Funeral Wake

Have you ever attended a Taoist funeral before? There are different types of funeral procedures among the different dialect groups. But for the Taoist, the funeral usually lasts from three to seven days.

I am currently a polytechnic student aged twenty. In my life, I have attended two funerals, both of my close relatives. One involved my grandfather that happened when I was too young to understand. The other funeral was my beloved grandmother's that happened when I was sixteen. It turned out to be my first brush with the supernatural.

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I remembered that dreadful day when my father received the call from the hospital. Being close to my doting grandmother, I was overwhelmed with extreme sadness. The doctor told us that she died due to the failure of her internal organs.

Immediately my parents and my relatives head for the hospital to collect her body. As we were still considered children, we had to wait at home and were not allowed to follow the adults to the hospital.

By the time, they reached back bome, the make-shift tent had been set up in the void deck below our HDB flat. The body, brought home in an undertaker van, was being brought out and was dressed up. My aunts applied make-up for my deceased grandmother while the rest were putting jewellry on her. I did not know why, but the children were told by the adults to turn our face and body back as the body was being carried into the coffin.

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The first ritual chanting was performed that evening. We were asked to kneel down and hold one joss stick between our fingers throughout the ceremony. As my grandmother was the figure of benevolence in the family, she was deeply respected and solely missed by everyone in the family, her neighbours and of course, her circle of friends. Naturally, a large crowd gathered that night to pay their last respects.

The first night passed relatively peacefully. I burned some incense paper while my father played Mahjong with my other relatives. Together, we guarded my grandmother's coffin.

However, strange things began to happen during the second night. After the ritual was performed by the monk, the offerings such as paper bungalow, paper car, a pair of maids and others were carried out to be burnt.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a pregnant black cat appeared and jumped over the coffin. In Chinese superstitions, it was believed that if a black cat were to umpu over a dead corpse or coffin, the dead would rise and would not be able to rest in peace. Quickly, I chased it away, cursing it to leave my grandmother alone.

Late in the night, I decided to take a break when I heard a distant yet distictively familiar female voice coming from the coffin. The voice was speaking in Cantonese. It wanted me to telly my relatives that it loved the 'bungalow; very much.

I was frightened and could not sleep the whole night. I dared not move at all. I informed my relatives of the incident the very next morning. To my disappointment, none believed me and dismissed it as my hallucination.

As unbelievable as it looked, I saw them buying 4D with the bungalow's unit number. Strangely enough, the number won a consolation prize in the draw on the Saturday and brought a minor windfall to all my relatives.

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On the last day of the funeral, my mother was chatting away with my aunts. She was recalling how my grandfather died and how pitiful he was. Suddenly, a vacant chair started to move towards the talking group.

The shrill screech of metal against concrete attracted those who were present at that time, striking immerse fear into each of them. They immediately stopped talking and went straight to the altar to offer my grandmother some incense. So of them told me later that they thought that it was my grandmother's spirit sitting on that particular chair and the issue of my grandfather caught her attention. That was why they could see the chair dragging itself towards them.

The last day of the funeral was a sorrowful one. We prayed to my grandmother for the last time, before leaving for Mount Vernon Crematorium to have her cremated.

A number of my relatives, their emotions overpowering them, began to wail at the point when the body was being pushed into the fireplace. As the cremation would take some time, we arranged to collect her ashes the next day.

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The was another incident, which happened on the seventh day after the cremation. The Taoists believe that seven days after the death of a person, his soul would come back to his favourite haunts. We offered sacrifices to my grandmother before splashing the 'flour' all over the house.

The 'flour' was supposed to retain my grandmother's footprints should she return.

The night, all of us stayed up to keep vigil, except for my five years old cousin who was sleeping like a log. Suddenly, my youngest cousin screamed out loud.

By the time all of us reached the room, he told us that my grandmother had visited him in his dreams. Upon reaching back at the altar, I realised that the bishop nose (my grandmother's favourite) ws missing from the chicken we offered to her.

On the floor were small footprint marks that were identical to my grandmothers footprints. «»

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