Qing Ming

Yesterday was family day… the whole clan minus our dad, gathered together to clean up the graves of our grandparents, elder brother & our mum. Qing Ming or Tomb Sweeping Day is an event that no one in our immediate family, including the married sisters, is exempt from.

Early in the morning, everyone gathered at our shop, where the family altar is placed. Prayers had to be offered to our ancestors at home before proceeding to the grave sites. This also served to notify the departed souls that we are on our way to visit them.

Our grandparents were buried at the cemetery on the way to Banting. They passed away long ago, even before my parents were married so their graves are just mounds of earth with a headstone each. Previously, during Qing Ming, you could find Indian boys with spades and bags of soil all over the place and you could get them to clean up the surroundings as well as pile up the mounds with more soil/earth. The cemetery has since been privatized, so you don’t find them around anymore, hence, grandma and grandpa’s graves are almost flat! Next year we will bring soil to raise the mounds.

Years ago, when my mum was alive, a medium told her that our brother who had died at childbirth (I think) requested that we put up a plaque in memory of him. A corner was reserved for him on the family altar and a stone tablet, placed beside my grandparents’ tombs, represented his final resting place.

After all the necessary rituals were done here, we headed towards Fairy Park where mum is buried. Fairy Park is very well kept so you can just start laying out the offerings as soon as you arrive. While the rest was busy with their prayers, I was reading the inscription on my mother’s tomb and it suddenly struck me. Mum passed away on 27-01-1996. My car no is 2796!! If that isn’t a hint from her to buy 4-ekor, I don’t know what is. It goes without saying that I bought that number along with the number given to us while my siblings were praying to her. We Chinese, ever so money-faced, never fail to get our ancestors to provide us with 4 digits.

Unfortunately, as the evening drew to a close, nobody called to inform us that we had struck it big. Sigh…. But there is a saying that we need to buy a number 3 times before it strikes… so there is hope yet! Will keep you updated if we do strike !
F