PETALING JAYA, March 31 — Qing Ming is around the corner and it’s usually a time for family members to pay their respects to their ancestors.
But with the strict standard operating procedures (SOP) this year amid the Covid-19 pandemic and with travel restrictions still ongoing, many have to make do with fewer members joining in.
Ong Zhen Yhue, who will be visiting Shah Alam’s Nirvana Memorial Park to pay respects to his late paternal grandfather, said that the air will be less festive with fewer family members joining.
“My family members and I always take pride in following the yearly Qing Ming tradition.”
This year, Ong and his family are going to the columbarium first to pay their respects to the deities before paying respect to his late grandfather.
“We will light two candles and burn joss sticks while offering our prayers.
“Following the order of seniority is something that we strictly follow when members of the family will pray to my late grandfather.
“Ancestral prayers remind me of my loved ones that have passed away and to cherish those around me.”
After the ancestral prayers, the family would flip two coins simultaneously for three times to check whether his grandfather had eaten the food and whether he was satisfied with the rituals performed.
Some of his late grandfather’s favourite food that would be offered are Hainanese steamed chicken, and even Indian food such as roti canai, thosai and a can of Coke.
“A full steamed chicken will be offered as compared to serving a chopped chicken as it is seen as a bad representation — and it means to split.
“We would usually put a strip of carrot in the mouth of the steamed chicken to resemble a tongue as the word tongue in Cantonese sounds the same as the Cantonese word for auspicious.
Ong added that paper offerings of Buddhist mantras sheets, paper clothes would then be burned to be offered to his late grandfather so that he will get a prosperous afterlife.
“Our family members will not be staying long in the columbarium, and we will head back once the rituals are observed.
“As for the food offered, we may either recreate other dishes with it, or eat lunch elsewhere,” he said.
Rebecca Cheng (not her real name) meanwhile said that she will be heading to Johor Baru’s Tiong Hwa columbarium to pay respects to her late father.
She will most likely be heading to the columbarium a week after the Qing Ming festivities and will not be heading to the cemetery like she used to for previous years to pay respects to her late grandparents.
“Some of my uncles and aunties are quite old while some of my cousins are in Singapore, so I will be calling off the visit to the cemetery this year.”
She said that for her late father, her family and her will prepare Teh-O, Hakka Lei Cha (or mixed rice from a vegetarian restaurant), and some apples and oranges — all his favourite food.
During previous years where she would visit the cemetery, her family and her would also bring boiled tea as a sign of respect and remembrance towards the deceased.
“We would also take turns according to the order of seniority when we burn joss sticks and perform our prayers.
“Performing the coin rituals to see if our ancestors have eaten the food is what we do before heading home for lunch,” she said.
