Comments on: At 3.00 p.m.

By: GF

GF — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:40:43 +0000

gosh, of the saddest posts i’ve ever read. i remember something from my grandma’s funeral. one of the legs was bent and my uncles tried to straighten it but failed. maybe there was pantang like your dad’s too where the body must not be slant but in the end they just left it like that. at the end of the day, there was a feast, dunno what for.

By: jam

jam — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:31:27 +0000

Sorry for my belated condolences. I went through the same grievance when my dad passed away a few years back. What can I say? Chinese really do have a lot of rituals thingy. One thing for true is never run away from ‘eating’. From the moment we were born, till we were 1 year old, birthday, wedding and even when we leave for another world, people gather around and eat. Anyway, may the ‘force’ be always with you.

By: bongkersz

bongkersz — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:16:36 +0000

So many pantangs.. sigh.

By: suituapui

suituapui — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:54:26 +0000

That’s another pantang. When someone doesn’t die at home, the family cant take the body back to the house. That’s why many old people refuse to go to the hospital when critically sick. My late aunt insisted on going home, she said she didnt want to be kept in the morgue like ‘fish in the fridge’. She always had a way with descriptions.

By: annant

annant — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:12:20 +0000

what i could remember from my uncle’s and grandpa’s funerals was, joss sticks in hand, and some scriptures were chanted and i accidentally fell asleep.

i was very young then.

it must be hard for u to recall da whole process huh…
hope u are doing fine…

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:37:41 +0000

Thanks for sharing this difficult time with your readers Clare. It’s really touching.

By: clement

clement — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:13:24 +0000

that’s usual time, anyway, how long? church all settled? death is no easy business… people are sad, still need so much preparation to do… haiz…