Qing Ming is one of our famous Chinese festivals where we will go and pay our respect to the deceased. While Papa and Mama will visit the Mandai columbarium to pay respect to Ah Gong and Ah Ma every year, our family will normally head off to Senja Centre for a memorial prayer and then pay our respect to Ah Jia and partner, Po Po and partner and of course, mummy.
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| Papa, QQ and Jiun paying their respect |
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| Crowd at Senja |
This festival will usually draw an amazing crowd across the island to the various columbariums and temples resulting in impressive traffic and human jams. I always find this phenomena quite interesting; does this annual visit to pay respect really meant for the deceased or for the peace of mind for the descendant? Sometimes I will wonder how many generations it will take before a deceased one will be forgotten and left alone in the columbarium. Personally, my preference after death is to be cremented with my ash throw into the sea. Having the ash kept is pretty meaningless in my opinion, what will make a difference is how people remember you, the beliefs, values and memories you left behind in your lifetime. Most importantly, if my descendants will be sending me daimoku regularly, I am sure i will be pretty happy and well off in the next lifetime, at least that is what the Lotus Sutra says. :)
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| Xuan cleaning Ah Jia display glass |
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