Destination 2 : Proposing

 

Proposing or maddutta (in Bugis), is a process where the man asking the woman hand in marriage. Once the man's family agrees to make the woman his wife, then they will meet the woman to propose to the woman with a ring as a sign of a promise already tied between the two parties. In this process, the representative from the groom will (usually his mom) give the ring to the bride. After that they will continue to discuss about the dowry. In tradition the bride's parties will usually ask for RM4000 to RM7000 as the dowry's money. Other than that, they also ask for neccesities like basic food. At Sulawesi Selatan, beside from money the most important thing that the groom need to prepare is a piece of land (sompa)as a gift from the groom's parents. But the ultimate objective to this action is to show how prepared the groom to care and facilitating the bride. Another kind of sompa is items such as rice, sugar, coconut, turmeric, needles and thread wrapped in white clothes. 

Both parties will then choose a date for the next meeting/discussion session to send expenses to the bride for the wedding. Usually, it will take place 3 to 4 months from the proposing day. That is why the groom's sides need to prepare everything even before the proposing to ease the process.