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Author: Vincent Tan
Publication: Channel News Asia
Date: April 4, 2020
URL: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/malaysia-qing-ming-covid-19-simplify-prayer-movement-control-12607004
This will be the first time in Mr Tuen Kong Fook’s life that he will not be honouring his family’s ancestors at their final resting place during Qing Ming Festival.
For as long as he can remember, the 78-year-old has been dutifully paying respects to his deceased loved ones on this day.
“Since I was eight or nine years old, I followed my father to Ipoh for Qing Ming, and after he passed away in 1967, we began to offer Qing Ming prayers in Kwong Tong Cemetery in Kuala Lumpur,” he told CNA.
“For us this is a major cultural tradition. We have never missed it. Even during May 13, we managed to do our prayers and it was never disrupted,” he said, referring to the 1969 racial riot.
While the Qing Ming Festival falls on Saturday (Apr 4), the season usually begins about two weeks prior and lasts until two weeks later.
It is a busy affair, with Chinese cemeteries throughout Malaysia crowded with families paying their respects to their ancestors.
However, the cemeteries are quiet this year, as Malaysia observes the second phase of the movement control order (MCO) until April 14, which was enforced to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the country. Total number of confirmed cases have reached 3,333 on Friday, with 53 fatalities.
Cemeteries and memorial parks have informed the families of those interred in their grounds that the gates will remain closed this Qing Ming, while shops that sell prayer paraphernalia are also shut during the MCO.
Mr Tuen will have to adapt to observing Qing Ming at home this year.
Luckily, his family had made copies of the ancestral tablet and distributed one to each sibling. They can pray to their ancestors separately.
“I’ll still head out tomorrow early, buy roast chicken and roast pork so we can offer them to the ancestors,” Mr Tuen said.
“But I think for the paper items and sending hell money (via burning), that will have to wait,” he added.
Earlier, the government as well as religious and grassroots associations have urged the Chinese community to refrain from observing Qing Ming at cemeteries and memorial parks.
Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong advised families to pay homage to their ancestors at home according to their religious beliefs.
One of the associations, the Malaysian Buddhist Association, appealed to the community to offer “a simple prayer or chanting of transference of merits to ancestors”, instead of visiting the ancestral tombs.
SIMPLIFYING QING MING PRAYERS AND DEFERRING OBLIGATIONS
Mdm Wong Yuet Kheen, 57, said usually, Qing Ming is another reunion opportunity for her family.
“My husband and I drive down each year to Seremban and meet up with the other family members.
“The younger generation is present too. After cleaning the tomb and offerings, we will have a large dinner together,” she said.
The initial MCO from Mar 18 till 31 had not bothered them, she said, as they could observe Qing Ming 10 days before and after the festival.
However, the extension of the MCO threw them for a loop, with Mdm Wong explaining that it was not proper to visit their ancestors’ graves anytime outside the Qing Ming period.
She will have to make do with praying to the ancestral tablet at home and presenting other offerings.
“Those without these tablets will just have to pray to the sky,” Mdm Wong added.
Similarly, Mr Chin V Ming, 35, who runs a private jewellery business, said his family had deferred their Qing Ming obligations and were waiting for the MCO to be lifted.
He added that right now, there were pressing concerns for the living.
"Everyone is concerned with trying to survive the COVID-19 and the economy. I think what matters is that your heart and your mind are in the right place.”
“You can still offer prayers and offerings to show your filial piety at home, in safety rather than in the large crowded cemeteries on Qing Ming Festival,” he said.
MEMORIAL PARK ROLLING OUT PRAYER PACKAGES
Nirvana Memorial Park in Kajang usually sees about 40,000 families worshipping their deceased loved ones during the Qing Ming season, said Nirvana’s chief marketing officer Lee Jye Chyi.
For this year, the company has offered prayer packages instead, ranging from free, simple online prayer messages to one where a Nirvana staff member will offer food and prayers on behalf of the families. Photographic proofs will be provided later.
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Nirvana Asia 富貴集團
on Friday
❤️在家也能清明追思❤️
新冠肺炎疫情告急，行动管制令延至4月14日，我们将错过这个清明节扫墓？别担心！
虽不能外出扫墓，却不会因此阻隔我们对祖先的思念。对此，富贵集团提供温馨服务，让待在家的您也能慎终追远。
●温馨服务一
我们推出【圆满心意】服务，为你代劳拜祭祖先，让你stay at home 也能表达心意。
❤️Qing Ming @ Home❤️
Due to the seriousness of the COVID-19 outbreak and the Movement Control Order being extended till April 14, we will likely have to skip tomb sweeping rites this year. However, no worries!
While we can’t physically visit our ancestors’ tombs, it does not hinder our thoughts for them. With this notion in mind, Nirvana is bringing to you “Heart-warming Services” so you can stay at home and stay safe.
● Heart-warming Service I
We have launched the Remembrance Dedication service to help you worship your ancestors on your behalf, so that you can express your filial piety while staying at home.
#在家清明 #代拜服务 #表达心意 #QingMingathome #stayathome #staysafe
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“This was something we rolled out on Mother’s Day back in 2017, but due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we have received more enquiries about this service,” Mdm Lee said.
To further assuage the worries of families about missing out on Qing Ming, Mdm Lee added that the memorial park had also planned for a prayer ceremony during the Hungry Ghost Festival as a way for them to honour their ancestors later.
Although the MCO and the COVID-19 pandemic are expected to change the way a lot of things are done, Mdm Lee felt that for Qing Ming, tradition will still prevail in the future.
“In China, online prayers and these funerary services are popular because migrant workers might come from one city but work in another, and the cost of travelling is expensive.
“Here, it’s different, people still want to attend to their ancestors’ graves or urns personally,” Ms Lee said.
* Source: CNA/vt(tx)
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