dear madam
The final ingredient is saliva, so the betel wad has to be chewed on in order to get the required effect. The chewing creates large amounts of red saliva, which the chewer has to spit out, and gums and lips turn bright red.
Betel chewing originated in Southeast Asia, but today it is practised from East Africa to the Pacific islands and each culture has its own variations of the ingredients of the betel chew and its use.
In Singapore and Malaysia, betel chewing was an important part of ceremonies in Peranakan culture. Peranakan means “local-born” and the Peranakan are the descendants of early Chinese settlers to South East Asia, many of whom marriaged local women. Read More "Who are the Babas" (The Peranakan Association). It was only the older women (called Bibiks) who indulged in betel chewing on a day-to-day basis.
An example of ceremonial use of betel chewing in Peranakan culture is for the wedding ceremonies, where betel chew is offered at several stages of the ceremony. One example of use of the betel nut in the wedding ceremony is when the family and friends are invited to the wedding. The betel nut is used to invite the female family members. Female guests are given a small package of small pieces of sireh with some pieces of betel nut, which are placed in a silver bowl and wrapped in a square silk handkerchief. This tradition is called hantar sireh or presenting betel.
kirti
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