Cheng Beng reunions

It has long been said that as one grows older, the opportunities for relatives meeting one another grow lesser. In the past, weddings and funerals were mentioned as the only occasions when they do get to meet! Well, we can add one more occasion: the annual Cheng Beng festival.

This morning, this was about the fourth or fifth year in succession that my family was able to meet with different sets of cousins and other relatives from the Klang Valley. Where did we bump into them, you may ask. And let me tell you: at the Batu Lanchang Road Hokkien Cemetery and the Triple Wisdom Temple in Pangkor Road. My maternal grandparents were buried in this cemetery while my parents' memorial tablet was at the temple.

I should also mention that it was a pleasant experience to go for Cheng Beng in the middle of the week. The cemeteries were rather bare of visitors and it was a big relief to find ample parking spaces at the sides of the roads. I'm certain that come this Saturday and Sunday, all roads leading to the main cemeteries in Penang will be choked with vehicles and human traffic. For one, I wouldn't want to move along Batu Lanchang Road, Batu Gantong Road, Scotland Road, Gottlieb Road, Bagan Jermal Road or Mount Erskine Road at all! 

At the Batu Lanchang Road Cemetery.

At the Triple Wisdom Temple.