Cheng Beng 2016

It's Cheng Beng or Qing Ming time again and this year we chose 10 April 2016 on Sunday to perform the annual task.  We all met at Midah before 6.30 am amd drove together in one car, the Exora.

After we reached, we had to unload all the things that Emelda had prepared.  I think she has done it for more than 20 years. 

This is the list given to her by Tai Koo.  She has to buy, prepare and cook all the stuff on Saturday and we use it on Sunday.  Do you know that Tai Koo make a list every year?  We decided to take a photo of it for future reference, and suggested to Tai Koo to laminate this and reuse it every year! 2nd Aunt even wants to put it on the excel spreadsheet. 

What goes where, it is all tabulated in the above chart! But I think no one is prepared to cook and pack all the food, as Emel has done for umpteen years.

After unloading we had to carry them to the respective graves.

 Before we reach the graves, we stop by at this temple to pray and offer donations.

 Now we are walking to the cemetery. Each one carries a pack or two so "many hands make light work".

 It is now a breeze to walk, unlike the years before where we had to thread our way among tombstones dodging a headstone here and there, and walking among tall lallang, in the DARK! Now there are steps, the graves are in straight lines, and it is not so dark too. 

We have reached, only a short walk, and we put all the food in the correct graves.  Every year, the list gets more and more simplified!!! There used to be lots of fruit, meat, and joss papers too!

 The sunrise was spectacular, no not really, just serene, tranquil, and placcid.

 They did this when they were kids, and now they have grown. We are the ones not Christians, so we do this every year.

 This is to be burnt as offering. Hell banknotes.

 Praying with joss-sticks and offering food before burning the joss papers.

Praying fervently and paying homage to ancestors.

burning the joss papers..you can also burn LV bags, Rolex watches, even iPhone 6 made of paper!

We had ice cream to cool down in the heat. Some people actually have a picnic here with all the offerings.

So, we have done our part in perpetuating tradition and keeping the filial piety thread unbroken. Next year, we will do it all over again!

Qing MIng 2015

"Life becomes meaningful 

when we shoulder responsibilities.

Avoiding responsibilities makes our life empty."

 How true, and how ironic....This notice is pasted on the wall of the toilet.....

 It made me contemplate life, while I was answering the call of nature, well actually I was only washing my hands...as I seldom need to "go" as I perspire a lot, I lose moisture that way......

so to shoulder our responsibility, we performed this year's Qing Ming

at Nirvana, Semenyih.....

 I saw Chanel slippers ..for a touch of luxury

 dental kits with dentures and toothpaste..for the maintenance of personal hygiene 

even TV sets with Astro and Full HD...to keep them entertained the high tech way

This year saw only the 4 of us....

golden oldies in our 60s and 70s

 performing the ritual on behalf of other family members

me,(youngest daughter in law)  my better half,(youngest son),  2nd Brother and 2nd sister in law

then I saw a Christian cemetery and a Buddhist one, side by side, this is what you call freedom of practice in religion and religious tolerance in this wonderful country of ours. 

Cheng Beng 2014 and 2005 AND 1994!

The year is 2005 and Leng is shining the torch for her father

She was a teen and we have got up early to go to the old cemetery

 This is the year 2014, and it is still dark at the new cemetery

Last time, we had to walk among the lallangs and pick our way among the tombstones

searching for the right tomb!

now everything is paved, and arraigned straightly with steps and proper lanes

Leng and her parents in 2005

We are the ones faithfully performing our filial duties, while the rest of the family are Christians.

 Leng and her family in 2014,

 she is married, and this year, after the Beijing trip, 

can manage to do Cheng Beng duty

together with Auntie Guek and Uncle Siang

Last time you had to burn the joss papers by the road side

Now we have urns to burn it in

kneeling among the tall weeds all those years ago

 kneeling on stone slabs..now...

how times have changed, the tombstones look new with marbled and polished faces and gold inscription

 using tablets, smartphones and ipad to take photos!

Can you hear the whizzing sound?

It is the sound of time

It  just whizzed past

That year was 1994, 

April 3rd, Cheng Beng '94

It is now 2014 and the kids in the picture are now 28 and 26

And Uncle Yam is in his late 70s.

iPad and iPhone 4 for the dead on Qing Ming

When the dead go digital: Choo showing a paper replica of an iPad and electronic items at his shop in Burmah Road.


Thursday March 17, 2011
iPad and iPhone 4 among Qing Ming offerings for the dead
By FONG KEE SOON
keesoon@thestar.com.my


GEORGE TOWN: In a store here, there is an iPad going for only RM9.80, a 13.3-inch dual-core processor laptop for under RM12 and an iPhone 4 for a mere RM2.

There is one catch, though – while anyone can buy it, only the dead can use it.

Angeli Choo, 43, a Chinese prayer item shop worker in Burmah Road, said paper replicas of electronic items are getting more popular with customers buying prayer paraphernalia for the Qing Ming Festival (Chinese All Souls’ Day).

“Customers want their dearly departed to be able to keep up with the latest in information technology (IT), besides the usual ‘luxury’ offerings of bungalows with maids and security guards, watches, designer bags and gold ingots. The ‘iPad’ even comes with a USB cable for charging and syncing,” she said.


Even the specifications are literally out of this world. While the current largest storage size for iPads in our world is 64GB, the “other world” users are already using iPads with an auspiciously whopping 888GB!

Miniature luxury cars and electrical appliances are also popular items, according to James Ong, a retail supervisor at the Bee Chin Heong prayer item shop in Kimberley Street.

“The Toyota Alphard MPV, BMW 6 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class are among the favourites.

“LCD television sets are also in constant demand,” he said, adding that most paper replica products were available within two weeks after the real stuff hit the market.

“Whatever people have and enjoy in real life, they want their departed ones to have,” said Lim Say Saik, a businesswoman who has been in the prayer paraphernalia business for over 20 years.

Families will visit their ancestors’ graves and clean up the tombs during the Qing Ming Festival which falls on April 5.

Lim’s catalogue of paper replica products rivals any hypermarket, with thousands of products in various categories, including food and beverage, clothing, cars, motorcycles, consumer electronics and even boats.

“You don’t have to worry when you die,” she said.

However, no information is available on Internet solutions and pricing for the afterworld.

Perhaps the ancestors will have to figure out their own monthly plans and device commitments.