Dial A for Aunties

Meddy Chan believes her family is cursed to have all the men die or leave. No matter which country the women live in—China, Indonesia, or the US—the women are all abandoned. Meddy is the only girl of her generation, and though she, too, wants to leave her family when it’s time to choose a college, she ultimately decides to be a filial daughter and stay close to home to support her mother and three aunts.

Meddy and her mother meet her aunts for dim sum. In a mixture of Chinese, Indonesian, and English—Meddy is only fluent in English—they discuss an important upcoming wedding they’ll be working. The Chans run a family wedding business: Big Aunt is the pastry chef; Second Aunt is the hair/makeup professional; Ma is the florist; Fourth Aunt is the wedding singer; and Meddy is the photographer. The wedding is an important one for their business, as both bride and groom come from rich and influential Chinese Indonesian families. Despite friction between the aunts, preparations and the business seem to be going well. Secretly, however, Meddy dreams of breaking away from the family business to start her own independent photography studio.