No Cheng Beng again

One of the trustees of the Swee Cheok Tong Quah Kongsi also sits on the board of the United Hokkien Cemeteries in Penang. This United Hokkien Cemeteries is just one of 18 associations that owns vast areas of cemetery land strewn around the mainland and island, but they are possibly the biggest in Penang. 

When word went around last week that the Federal Government had relaxed the Movement Control Order regulations for four weeks to enable the Chinese community to carry out their Cheng Beng obligations - with certain strict procedures to be observed - I had some doubts about its practicality. How would this news affect people like me who are fearful of too many people around us ?  

Thankfully, I don't have to visit the columbarium at Batu Gantong where my parents' urns are located. Whenever I step inside the building, I feel so stifled. Maybe I'm claustrophobic. But I still have my grandparents' graves in Batu Lanchang and the Wat Pimbang On in Green Lane, which I don't mind going at all. However, I wouldn't want to visit these cemeteries if the crowd control was lax or non-existent. And I don't see how the United Hokkien Cemeteries and the Siamese temple committee could effectively control the people visiting their respective cemeteries.

My fellow trustee told me that the United Chinese Charitable Cemeteries Board, the umbrella body of the 18 associations, would be meeting to discuss the best way forward in this matter. True enough, this Board met yesterday and they made a quite unprecedented announcement that for the second year running, the cemeteries under their care would remain closed for the full duration of the Cheng Beng period. Read the report in The Star newspaper here.

Traditionally this would mean from 26 March until 13 April this year as the actual Cheng Beng day fall on 4 April, but I suppose the period even the cemeteries will remain closed will be from 21 March till 17 April as relaxed by the government.

For me, this shall be the second time then that I shall have to carry out my Cheng Beng worship at home. There won't even be an opportunity to spruce up the graves: clearing them of the over-grown weeds although I've already commissioned two persons to clean them up for me. For this year, just pray at home again.

Meanwhile, I suppose people can still go to the temples or clan associations to pay their respects at the memorial tablets of their ancestors. But it is best to check up with the respective temples or clan associations, such as the Than Hsiang Temple in Bayan Baru which will allow prayers by proxy. But many others will not share the same opinion and they may still not want to open their doors to visitors, especially during this Cheng Beng period.