The once a year hello to late grandparents!
Qing Ming - This yearly event in which Merv has to get up in the wee hours of the morning and get ready to go to Papa & Momma Merv's home in B.U and gather the merv sibling for the annual paying homage to our late grand pa and ma...
As usual, I slept late and over slept... instead of arriving at half past 6 in the morning, I was late by 20 minutes. Mum was furious and giving me the bitter gourd facial look throughout the time when I silently help prepared and check the goods before loading them onto my brother's car... Late grandpa merv was buried in the New Kwong Tong Yee San memorial gardens, opposite the Giant hypermarket along the Connaught Highway past the 50 sen toll. Grandma Merv's plot is in the Old Kwong Tong Yee San memorial gardens adjacent to the army's quarters and behind the Seputeh Hill.
Of late, I dread to be the driver during the annual Qing Ming event. Too much traffic, the jams, leading to the Tua Pek Kong's temple and to the plots, the scuffle and screamings of children, the blaring melancholic chants and music they played using the old megaphone sound systems... That Saturday, it was quite the contrary, To our surprise, the traffic leading to the cemetery was smooth, the queue to offer respects and joss sticks to Tua Pek Kong was smooth as well. Everything went as planned... Finding grandpa's plot was easy, there was ample parking space. What normally took 3 hours to do became 1 and half... So it was a very nice event. I enjoyed this year's trip. Although the sun was up and it was hot as hell... (no pun intended).. yet a nice experience.
Grandpa's tomb needs a bit of fixing... Hmmm not good to see the 'Ming Tang' or bright hall of grandpa's tomb having cracks... and the sides as well... also noticed that the turtle mound on top of the grave have sink down.. So mentally made notes to inform my Shi Fu on how to rectify the Yin Chai (or Yin Feng Shui house) of grandpa Merv. I believe that if your ancestor's home is in bad condition, it will affect the fortunes of the descendants...
After all the prayers were done and the last bit of the joss paper chest of clothes, money, passport and jewelry were burned off. It was time to bid Ah Yeh good bye and see him next year. We headed to Grand ma's plot. The same situation greeted us as we pulled up at the Tua Pek Kong temple in the Memorial Garden. Less crowd, less fuss, it was nice!
Grandma's plot was less hassle. her top mound is fully covered with nice grass and little yellow flowers. There's a huge banyan tree that grew so wide and tall it provided shade.. but the earth is a tad too wet and while we were cleaning the headstone and the bright hall, there were heaps of insects, slimy worms and german cockroaches crawling out of their hideouts. Grandma's offering affair was simple and quick. By the time all's done, we said our good byes it was a quarter to noon. By the time I got back to Momma Merv's home, it was a quarter after noon.
Never felt so tired as I was lacking in sleep but I enjoyed this year's trip. I skipped last year's event as I was considered to offend the Grand Duke (Tai Sui) so I can't make trips to visit the dead or departed, hospitals to see anyone who was sick or recovering... such were the taboos I had to observed last year....
Qing Ming is quite mistaken as a ghastly affair.. but to me, it's just a simple event of having a picnic near your ancestor's graves, cleaning them and making sure all's nice. It's another way of reconnecting with your past and roots...I hope you guys who skipped Qing Ming for ages would reconsider going next year... at the end of it, it's all about family...
As usual, I slept late and over slept... instead of arriving at half past 6 in the morning, I was late by 20 minutes. Mum was furious and giving me the bitter gourd facial look throughout the time when I silently help prepared and check the goods before loading them onto my brother's car... Late grandpa merv was buried in the New Kwong Tong Yee San memorial gardens, opposite the Giant hypermarket along the Connaught Highway past the 50 sen toll. Grandma Merv's plot is in the Old Kwong Tong Yee San memorial gardens adjacent to the army's quarters and behind the Seputeh Hill.
Of late, I dread to be the driver during the annual Qing Ming event. Too much traffic, the jams, leading to the Tua Pek Kong's temple and to the plots, the scuffle and screamings of children, the blaring melancholic chants and music they played using the old megaphone sound systems... That Saturday, it was quite the contrary, To our surprise, the traffic leading to the cemetery was smooth, the queue to offer respects and joss sticks to Tua Pek Kong was smooth as well. Everything went as planned... Finding grandpa's plot was easy, there was ample parking space. What normally took 3 hours to do became 1 and half... So it was a very nice event. I enjoyed this year's trip. Although the sun was up and it was hot as hell... (no pun intended).. yet a nice experience.
Grandpa's tomb needs a bit of fixing... Hmmm not good to see the 'Ming Tang' or bright hall of grandpa's tomb having cracks... and the sides as well... also noticed that the turtle mound on top of the grave have sink down.. So mentally made notes to inform my Shi Fu on how to rectify the Yin Chai (or Yin Feng Shui house) of grandpa Merv. I believe that if your ancestor's home is in bad condition, it will affect the fortunes of the descendants...
After all the prayers were done and the last bit of the joss paper chest of clothes, money, passport and jewelry were burned off. It was time to bid Ah Yeh good bye and see him next year. We headed to Grand ma's plot. The same situation greeted us as we pulled up at the Tua Pek Kong temple in the Memorial Garden. Less crowd, less fuss, it was nice!
Grandma's plot was less hassle. her top mound is fully covered with nice grass and little yellow flowers. There's a huge banyan tree that grew so wide and tall it provided shade.. but the earth is a tad too wet and while we were cleaning the headstone and the bright hall, there were heaps of insects, slimy worms and german cockroaches crawling out of their hideouts. Grandma's offering affair was simple and quick. By the time all's done, we said our good byes it was a quarter to noon. By the time I got back to Momma Merv's home, it was a quarter after noon.
Never felt so tired as I was lacking in sleep but I enjoyed this year's trip. I skipped last year's event as I was considered to offend the Grand Duke (Tai Sui) so I can't make trips to visit the dead or departed, hospitals to see anyone who was sick or recovering... such were the taboos I had to observed last year....
Qing Ming is quite mistaken as a ghastly affair.. but to me, it's just a simple event of having a picnic near your ancestor's graves, cleaning them and making sure all's nice. It's another way of reconnecting with your past and roots...I hope you guys who skipped Qing Ming for ages would reconsider going next year... at the end of it, it's all about family...
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