Nirvana Memorial Park in Semenyih, Malaysia- a landscaped Chinese cemetery...
Swee Lim came for a visit last night. Ah! Cheng Beng is in town again ! It seems to be a long time since I last saw Swee Lim during Chinese New Year.He is busy working in Kuala Lumpur some hundred of kilometers away and is now back in town to pray and pay respect to his late parents. Cheng Beng otherwise known as Qing Ming or All Souls Day, is one of the major events in the Chinese calender. The occasion which is observed by Chinese communities all over the world is supposed to fall on April 5 every year except on leap year when it falls on the fourth. On this day, the community will visit the graves of the deceased family members to pray and pay their respect. While the actual day is supposed to be on April 4, visiting the graves could be done 10 days before or after this date. Before visiting, the graves will be weeded and cleaned and in Malaysia, sometimes, Indians are employed to do the job. The whole family would then visit the graves together preferably early in the morning when the sun is just up and the morning cold. Offerings of food and joss-papers will be burnt. Besides Chinese New Year, this festival will draw almost all the family members home. On the actual day of the festival, the graveyard would be crowded with people and sometimes, people prefer to go there very early in the morning to beat the crowd to a parking space for their vehicles. Swee Lim told me sons are expected to return but it's not compulsory for daughters. A Chinese man who had since converted after marrying a Muslim lady told me he enjoyed the occasion.His family used to light firecrackers on this day and long ago, as a child, I used to enjoy it to as a get together picnic for the whole family.I still regarded it as one...
Swee Lim came for a visit last night. Ah! Cheng Beng is in town again ! It seems to be a long time since I last saw Swee Lim during Chinese New Year.He is busy working in Kuala Lumpur some hundred of kilometers away and is now back in town to pray and pay respect to his late parents. Cheng Beng otherwise known as Qing Ming or All Souls Day, is one of the major events in the Chinese calender. The occasion which is observed by Chinese communities all over the world is supposed to fall on April 5 every year except on leap year when it falls on the fourth. On this day, the community will visit the graves of the deceased family members to pray and pay their respect. While the actual day is supposed to be on April 4, visiting the graves could be done 10 days before or after this date. Before visiting, the graves will be weeded and cleaned and in Malaysia, sometimes, Indians are employed to do the job. The whole family would then visit the graves together preferably early in the morning when the sun is just up and the morning cold. Offerings of food and joss-papers will be burnt. Besides Chinese New Year, this festival will draw almost all the family members home. On the actual day of the festival, the graveyard would be crowded with people and sometimes, people prefer to go there very early in the morning to beat the crowd to a parking space for their vehicles. Swee Lim told me sons are expected to return but it's not compulsory for daughters. A Chinese man who had since converted after marrying a Muslim lady told me he enjoyed the occasion.His family used to light firecrackers on this day and long ago, as a child, I used to enjoy it to as a get together picnic for the whole family.I still regarded it as one...
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