Mourn or Celebrate?

She celebrated her 94th birthday amongst family members. Three months later, she fell into a coma and left peacefully weeks after. She left behind 4 sons, 4 daughters, an adopted daughter, 36 grandchildren and 43 great grandchildren. For that, according to chinese customs, a son would add a year onto the age of death whilst a daughter would add half a year, making her official death age at ripe old 101. It wasn't a day for mourning... it celebrated the life lived.

May angels welcome you into heaven


Church brethrens assisting in putting earthly possessions into the 'house'


In white shirts are the children and their spouses.
In yellow shirts are the grandchildren and their spouses.
Wearing blue sashes are the great grandchildren.
This is in accordance with the Foochow Chinese customs.

The Chinese also wear a 'mourning piece' which is a rectangular coloured piece of cloth pinned on the right sleeve (if deceased is a female) or left sleeve (if deceased is a male) and a thin long piece worn as a bracelet. This rectangular piece is made of brown sackcloth if worn by the children and their spouses. Married ladies wear an additional bit of red cloth in the middle of the rectangle. Grandchildren wear yellow rectangles and the extra red bit for married ladies. Great grandchildren whose mothers are the granddaughters (are considered 'wai' or 'outside') get to wear the extra red bit on their blue sash. Husbands of daughters and granddaughters (also considered 'outsiders') are given extra decorations being a yellow sash and a red cloth tied around the waist.

Note the red clothes tying the 'house' and the portrait. Red signifies celebration... a celebration of a life lived to the fullest, with no regrets of unfinished business (white signifies mourning).

Pastor conducting the final rites at the tomb shared by husband and wife. The husband had died decades ago and occupied the right tomb while the wife was finally rested in the left.

There was a lunch held at a local restaurant to thank all those who have helped in one way or another to make the final rites a success. It is customary for the surviving children to make donations to NGO's. Here the recipients are chinese primary and secondary schools and churches in and around Sibu.

Do excuse the blur photos which were taken with my N80 <-- old liao :-(