GEORGE TOWN: Before the pandemic struck, visiting her grandfather’s grave throughout Qing Ming had been an annual affair for supplies engineer Khaw Chin Ting.
Khaw, 29, whose mom additionally handed away final yr, mentioned her household got here to go to their grandfather’s grave as they have been unable to accomplish that for the previous two years.
“Usually, we head out for breakfast together after we visit his grave but now, as there are too many of us, we will skip it.
“I am here with my siblings, my mother’s brother and sister, and my cousins,” she mentioned when met on the cemetery in Paya Terubong yesterday.
Khaw mentioned it was good to be able to go to her maternal grandfather’s grave though it was completely different this time as her mom had additionally handed away.
“We brought some prayer paraphernalia, fruits, dim sum and other dishes that he liked. My aunt brought him a sub sandwich because it was something he enjoyed eating as well,” she mentioned.
Khaw added that she and her household would be visiting her mom’s grave on Tuesday, the precise day of Qing Ming (Tomb Sweeping Day or Ancestors Day).
“For the first three years after someone has passed away, you must visit them on the actual Qing Ming date,” she defined.
With the Qing Ming competition permitted this yr after a two-year hiatus, many cemeteries and columbariums have been full of households ready to carry out rituals for their family members who had handed on.
This yr’s Qing Ming falls on April 5, however the tomb-sweeping rituals can be carried out two weeks earlier than or after the precise date.
The competition, a part of a practice that has been noticed for over 2,500 years, entails members of the family gathering to pay their respects and homage to the departed.
