MAKING THE CHEAH ANCESTORS' RESTING PLACE CLEAN AND BRIGHT

The two workers clearing the graves while Mr Cheah, Mrs Cheah and Master Cheah are busy with the painting.

Mr Cheah looking on as the worker removes soil from the grave.

Ivan holding up the umbrella while his mum and dad paint over the faded paint for the engraved Chinese characters.

 Aiyoh!  I got a deep tan from painting the tombstone of my grandfather.

 We ran out of paint and will continue next year.

 My cousin taking pictures of the half painted tombstone.

The common grave for the great grandparents, grandma and two grandaunts will have to wait until next year to get a fresh coat of paint.

The Qing Ming Festival is a day for Chinese throughout the world to pay respects to their ancestors.  The literal meaning for Qing Ming is "clear and bright" and refers to the weather at this time of year.  As it falls either on 4th or 5th of April, this date is computed as 105 days after the Winter Solstice, Tong-ji.  The descendants can visit the graves two weeks before and two weeks after the actual date.

What do we do there?  Besides making offerings of incense, food, flowers and paper paraphernalia, my relatives and I also sweep, wash, repair, and paint the ancestral tombstones (if there is a necessity.)

Every year my cousin Thim Fook and I would trek up the Gopeng hills to pay homage to our Cheah great grandparents, our grandparents and two grand aunts who were buried there.  Thim Fook would usually hire some workers at the cemetery to help clear the graves. This year, he brought along his wife and son to help do the painting. 

As they are Christians, they would only do the clearing and painting and leave the praying to me.  After I have done my part, he and his family would say some prayers and have  chat with our long gone forefathers before we go back done the hill.  Mind you, they have been buried there for more than 50 years already.