Mandai Crematorium for Qing Ming Festival 2013 (清明節)

For those who are still confused about the exact duration in 2013, the Qingming Festival is on 04 February (24th Day of the 2nd Lunar Month) and the period for performing your "filial" duty began ten days before and ends ten days after the actual day! 

I was scheduled to visit my paternal grandparents at their resting place at Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery but could not manage to wake up on time. Hence, i took extra effort to ensure i made it for my grandparents on my mother's side (mom had to do her best to wake me up anyway as i was the designated driver that day).  

This is the first time i am actually paying a visit to my great grandparents and also the very first time i know their Chinese names. My great grandfather was 潘维衣 whereas his wife was known as 黄妹娘. For the benefit of my relatives, you may find them at no 348 along row 125, level 1 of the Camellia block. 

While my mom and relatives were preparing for the rite, i took the opportunity to explore the vicinity. 

The thing about crematorium is that there's hardly any differentiation from one deceased to another deceased except for the photos and names on the granite slab sealing the compartment storing the urn(s). 

Most of the flowers were fake and i suspected they were placed (and likely reused for next year) by the caretakers; how can it be that every holder has flowers when it was only four days before Qingming?! Singaporeans are known to do things at the very last moment!

Praying to the earth deity is the first step of the rite. Once that's done, family may then offer their prayers (lighting up of the joss sticks was part and parcel of the rite) in front of the tablet and invite the ancestors to enjoy the offerings. 

Before wrapping up, light up the joss sticks and offer your prayers again. In the Chinese beliefs, ancestors are supposed to protect their descendants and it's quite the norm to ask for wishes similar to what people ask from the deities.  

Final step - burning the paper money. This is something i could not explain rationally - the notion that you can effortlessly print so much money means that inflation is going to be so incredulously high in the underworld; your ancestors cannot really buy anything at all! 

You know why Singapore is so foggy in the past few weeks? Thanks to paper burning. 

Don't get me started on the inconsiderate mess as well! Tourists' clouded impression that Singapore is literally litter-free should honestly pay a visit to our heartlands or walk into a Chinese cemetery or crematorium during Qingming. 

Done with the great grandparents; now on the way to my maternal grandmother. 

Unlike Camellia block, Eugenia was much more spacious with a more comfortable space between each row!   Come to think about it, i didn't really check if it's the same for the ground level since metal tables were available on the ground level at Camellia block for families to place their offerings. 

Opposite Eugenia was a block with two unoccupied levels! Should i check them out at night during the non-peak season? It would be so exciting!! 

It was barely 6am yet the turnout (of the living, not dead) was not too bad. It's always nice to see the attendance of the younger generation as more often than not, Qingming is a dying (pun not intended) festival.

Again for the relatives' benefit (and mine should my memory start failing as i get much older), grandmother is located at number 0414 along row 07, level 3 of the Eugenia block.

I remember this grandmother well as she passed away when i was already at an adult age of 27 years old and i have collection of many memories involving her when i was growing up. Coincidentally, my current work touches on her suffering ten-year journey before her demise. 

Praying at another location requires another rite! Hail to air pollution!

Time: 6.24am; the car park was already jam-packed with vehicles. Moral of the story - wake up at 4am (like i did) to beat the crowd and the scorching sun!