Personal - Tomb-Sweeping Weekend

Good morning Blog,

Usually my weekend, I will hike, cycle or swimming (workout because it is free), and attend meetings or classes too. This week I reserve my weekend for family time for Tomb-Sweeping (QingMing Festival 清明节)

Wake up early morning and greet by gloomy sky; still better than sunny day (for others).

Today post is special for me because of some reasons. If you don't like to relate any death matter material. You can skip this.

It was like almost 10 years plus since I visited this place - Lim Chu Kang Cemetery, due to crush with classes. Lucky this time around, no class/important meeting; smooth schedule to ensure that I attend this tomb sweeping day with my relatives.

One thing special about it -  After this year Tomb Sweeping, it will be our last year before they cleared this whole area.

Even though my mother was angry with me for taking pictures of the site and ceremony, but it is for my memory of this place. So I will take a few significant ones.

Singapore tomb (Chinese) is different from oversea - due to the limitation of the land. The cost of the land in SG is high and owning a tomb is getting expensive. The concrete for the tomb is solid and standard. Red numeric is for the livings to find the right tomb easily.

Gloomy sky meaning raining on that day. My relatives are busy setting up and everyone works together as a big family.

I can't engage my 'photographer' so my phone has to do the task for me. Take a picture without them noticing.

Okay, the rain is getting heavier so need umbrella.

Have you noticed some have tomb and some are a pile of soils? Because they had dug up the remaining and leave it untouched.

More and more people start to show up.

Everyone takes their turn (arranged according to age) to pray and thank our grand parents.

This pile of soils makes me think deep...

Our bodies are made up with carbon structures aka dirt. Our parents give us a body and Heaven gives us an 'energy' aka soul (to grow, feel and think), we lead our lives with the power of freedom to choose and decide. We can be anything we want... Eventually, we will rest periodically and move on to next arrangement/destination depending our deeds (our rooted thoughts).

Some people are worrying of after-death, worrying of losing everything they have worked hard for. Ironically... This is all we have left... A pile of soils...

What do we want others to remember? Achievement? Education? Those won't stay and will be forgotten... The only thing which will remain is Life-Value which we live/lived on.

Have we enriched/inspired others on the beauty of living? Have we cultivated the kindness in humanity? Or we live with hatred/anger/regret towards the world? Are we better in character than yesterday or a sec ago? What are we fighting for? OOps! I have to return to reality.

I will treasure the moments of living and I will want to live it well and to the fullness. I know that I carry many baggage (negativity) which I am trying to put down, but I know one day, I will be better. In the end, those baggage will only hold me down from moving forward.

Just like the next day, I go tomb-sweeping at Mandai.

Heavy traffic jam to go Mandai during QingMing Festival

To compare to this beautiful scenery along the roadside

This traffic will only anger more people. But for us, we just park our vehicle along the roadside and walk some distance to reach Mandai Crematorium and Columbarium Complex

It is crowded and busy at the Columbarium. My mother and brother are busy setting up the table and offering.

For me... I take pictures and in the deep thought...

Seeing people burning doesn't make me feel happier

Back to the deep thought, the 'energy' that we have in us... is like a fire. Fire is a hungry monster which never feel satisfy. The more we throw in, the more it will want to take and eventually it will take our lives and take the last bits of us into soils.

To reflect how many of us have been trying to satisfy this fire-monster? Some will go for money, sex, fame etc etc aka Desires. When will we stop? How can we control that? Many will reply "we are human." and I agree but does it mean we should allow the monster to take over?

To understand what is the use of fire. Fire is light and it is used to warm ourselves and people around us. Just maintain the warmness will do - We can't be too COLD or too HUNGRY. That's how we can live our life with value - value to earn and to spend, than to control and to waste.

It will be my only post at a cemetery and I won't make a long one in future. :) Just one will do to compromise with my mother.

Jeff