The Process 140105 .

Helo guys, Im back. Long time no see mi online huh? Actually was busy with my grandfather's wake. Thankyou Jeslyn, Liyu, Shimin, Grace, Jasmine, Patrick, Grace Christine, Jason Lee and Dear for all your condolences. Especially those who came down specially. Love ya all. MUACKZ.

My gradfather passed away on the 14th of jan 2005. And the wake lasted for 5days.

14th of jan.
It was 5.30am when my uncle called, saying that my grandfather abit canot make it already. So my parents rushed down to their house immediately. At ard 6am, my dad called back and say ah gong passed away. Then uncle come fetch us ard 9am to go ah gong's house.

It was pretty scary, cuz you dunno wads going to happen. Who are you going to see and worst still, to see them crying.

Reach ah gong's house in 15minutes time. Everybody was quiet. And my cousins were burning incense paper in my ah gong's room. Right underneath his feet. We had to go see ah gong for the last time. Which was pretty nerve wrecking.

The tentage was completed ard noon. And then the ceremony begin. We have to wear the funeral clothings and then follow the priest upstairs. My uncles help ah gong change clothes. My uncles had to carry my ah gong downstairs.

Actually we should held the funeral at our blk, but some malays were holding a wedding there. We tried to negotiate wif them to exchange the place, but they refused and complained to the town council, saying we were harassing them. STUPID. Anyway, we came back home on the first nite.

15th of jan.
Mi and my bro reached at about 3pm, while my parents went in the morning. The moment we reach there, we have to help folding the incense paper. And burning them non-stop 24hrs. Of course we take turns to do it lah.

Then came this weird auntie. I tink she lives some where ard the blk. Anywy, the stupid thing is, she was wearing RED, from head to toe. -.- Mi n my bro was like thinking "Are you blind or wad? Canot see we having a wake here izzit?!?!" ZZzz. And she even sat down wif my aunties and all to fold. Omg. My mum said she up there something wrong de, so dun care bout her. Juz let her be. So i was like.. ok..

We spent the nite there. And it was freezing. Strong chilling wind had been blowing since day 1. All the chairs were literally MOVING.

16th of jan.
The burning of the incense paper and wind blowing continued. The wind nv stop man. Juz kept blowing. Went home to get some change and bathe at 2pm. Came back at 4pm.

Jes, Liyu and Shimin came on dat day. We talk for awhile and they had dinner wif us at the wake. It was not bad and i appreciate dat they came.

People start pouring in at nite. All the relatives and frenz and everybody. Including the RED shirt auntie. -.- And she didnt change her clothes at all. Eeek. And there were alot of ah bengs, playing mahjong. And i meant ALOT. Was asking my mum who the hell are they. One of my auntie said probably they lived ard here and come to play mahjong. -.- All smoking lil' brats.

The nite ended at ard 3am. Mi slept at the wake there again. On the floor, which was.. HARD. Always had to wake up in the morning and shift to sleep on the lazy chair. Haha. But sooo COLD. =(

17th of jan.
Did the same things, folding and burning and folding and burning. Oh.. not forgetting.. eating ever so often. I ate like wad.. 4 to 5 meals a day. Omg. And the Red auntie came also. NEVER CHANGE STILL. *pukes* My mum almost fainted when she sat down beside her during dinner. Wahahaha. Mum say she stinks. And then all of us ISOLATE her on one table. Nobody dare to touch the food she eat before. LOL. Waste food sia. She eat finish den she go. WTH. come here eat free food only.

Jasmine and Jason came at ard 9plus. Jason asked "Why so many ah bengs?" I was like "How the hell i know." Lol. They tot they came to the wrong wake. Oh, incase u were wondering. The bengs came everynite.. to play mahjong. The auntie come again. Piang.. she really know the time well manz. Cuz ard 9 plus there will be food for the guests. Kaoz.

There was a ceremony on this nite. It was a 5-stage ceremony. The priest will chant and we have to pray. Stand pray, kneel pray, stand pray, kneel pray. And the process goes on. We have to do it for 5 times. But in between got breaks lahz. Or else tired leh.

After the 4th stage, there was silence. When i turn around, i saw all those ah bengs rushed forward. Thought wads happening. There were like 30 plus of them. Scary. Then they stand ard the altar, and bow to my ah gong. Lol. Actually cuz my ah gong is in the brotherhood lahz.. of this particular gang.. so they have to come pay respect. Ah gong was one of the head or wad... not sure. Surprised eh? hah.

Den we bring the "house" to the opposite field to burn. Including those incense paper which we folded over the several nites. Once the "house" was on fire, it was an amazing sight. You can see all the lighted ashes flying up high into the air. And it was a BIG fire. Breath taking.

Slept at ard 4am, upstairs. At my grand parent's house. Got bed. Yeah.

18th of jan.
Last day of the wake. There was another ceremony. Where all the family members and close relatives have to take part. All of us have to walk ard the casket and scatter incense paper. At the same time there was a small band playing super sad songs. Make everybody feel so sad. And the wind was blowing super hard, all the incense paper was flying around.

After that another grp of band came. They played a deafening medley of sound, not song, for 30mins. Everybody was almost deaf at the end of it. Cuz we have to kneel there and listen while the whole thing goes.

Den it was time to carry the casket and walk out of the blk. We walked for bout 1km, with 6 people carrying the casket each time. It was my ah gong's "brothers" who carried him. And they have to take turns lahz.. cuz of the boys were like really young.. no strength. We cross the traffic light when it was green sia, green for the cars to go. LOL. No choice have to keep walking. Gd thing the cars stopped for us to cross. Everybody from everywhere was watching. Then the casket was placed in the casket vechicle, we board the bus and headed for the crematorium.

We went to the crematorium at Mandai. There we can see the casket being sent into the fire gradually, by conveyer belts. The place was amazingly high tech. We watch the whole process from upstairs. Like the airport viewing area. It was heart breaking for everyone to go through this process. Most of the people were practically crying.

We came back, eat lunch, pack everything and went back to my grandparent's place. There my eldest uncle announce the bill and the total expenses for everything. It was about 4k plus, which was considered cheap. o.O I heard dat the catered food, for our everyday dinner.. was like was $65 per table! And we had 3 tables. And 1 big pot of porridge cost $60. WTF. -.- Hope the money the guest gave was enuff to cover.

Den everybody pack their stuffs and went home... to SLEEP.

Basically that was the process. Of cuz still got many details. I guessed my grandma and my mum were the most affected ones. They were really upset. And all my uncles surprised mi.. i didnt see them shed a single tear.. I felt they were really strong. One important thing, my ah gong's mum doesnt know bout this~! Omg. Ah gong's bro decided not to tell her, in case she canot take it. But so sad.. becos she has the right to know... Everybody's upset about my ah gong's death, but no choice.. cuz he was sick. So i tink this is the best way out for him. May him rest in peace. Love ya ah gong.