Merisik
The Malay first visit in which the groom's family quietly asks if the girl is free to marry.
Also: risik, Malay first inquiry
Merisik is the first step of a traditional Malay match. Representatives of the boy's family visit the girl's family, often in a sociable way, and enquire discreetly whether she is unmarried and unpromised, and whether the family is open to a proposal. If the answer is warm, a formal engagement, meminang, follows, with a date for the wedding and the amount of hantaran agreed. The word is Malay, used in Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore, and in Indonesia a similar step is called lamaran.
Region: Southeast Asia