Hady weds the girl his mum picked

For some, this was the wedding of the year and the least expected.

A lavish affair with the happy couple in opulent traditional dress, surrounded by well-wishers.

Yesterday's reception at Horizon Hills Country Club in Johor Baru was the first public appearance for former Singapore Idol Hady Mirza and his wife Ms Nurjannah Nur Wahid since news of their marriage broke two Saturdays ago.

It came as a big surprise when social media sites caught wind that the world's first Asian Idol had been married on March 29, but little was heard from them after.

The couple had only returned from a week-long honeymoon in the Maldives.

Yet it was only six months ago that Hady was introduced by his mother to a girl she had met at the country club.

Ms Nurjannah, 21, was on a work attachment at Horizon Hills Country Club, where she met Hady's mother.

After a brief conversation and having established that Ms Nurjannah was single, Madam Mardiana Ahmad asked if she was keen on meeting her son.

Madam Mardiana, 57, told The New Paper on Sunday at yesterday's reception: "We'd always go there for leisure with the grandchildren and this one time, she served us when we had a meal at the country club's cafeteria.

"She was beautiful and I just thought that I'd introduce Hady to her because he is getting a bit old. At 34 years, how much longer should I look after him?"

It did not take long for Hady and Ms Nurjannah, the oldest of seven children, to decide they were meant for each other - they met only twice before setting their wedding date.

And during the second chaperoned meeting, Hady asked her parents for their daughter's hand in marriage.

According to Madam Mardiana, the sudden matrimony wasn't an arranged marriage.

"If Hady didn't agree to marry her, we wouldn't be here today, but he did," she said.

"I merely introduced the girl to him. He made the decision to tie the knot."

But there was one thing that Ms Nurjannah, a Malaysian from a simple family living in a village in Pontian, had no clue of.

Madam Mardiana said: "She didn't know of his fame and status. She's a very simple girl and never knew anything of Hady until she heard whispers from around her that he led a famed life.

"It's not as if he kept it from her, he just didn't have the time to do so because he had met her only twice."

Even though Hady's mother says she is still getting to know her daughter-in-law, there was one thing that sealed the deal for her.

She said: "She doesn't need to work. No need for a career. Just look after me and, of course, be willing to have children."

Hady has been away from the limelight, having turned his attention last year to FRHM Youth, an organisation he co-founded to promote a Muslim education and way of life among youth.

But Hype Records owner and former Idol judge Ken Lim was not very surprised at Hady's big plunge.

He said at the reception: "Hady is a very private person, but as someone who knows him, I'm not entirely surprised."

Lim, who still has Hady under his record label, managed to share a few words with the groom when he arrived. Hady was pleasantly surprised that his boss had made the journey, to which Lim said that this was one special day that he would not miss.

Also present was the first Singapore Idol, 32-year-old Taufik Batisah, who said: "The highlight was seeing the newly-weds smiling throughout.

"I'm glad that Hady has found someone he wants to spend the rest of his life with."

Now that the former singer-songwriter has officially tied the knot, what's next for the newly-weds?

According to his mother, the couple will be starting a family "as soon as possible".

crobert@sph.com.sg

This article was published on April 6 in The New Paper.

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