility. Some
couples choose to exchange rings, but of no specific matching
band design. The ring given to the bride is actually as a gift.
Some don’t even give rings but a bracelet or a necklace. But in
the current trend, the matching set wedding ring designs have
set its place in the Malaysian market and seem to get positive
responds.
Fig. 3: Processes of wedding ceremony
The culture of ring exchange is seen as a symbol of a
promise by both the bride and groom to spend their lives with
each other for eternity. The wedding ring is a sign of one’s
marital status, to show the society that this particular person is
no longer available. This idea which originated from the west
is not a negative culture, and in fact with a logical sentimental
purpose. There is no harm for the Malays to adapt this idea,
and the advertising and media agent have been a great
influence to instil that idea into our society.
This research is conducted to determine the significance of
wedding rings in Malaysia from the perspective of the Malay
society. The study will determine the consumer demand of
wedding rings and the current demand seemed to have evolved.
With the vast exposure to many other cultures of the world, it
changes the perception and importance of wedding rings in the
Malay marriage ceremony. This will also affect the
significance of wedding ring designs that should be available
for the current market.
A. Wedding Rings to Denote Status
In the United States, engagement and wedding rings are
used to denote status, with the engagement ring seen as a
promise of marriage (Fig. 4) and a wedding ring worn to
indicate a formal (and usually legal) alliance with another
person [1] (Fig.5). This is a famous western culture that has
been adapted in most western society.
Fig. 4: solitaire ring
Fig. 5: Wedding bands
Based on this finding, we can see that wedding rings are not
just a mere gift from the groom to the bride and vice versa, it is
a symbol of eternity and commitment. The symbolism is
understood by the common perception of the society when if a
woman wears a (usually solitaire) ring on her left hand ring
finger, than it’s an engagement ring, and if a gold band is worn,
then it means she’s married. This is a culture which began in
the western society, but a tradition of great value for any other
societies to adapt to. Some women prefer to wear both
engagement and wedding ring together (Fig. 6). This
substantiates the credibility of the rings to be a universally
understood denote of one’s marital status.
Fig. 6: Engagement ring and wedding ring worn together
B. Wedding Rings as Communication Object
Object communication extends beyond clothing to other
bodily adornments like the wedding rings or bind to indicate
marital status [2]. In this paper, object communications are
defined as objects that were worn or used by communicators
and served as something that were able to tell receivers about
that particular person. Attire is said to be the most common
form of communication object as an assessment of people’s
personality traits.
Having three stages discussed earlier; ‘merisik’,
engagement, and ‘akad’, the significance of a ring is dispersed
into these three purposes. Because of the two rings prior to the
‘akad’, some couples choose to get a bracelet or a necklace
instead for that main ceremony. In this context, the ring or
bracelet or necklace is considered as a part of the dowry or gift
from the groom to the bride. So this defeats the purpose of the
object as a communication object because with this culture, a
piece of jewellery can be anything, worn for any purposes.
C. Three Stages of Marital Status
There are three stages in the evolution of the human marital
status as written by the institutional writes; (1) wife capture, (2)
purchase, and (3) mutual assent [3]. The family of the suitor
will send to the family of the chosen one a ring of gold, silver,
or copper according to its circumstances, an unmistakable sign
that the family begs the hand of the woman. This is a method
of purchase marriage epoch, and then the father of the bride
will decide the compensation and the condition of the wedding
as the essential preliminaries of the purchase marriage
(Lombingier, 1910).
The existence of ring giving culture in the Malay marriage
tradition is proven by these findings. It is stated that the ring
giving is an unmistakable sign that the family is asking for the
girl’s hand in marriage. Regardless of how the design of the
ring, or the material; gold, silver, or copper, it works as an
unmistakable sign because only the family and the woman is
the important party to understand. This is also in the context of
the ring as a symbol (of engagement), but the symbol is only
given from the man’s family to the girl’s family. This method
has emerged as a Malay cultural tradition in marriage, and the
design and material of a ring evolved in accordance to request
by the woman’s party. The symbolism is still at stake, but only
important to be understood by the associated parties. In
comparison with the western culture, the symbolism of
wedding rings is to be understood by everyone in the society.
D. Significance of Wedding Rings as a Symbol of Status
If we consider how the Malay society, by nature they love
to adapt symbolism to their lives, for example; a ‘keris’ as a
symbol of power and strength. Thus, they are more prone to
adapt the significance of wedding rings as a sign of one’s
marital status. This affect the design of wedding rings in the
current market to make it a symbol of marriage, universally
understood.
To imply that a ring is a wedding ring, and as a portrayal of
one’s marital status, the ring has to be in specific design or
worn in a specific way. For example like in the western culture,
a pair of wedding rings is designed as a plain gold band worn
on the ring finger on the left hand.
Wedding rings are to be perceived as an object that speaks
for itself. Meaning, without having to declare, a person may
portray the ring as his/ her marital statement.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to acknowledge the generous participation
of the interaction designers in the research. This study was
conducted in Form Giving Design Research Lab established by
Research Management Institute, Universiti Teknologi MARA
(UiTM). Fully appreciation to UiTM for the financial support
under Research Excellent Fund Scheme.
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