Good evening.<\/p>
Thank you for joining J and I on our very special day. Tonight, we\u2019re very happy and honoured to have you all with us. Seeing you all here together, and having you see us in very uncomfortable clothing, it means the world to us both.<\/p>
Make no mistake, ladies and gentlemen. You\u2019re about to witness a momentous occasion. For the first time ever, J\u2019s letting me speak first. And if you don\u2019t laugh at my jokes, it\u2019ll probably be the last time too.<\/p>
First off, we\u2019d like to thank everyone who\u2019s helped made this wedding possible. To my groomsmen G and LK, thank you for letting me look more handsome than the both of you. That must\u2019ve been hard. It\u2019s been a long, hard day, and I wouldn\u2019t have survived it without you. Especially you G, thank you for braving the flu. Please take an MC tomorrow. It\u2019s the decent Singaporean thing to do.<\/p>
To all the lovely bridesmaids, Mei, Nik, Ast and Jo, thank you for getting up so early to be by J\u2019s side. And for attempting to poison us with unnameable food, then robbing me of my ang pows. You\u2019ve made our most important morning together an unforgettable one. For that, I\u2019m eternally grateful.<\/p>
To my brother Vince, for driving us around the whole day, and not crashing Pa\u2019s car in the process. And also for helping us put together our wedding videos. I don\u2019t say this often enough, but I\u2019m immensely proud to have you as my brother. I missed the times when I could order you around. This wedding gave me a reason to do that all over again. So thank you for being such a good sport.<\/p>
To my present and former colleagues from D** Singapore. My folks still have no clue what exactly it is I do for a living. They see me go to work in t-shirt and jeans, convinced I don\u2019t have a proper job. Thank you for making my advertising life anything but humdrum.<\/p>
To my dad\u2019s colleagues, thank you all for joining my father on what I hope is the happiest day of his life. Some of you have flown in just for this, and we are extremely honoured by that. My father often speaks of you like you were family, and many of you have been exactly that. You\u2019ve practically seen me and my brother grow up, and I cannot thank you enough for looking out for my dad through all these years.<\/p>
To my friends from poly and uni, thank you all for coming. We\u2019ve shared some wonderful times in school, and you\u2019ve seen me in some ridiculous haircuts. I look forward to seeing you in one of yours when you get married.<\/p>
To two of my oldest living friends: Ding, whom I\u2019ve known since we were nine or 10. And JR, whom I met on the school bus when I was six and a half. I hope we\u2019ll still be playing Nintendo together when we\u2019re all 80 and senile.<\/p>
To my Pa, for helping us out so much in this wedding. We wouldn\u2019t be standing here without you. Or your wallet. I haven\u2019t been the easiest of sons to bring up. I’ve been stubborn, difficult, and downright strange at times. In other words, I\u2019ve been just like you.<\/p>
Thank you for welcoming J like the daughter you\u2019ve never had. Because she\u2019s made me realise you\u2019re the best father a man can ever have.<\/p>
(What follows is a tribute to my mum and J\u2019s parents in Mandarin.)<\/p>
Surprise, surprise, I\u2019m bilingual. Barely anyways.<\/p>
To my new sister-in-law, Mei, you\u2019re the coolest sister anyone can have. Because you\u2019ve made me cooler than I really am when I tell people, \u201cI know somebody who worked on the Clone Wars series.\u201d I only hope I can be half as cool a brother to you.<\/p>
Last but not least, I\u2019d like to thank my wife, J. First, for saying yes to me. Then for planning the bulk of this wedding. But mostly, I thank you for not killing me in the process of the planning. Heaven knows I will only get more annoying from here on. And I don\u2019t envy you.<\/p>
But know this: I will hold, protect, love and take the first, and every other bullet for you, always. Just like how I\u2019m taking this speech, and the awkward silence that will soon follow.<\/p>
Thank you all for listening. I hope you\u2019ll enjoy the rest of your evening.<\/p>