When the Angsana Trees Bloom ..

An angsana tree with a carpet of
its yellow flowers on the ground

When the Angsana trees bloom and scatter their yellow flowers all over the ground, you know it's time for "Cheng Beng".

"Cheng Beng" (All Souls" Day) falls on April 5 every year and this is the day that the Chinese community honour and remember their departed ancestors and immediate family members by visiting their graves or the columbarium where their funeral urns are stored.  It is usually a chaotic time of the year with traffic jams on the roads leading to cemeteries and columbariums!

This year we decided to go a bit later than usual to the columbarium where Mum resides to avoid the "peak hours" of 8-10 a.m.  When we arrived, it looked like everybody had the same thought and it was packed with people.  It was very smoky as well as there is an open burning ground nearby for people to burn paper offerings. (By the way, I was fascinated to learn that the word "columbarium" originates from an 18th century Latin word for "pigeon house", "columbe" meaning dove.)

Fortunately, it was less crowded where Mum's niche is located on the first floor and we were able to set up our table of offerings in a short time. There was a small family next to us offering prayers and one of them, an elderly man, was watching the various families coming and going with their children and grandchildren tagging along.  He remarked to us that this festival is really all about filial piety and it is right for families to bring their young ones along to instil this value in them.  We agreed that there is much truth in what he said.

Time has flown by very quickly and it is now nearly two years since Mum left us. By a strange coincidence, her niche is numbered "A380" - that number being the address of Grandpa's house where we all used to live. It's in the second row from the top, a very "good", auspicious position, for she "sits on the mountain looking at the sea" ("chay suah kuah hai" in Hokkien).  I could almost see her looking down at us, perhaps admonishing us for coming so late (she had always been an "early bird") or perhaps very pleased that we had not forgotten her!

Another few more days and the festival will be over.  The columbarium will become quiet once more and its residents will be able to rest in peace once again.

Sweet dreams, Mum.  We miss you!

Mum at the National Orchid Garden, Singapore - Jan. 2011