This festival usually comes one month after the Chinese Lunar New Year. Some people who miss the CNY get together would try to meet up during the "Cheng Beng". This once a year family affair is deep rooted in Chinese culture a festival to express the value of filial piety of ancestral worship.
They visit the graves of their ancestors, clean up the place, pray with offerings and end with burning of joss paper. Many of the traditional practices have been discontinued and made simpler. Placing of flowers on the graves is quite common now. In fact some modern offerings have been added like the burning of paper tech gadgets - mobile phones, lap tops. This act of visiting the graves of the loved ones is quite similar to that of the Christians' All Souls Day.
This year a show of filial piety was demonstrated in another form. WhileI was rewriting with red paint the first Chinese character "CHOE" on the tombstone, Ong Teng Lek, my nephew encouraged his son, Jericho, the grandson of Ong Chin Hong to take over and finish the rest of the 4 other characters. It was indeed unusual for a fifth generation descendant to show such filial piety!
The grave which is at least 80 years old is that of Lee Nya Cheek {husband- Choe See Peng) the maternal great great grandmother of Jericho.
Met not, Lee Nya Cheek
Its all in memory
Through filial piety!!!
