During this period, the Chinese community will visit graves of deceased family members and ancestors to pay their respects. It can be done 10 days before and after the actual date of Cheng Beng. Graves are weeded and cleaned, joss-paper is burnt, and offerings are made.
Nevertheless, this 5 years, Cheng Beng have been commercialized into more of a joke then anything else. The past few days, I've been reading articles on the variety of paper paraphernalia made for burning to the dead. It varies from visa cards, cars, high tech gadgets like laptop, mobile phone and massage chairs. They even made sexy lingerie!
The shopkeeper happily showing the lingerie made of cardboardNot a bad life after you pass on huh? You can be poor when your alive but live like a king with all the pleasures of the world after your six feet under.
I got a friend that buys a lot of such items during Cheng Beng. He is one of the few genuine people that truly believes that his grandparent would receive the burnt "offerings". He even burnt a few servants to help his grandparents out just in case they do not know how to use the gadgets that he "sends" them. Sometimes I do wonder if this this age old tradition have now truly turned into some sort of fantasy or a mere game for the folks of the living.
Totally ridiculous if you ask me.
3 comments:
I've never seen those before... For women it's usually "branded bags". That's something new..
maybe the women wishes for bigger breast for their next life?
THB,
We have all sorts of variety over here in Malaysia. Its shocking and also a bag of laughs. You keep telling yourself what would they be thinking of making next.
Dalicia,
Either that or you get more horny when you go to the land of the afterlife... lol
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