MALAYSIA - You've heard of marriage proposals via billboards. And those who like it "Gangnam Style". In the United States, a man even hacked into his girlfriend's favourite game to pop the question.

With so many different marriage proposals cropping up every day, everywhere, can the word "unique" still be used to distinguish one from the other?

Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the fine line between distinction and monotony in a marriage proposal is really between the two persons in question.

But as the following four couples have shown, there is nothing like aiming for the stars to show your other half how much she means to you.

On cloud nine

When Euric Tham wanted to propose to his girlfriend of five years, he turned the event into a once-in-a-lifetime experience for both of them - the system analyst popped the question to sales support executive Wendy Loo over 300m above ground in a four-seater aircraft.

"I came across this online site about a pilot named Reuben Lim whom you could hire to fly you around KL on a small plane for RM600. Wendy never suspected anything - I told her that a friend of mine had given us free tickets to go on a ride," Tham, 28, recalls.

It didn't matter that Loo, 28, actually harboured a mild fear of heights; she readily went along and placidly took in the breathtaking scenery spread out before her. That is, up until she glimpsed a huge banner laid out on a field far down below that had the words: "Wendy, marry me?"

"I had requested for the pilot to fly to the field next to where her house was. I had a 4.9m x 29m banner made and all our friends and family were waiting for us there. Everyone started waving when they saw the plane but Wendy still didn't know what was going on. She thought that the message was meant for another Wendy!" says Tham.

As it were at first glance, Wendy wasn't even aware that she was looking down at her own house.

"It was really early in the morning so I was quite 'blur'. I was shocked when I saw the banner and at first, I didn't know how to react. Only a few months back I had jokingly said to Euric that he had never once flown to my house. And when he told me that all our friends and family had also gathered there for this special occasion, I couldn't stop shedding tears. I was really touched," she says.

"Before that happened, we did talk about marriage and I knew that he was going to propose but I didn't think that it would be so out-of-the-blue - I was expecting it to happen over a quiet dinner with just a few of our friends."

The couple, who got married earlier this year, is now expecting their first child.

"What Euric did was something that spoke to me and me alone. It really meant a lot that he went to such an extent to show that he was ready for us to move on to the next stage together."

Looking for love

On the eve of her birthday this year, concept artist Hsulynn Pang, 26, was led on a treasure hunt in the Publika shopping mall in Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur, to find her "gift".

Little did she know that the surprise awaiting her would be the ultimate declaration of love by her now fiancé, business developer Samuel Oh, 25.

"On that night itself, Sam came and told me that he had a surprise for me. He brought me to Publika and told me to close my eyes. When I opened them, we were at a restaurant and I saw all our friends there and also my parents, which really surprised me because they're based in Malacca," Pang says.

Oh's parents were also part of the crowd, and that set a small alarm bell ringing in Pang's head.

"Our parents have never met, so I thought it was a bit weird. But the night before, Sam had just told me that he wasn't so sure about us getting married so I really didn't think much of it."

Flanked by two cameramen, Pang was then whisked away on a trail that promised to bring her down memory lane to revisit a certain few unique moments that defined the couple's three-and-a-half-year relationship.

Oh reveals that his idea came from a "directive" that Pang had once given to him.

"Hsulynn once told me that if I were to ever propose to her, I would have to be creative. The word 'creative' had more pressure than what money could buy. So my plan was to make her work for the ring a little bit. Choosing it to be on her birthday was also a great excuse to get everyone together without telling them first-hand about the wedding proposal."

Guided by puzzle-piece notes attached to helium balloons, Pang was taken to a boutique, a music store, a diner and finally, an aptly named art gallery, Pieces, where Oh asked for her hand in marriage by way of a self-penned song.

"I had a guitar and I sang to her and her face still looked really blank - she thought that that was my birthday gift to her. When I came to the last line of my song, which goes: 'I'm going to say it to you now ...', I put down my guitar, walked over to her and just popped the question," Oh says.

To his disappointment, Pang did not tear up even the slightest bit.

"I was too self-conscious with all the cameras pointing at me," she explains. "But there's nothing like watching it again and trying to relive the moment. It would've been nice if the cameras were hidden. Still, I loved every detail of it. I liked that he made me look for the proposal. I think for a proposal to be unique, it's really not about how much money you spend, but rather, how successful you are in making your wife-to-be feel like the most special person in the whole world," says Pang, who is planning to tie the knot with Oh in a year's time.

Storybook romance

For Nadzrin Hakim Abd Raziz, 25, his proposal to freelance hairstylist Nur Khadijah Zainal Abidin unfurled as a seven-day affair leading up to her birthday.

The advertising art director presented his then girlfriend with a series of hand-delivered letters and presents pertaining to items that had piqued her interest over the course of their four-year relationship.

The idea was loosely based on one of Nur Khadijah's favourite book-turned-films, PS I Love You, about a young widow who discovered that her late husband had left her a series of letters intended to help ease her pain and start a new life.

"On the first day, he sent me a letter that said to wait for the presents. I waited a whole day but there was nothing more. At first I thought he was bluffing. The gifts only started coming from the next day onwards. First, there was a seashell necklace. Then, a pair of peacock feather earrings. Next, a bikini and later, matching sunglasses.

"On the sixth day, his letter said: 'Surprise! We will be going to Penang for a holiday!' And he really took me to Penang the next day," says Nur Khadijah, 25.

"When we arrived in Penang, I started to notice that he was a little distracted. He was really nervous but I thought it was because he wasn't into the trip. Or that he was forced to go because it was my birthday. I kept snapping at him as he wasn't really concentrating on anything I was saying."

Thinking that a stroll would do the both of them good, Nur Khadijah suggested that they take a short walk down Gurney Drive to cool off. And it was precisely on that strip of road by the Penang seafront that Nadzrin decided to pop the question.

"He suddenly gave me a box and told me to open it. I thought it would be a pair of diamond earrings or something. When I realised that it was a ring, I was 'stoned'. I couldn't move. I didn't know how to react, and he wasn't so sure himself how he would propose to me. He knew that I didn't enjoy being in the centre of attention so he didn't go down on one knee. Instead, he just whispered the magic words in my ears," Nur Khadijah recalls.

The proposal happened over two years ago; the couple had their wedding ceremony just a few months back.

The happily married Nur Khadijah confesses that she never saw it coming.

"I actually wasn't expecting a proposal. I thought that he would go about it the traditional way, where his family would visit my family and we'd talk about marriage and get engaged just like that. I really appreciated all the effort that he put into planning the whole thing and especially the fact that he wanted to ask for my permission first."

Sea of love

To impress his then girlfriend, regional sales manager Joanne Wong, diving enthusiast Mervyn Tan took to none other than the bottom of the ocean to ask for her hand in marriage.

The destination? Sabah's marine haven, Pulau Sipadan.

"We are both passionate about diving and had always wanted to visit Pulau Sipadan. We have some close friends who love diving as well and I wanted them around for the special occasion. But since everyone was at a point in their lives where there was either a budget constraint or lack of time-off, it took a full year of planning before all of us could make the trip happen," says Tan, 30.

Wong was aware of the trip but didn't suspect anything.

Tan, on the other hand, worried constantly that the bubble would burst before the actual event.

"I was a little bit worried that some of our friends wouldn't be able to keep the secret, so I told them that if they spilled the beans, they would forever be known as 'the person who ruined it for Joanne'. Even I had a hard time keeping the secret. Every time she brought up the idea of marriage, I'd dismiss it. But then I was worried that when I did propose, she would be so shocked she would say no.

"So what I did was, whenever she broached the subject, I would brush it off, but from time to time, I would bring it up myself, and that would get her angry. She would complain to her friends, but since they were already in on the secret, they would help me comfort her."

At long last, the trip materialised. Wong, 30, received the shock of her life during a dive outside their resort. Tan's friends unveiled a one-metre-long banner that said: "Jo, will you marry Mervs?"

"I still didn't know what was happening until one of my friends nudged me to look ahead. When I saw the banner I got really anxious. I was holding Mervyn's hands and started to squeeze really hard. All I could think was: breathe, breathe!

"When he took the ring from his pocket and gave me the 'Are you OK' hand signal, I automatically responded with the same signal without even realising what he was asking!" Wong says.

The couple has since tied the knot and is expecting their first child in January.

Tan's advice to guys aspiring to be husbands?

"Do your homework. Make sure she's going to say yes, especially if you're planning to make it a public proposal. I've heard of some pretty bad stories where the girl actually said no or something like: 'Err, I'll think about it and let you know later.'

"When it comes to marriage, it helps to let your partner know that you're on the same page."