Where was I yesterday – which part of the story I had left off? Ohh… the “picking the gold” ceremony, so the next question is “what is this ceremony all about” from an uninitiated. This is a religious Taoist-originated ritual where one can dig the grave of a dearly departed and “transfer” the remains to another location. In our case, the ritual will involve basically about 6 steps. Firstly, seek the correct undertaker to do the task properly followed by making an official Police report of the purpose of digging up the grave and transfer of remains to another location. Thirdly, the ceremony proper with prayers before the actual digging starts and then the “picking of the gold” that is the actual act of picking of the remains of the skeleton. The remains are then placed into a small coffin with usual joss papers and it is to be transported to the crematorium for cremation. Putting the cremated remains into a urn and the carrying of the urn to the location in Penang, in our case at Wat Chaiyamangalaram Thai Buddhist Temple. These urns are to be put into the niches and on a selected day, a black merble plaque shall be placed over these niches.
During the Qing Ming or Cheng Beng, I collected two telephone contacts and passed to my mother. She contacted a funeral contractor or undertaker by the name of Ah Lam. From there, the “project” got under way and then within a period of 1 month or so, the cycle of events described above of the “Picking the Gold” ceremony was successfully completed.
On 9th of May, 2012 my mother, Mdm Tea Siew Yam and myself set out to Sungai Patani or Petani main town centre. There, we met up with Ah Lam for the main purpose of making a Police Report about the intention of digging up the two graves of my grandfather and granduncle.My mother made the Police Report and we went over to the Sungai Petani Chinese Association which manages the graveyard. A monetary deposit of RM2,000.00 per grave is to be made to ensure that after the digging of these graves, the area is levelled and kept clean of any cement remnants of the pre-existing graves.The actual cost agreed with the undertaker was at RM4,000.00 per deceased thus making a total cost of RM8,000.00 for the two graves. After making the cash deposits with the Association we drove to the Sungai Patani Thai Buddhist Temple to purchase two yellow porcelain urns from Thailand to store the remains and ashes of our Grandfather and Granduncle after the anticipated cremation. After the paperwork and purchase of the urns were completed, we left for Penang and went straight to Wat Chaiya Mangalaram Thai Buddhist Temple. This is the time to purchase the niches for two of the deceased. The cost was RM4,500.00 per niche and it reminded me sadly of the task when I had to purchase for my dear departed wife in 2010. I did purchase one niche for myself too and my Grandfather’s niche shall be directly above mine.
To be continued to Part 3
Photographs tomorrow are NOT for the faint-hearted. Be forewarned.
SP Lim
I do not like to write – I like to have written. — Gloria Steinem
Peng ku thanks for sharing with us the story of our great grandfather, I am sure if my late grandmother is alive she will be very thankful to you as well.