Bunga Telur, A Symbol of Fertility
Tokens to the Guests as a Prayer for the Couple
Bunga Telur is the guest favour at Malay weddings, symbolising fertility. Find out how it is prepared and how it has evolved over time.
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings upon him) reminded his followers that procreation is just as important as marriage and encouraged Muslims to have many children, as they are considered blessings from Allah.
Many Muslims do follow this advice, and in many wedding ceremonies, a prayer is always said for the newlyweds to have healthy pious children.
Adding to the spree, rather unique in Malay culture, a guest favour, called bunga telur, is distributed as the wedding ceremony‘s token. Bunga telur is literally translated as “flower egg.”
Representing fertility, the egg of the bunga telur, in form, is in its own prayer for the couple to be blessed with children. Since human life begins with a fertilized egg or ovum and new life in non-mammals hatches from an egg, the symbolism of the egg, appears in more ways than one.
Traditionally, the bunga telur is a plastic flower with a hard-boiled egg attached to it in a net. However, the design of the bunga telur has evolved over the years. Eggs have been packed in mengkuang (screpine leaves) boxes; fancily decorated egg cups; wrapped up in soap cases; and even cocooned in jewellery or tea sachet boxes.
As modern times take over however, eggs are not always given out to guests at Malay weddings.
Apparently boiling the egg for a bunga telur requires some diligence, as compared to throwing an egg into boiling water and overturning and egg timer. Batches of eggs are packed into plastic bags that are dipped into a huge cauldron over a certain amount of heat. No egg timer would satisfy the boiling duration for these eggs. It takes up to four hours to boil the batches for the perfect bunga telur. Some hosts have thrown in Chinese spices to add flavour to the egg – and probably to provide a positive health inkling over the health uncertainties of the excessive consumption of eggs.
Nowadays, though the term “bunga telur” is kept well at heart, guest favours include a plastic flower with chocolates attached to it in a net; cookies packed in mengkuang boxes; sweets stuffed into fancily decorated egg cups; soap wrapped up in soap cases; jewellery purses with potpourri; and tea sachet boxes filled up with actual tea sachets.
The bunga telur market is an evolving, ever innovative competition arena for those who have the handicraft gift. This demand has spawned creativity amongst wedding planners to customize the perfect bunga telur as the perfect guest favour for the perfect wedding.
These wedding planners cater for the upper market, urban host or hostess whose idea of boiling eggs by batches in a cauldron does not fit in with their hectic schedules nor their kitchens.
Nevertheless, whether the wedding token is still an egg in its own right or a hand toweled embalmed in frilly ribbons and flowers, the guest favour in a Malay wedding will always be known as bunga telur – symbolizing fertility and the birth of many children to come.
